Arrow Fletching

thingiverse

I created this project for my science fair competition to learn about 3D printing and I'm now preparing to attend the regional science fair after succeeding at my school. This is just one of many designs I've worked on. I tested this design on 1816 arrow shafts and had excellent results, better than all my other designs. To start with, I looked at two existing designs on thingiverse but they didn't meet my needs. Here are some specific details: The sketchup model is divided into two components - the sleeve and the vane. The sleeve can be easily resized for different arrow shafts. I used no adhesive to attach the sleeve and vanes to the arrow shaft. The tolerance of my printer allowed a good friction fit on the aluminum arrow shaft, so I simply used a small strip of tape to keep the sleeve from moving forward when shooting the arrow. Since my aluminum shafts were quite expensive, I indexed the vanes before each shoot. At 9.2 meters, the arrows had a very similar flight pattern to my Easton feather fletched target arrows, but at 18 meters they showed a noticeable "kick" at the tail. My best estimate is that the center of gravity of these arrows was moved significantly back compared to my Easton arrows. To fix this issue, I think I should try using a heavier tip for the arrow. Print Settings Printer: Monoprice Mini Select Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Yes Resolution: 0.1 mm Infill: None Notes: On my Mini Select, this model prints incredibly well, but it is quite tall and thin so I print the base at half speed initially. Once a couple of layers are complete, I set the speed back to normal. It also helps if your bed is level when printing this model. I set the build plate temperature on my printer to 55 degrees and the extruder to 210 degrees, but you may need to adjust these settings based on your own printer. Overview and Background Lesson Plan and Activity References Arrow Fletching and Nock Replacement by SJAmakers, published Feb 22, 2016 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1362071 Arrow fletching by Vimpelis, published Jun 8, 2015 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:870019