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Fletching Cutting Jig
Fletching Cutting Jig
Fletching, one of the most visible and culturally distinct attributes of the arrow. Many vendors only stock a limited selection of mostly modern designs. To remedy this, we're proud to offer fletching cutting jigs which make it easy to trim full feathers into the exotic historical fletching of your choice. What could be a better addition to your kit?
How do they work you might ask? Each jig aligns the feather based on the quill, and holds it firmly on your cutting surface of choice. The addition of a clamp can hold everything in place, making the process even easier. From there, working from the distal end of the quill forward, you may cut around the perimeter of the jig using either a rotary knife (recommended) or an exquisitely sharp curved blade knife paired with a rocking motion. In both cases, it is important to understand you're not dragging the edge or slicing, but cutting downward on the feather to avoid disrupting it under the jig. The rotary knife does this automatically, rotating as you pull, while the rocking motion with the curved knife replicates this. With either method, and a little practice, it becomes quick and easy to cut beautiful custom fletching with these jigs.
There is a question of how to lay such long feathers, as most jigs aren't long enough. We use fletching tape, as it provides instant adhesion and allows feathers to be easily laid by hand without a jig. carefully mark the shaft where the two ends of the feather should sit and, with the shaft held in a vice. position the feather over the markings and lay it down from one end to the other. Easy as that, and the results can be seen in our photography.
*Please note, to protect jigs from scratches during shipping, each comes covered in a protective film. (opaque or translucent) This can be simply peeled off to reveal the transparent jig beneath.
Turkish Flight - 26x12mm - Our rendition of the famous little stub fletches seen sitting all the way up on the nocks of ivory pointed flight arrows.
Ottoman Military - 179x9mm - Turkish flight arrows are famous, no doubt, but what about military arrows? We based the dimensions of these off of several historical samples. Long, low profile, and set far back toward the nocks by western standards. These are a good stand in obviously for Tatar war arrows, but also Mughal arrows which share the long low profile style.
Manchu - 251x18mm - Easily the largest design we offer, these large graceful feathers are at home on the massive spears of a Manchu bow. Take note, not all uncut feathers are created equal, or large enough to use with this jig. And even still, these represent the smaller end of the Manchu war-arrow genre.
Manchu Mini - 200x18mm - Sourcing feathers long enough for our full Manchu can be difficult. Next any of our other designs there is nothing "mini" about them however. They offer the same shape and height, with just a little less length to make acquisition of uncut feathers easier.
Korean Target - 130x7mm - One of the most iconic images of traditional asiatic archery is a B&W photo of a gentleman with glasses shooting a Korean bow with Korean target arrows using this style of fletching. Specific dimensions for this product were drawn from examples in the Grayson Collection of Korean target arrows.
Korean XL (old type) - 158x17mm - Historical Korean arrows display an incredible diversity of styles. Ours offers one of the more exotic looking designs, unlike anything you'll buy pre-cut today that we're aware of.
Korean XL (new type) - 200x21mm - The most common fletching pattern seen on Korean war arrows. Unlike our Manchu designs, which were necessarily scaled down somewhat as turkey feathers aren’t available that large, these are 1:1 scale based on a sampling of antique Korean war arrows.
Japanese - 148x12mm - The elegant, minimalist, and rakish Japanese style. What more is there to say?
*Quill length X total height in mm of cut feather; all dimensions are approximate, and can be adjusted based on how the jig is used.