Fletching Jig Arms

thingiverse

There was a request for a "true helical" fletching arm for the jig, replacing the offset one included. I had been eager to see this myself for some time, so I decided to make one. Two versions were created. One traverses 1/10th of the way around the arrow in the 53mm path, resulting in approximately a 2.4 degree offset at the base in rectangular coordinates. The other version has the helix moving 1/8th of the way around the arrow in the 53mm path - more twist. This translates to approximately a 3.0 degree offset at the base of the vane. One-8 V2 moves the vane up the arrow by 15mm, for those with really long nocks or similar. A few other aspects were adjusted as well, but nothing that should prevent it from fitting on the existing base. It remains sized for the "standard" carbon arrow of approximately 0.3" OD. Aside from design, I don't think there's any point to this. If you apply a vane at an offset and then press the base flat against the arrow shaft, the base follows a helical path. I don't see gaps when using an offset arm, so it's fair to say that the base follows the arrow contour well enough. The fact that the jig arm didn't hold the non-glued edge of the very flexible vane in exactly the right place while gluing ends up being irrelevant... in theory. In reality, you can see the 1/8th helical vs. the equivalent offset and the vane does take a slightly different shape depending on the arm used. Pictures of the arm are of the 1/10th twist. Fletched arrows are with the 1/8th twist.