Issues with Natural feathers to Aluminum

[Bruce M]

Never had a problem glueing vanes to gamegetters but I have tried 3 different super glues along with Easton's own fletching glue.
I've tried lightly sanding, heavy sanding, no sanding while always cleaning the shaft thoroughly with acetone and set to dry, they still are not what I would call adhering to the shaft.
Is there some kind of fletching cement for natural feathers that I haven't come across.

[M60gunner]

Sounds like your prep on shaft is good. What about the quill? Did you trying wiping that down just eliminate that as a reason.

[Joedirt199]

Loctite and guerrilla gel super glues are working great on my aluminum and feathers. Gateway feathers is what I use. A few drops and spread with a toothpick. Make sure there is no gaps of light between the feather's quill and the arrow shaft.

[Bruce M]

I've tried Locktite and gorilla glue both, same adhesion .
My prep of the feathers (gateway) is just to take them out of the bag and mount them into the ritz clamp without touching the glue surface.
I may try some alcohol on them I guess.

I ordered some duco cement. one guy on YouTube that seems to know what he's doing swears by that stuff but he's applying it to wood shafts.

[GCook]

I never used acetone on the quills.  Denatured alchohol works well.

[arrow30]

aluminum shafts usually have a clear coat where the feathers go, isnt that so glues can stick to it ?

[Bruce M]

aluminum shafts usually have a clear coat where the feathers go, isnt that so glues can stick to it ?

I've never heard that, not to say you're wrong just that I've never heard that.
I'm pretty sure that the gamegetters do not have any clear coat on them though, at least nothing like that seems to come off when I sand them, it's just anodized aluminum.

[Kelly]

Duco won't work on aluminum. Fletch-title is all I've ever used in last 50+ years.

[the rifleman]

One solution would be to use wraps--- then gorilla super glue blue cap.

Otherwise id advise wiping the shafts w acetone.

[M60gunner]

No, Ducco don't work, I know from experience. From what you say any " coating" would have been taken off during your prep process. I always used Comet cleanser and real hot water with a scrub pad. A real brain teaser, I still have some old AO arrows fletched with SG around here from the 80's.

[McDave]

Have used only NPV for gluing feathers to aluminum ever since they came out with it, which was about the same time FletchTite changed their formula so it didn't work very well on aluminum anymore.  Never prep anything, shaft or feather.  I just put glue on the quill, and let it set for 20 minutes in the clamp.  Never had a feather fall off.

I'm not saying that NPV is necessarily the solution to your problem, it was just the solution to mine.  Other people on this forum have written that it doesn't work for them very well, or at all in one case I remember.  I don't understand it; there is a lot of speculation as to why it works fine for some people and not for others.

[M60gunner]

I also remember the time a few years back when people had issues with the new Fletch Tite, I was one. Vanes on aluminum for my son. I also went with NPV, just finished the quart I bought. That was last time I fletched on bare metal, carbon or wood.
This issue pops up from time to time and has for many years. I still recall Rube Powell cap dipping the store arrows with clear fletch Laq so the vanes and feathers wouldn't fall off. Why it happens to some of us and not others is part of the mystery. Unfortunately feathers an'it cheap, even if you kill them.

[Bruce M]

So do you all agree with "Arrow30" and I am removing some sort of clear coat when I'm sanding. If so I will try again without sanding.

[McDave]

I don't necessarily agree with Arrow30, because I have no idea if there is clear coat on aluminum arrows or not.  However, the fact that my feathers stick when I don't prep is certainly consistent with what he is saying.  Also, ironically, it seems plausible that people who experience problems with feathers not sticking to the shaft would try more and more things to try and solve the problem, possibly making it worse in the process.

[Bruce M]

Thank you sir, I will give it a shot and report back here in the future of what I can make of it.

[Bluefeather]

Bruce, I really don't know why you're having problems with feathers on aluminum. It sounds like you're doing a good prep job, what glue are you using? I've been using Fletchtite Platinum on my aluminum arrows. I do believe most people don't let the glue cure long enough, Fletchtite requires 48 hrs to cure and since doing that I've had zero problems.

[jamesh76]

Try Saunders NPV. 

[Red Beastmaster]

I gave up trying to make glue do what it didn't want to do. I switched to tape with a dab of super glue gel on each end. My only prep is wiping with fingernail polish remover.

[Ray Lyon]

Back in late seventies and early eighties I shot aluminum.  Bohning was making a shaft prep solution back then that I think was called Prep-rite. Anyway it would clean shaft and then I would use Fletchtite with no problem after the prep-rite.  They always cautioned against touching area of shaft for fletching so you didn't leave oils from your fingers.  I never had issues with feathers doing above two products.  Bohning has a prep guide sheet if you google it. Like some of above comments I would only use Fletchtite Platinum.

[Bruce M]

 I haven't tried the Fletch time yet so I'll give that a whirl also.