CROSSBOW BOLT FLETCHING
With some time on my hand now that deer hunting season is over, the
yard grass has stopped growing, not working up the tomato patch yet and
routine maintenance on yard equipment is a few months away, it was time to
"piddle" around and find a fun project to do.
I plan to get a few woodworking projects underway and hopefully do a few
ceramic pot holders aka trivets and some
napkin holders, however my wood
supply is in short supply and will round up the necessary wood needed.
In the meantime, I noticed I needed to
fletch a
crossbow bolt and planed to use the only Bitzenburger Fletchmaster jig I have left,
whereas I sold the left wing jig to a friend in Monroe, NC along with my
cam bow accessories; e.g., arrows, arrow raw shafts and associated
equipment and supplies
related to the vertical cam bows.
It didn't take long to realize that the
Bitzenburger Fletchmaster fletching jig nock
receiver that holds the nock in place would not work properly or
accurately with the half-moon crossbow bolt nocks. I did an
internet search and found that Bitzenburger makes a separate crossbow
nock receiver for their jigs, however the internet search revealed that
it was lacking in accuracy and had very bad reviews, therefore that
option was out.
I also checked other jig manufacturers and the best of the best for
crossbow bolts was in excess of 300 bucks and that was out of the
question to purchase one. Being somewhat frugal at times, I wanted
to solve this issue without spending any bucks!The Bitzenburger Fletchmaster fletching jig has been
around for many, many decades; archery manufacturers and archery shops
have used them with great success and the jigs have certainly worked
exceptionally well for
myself.
Above is a pix of a left wing fletch using the left wing Bitzenburger
Fletchmaster fletching jig. There is a tremendous amount of helical in the
above fletch and I reshaped the left wing clamp in the center to allow
for full contact with the feather to the arrow shaft.
Standard Easton nocks for their uni-bushings in their aluminum arrows
fit the Bitzenburger Fletchmaster nock receiver snugly and decided to make an adapter
for the Easton arrow nock to fit the Carbon Express Piledriver bolts
that I am currently using, of which I am totally satisfied with their
performance, durability and pass through penetration.
As stated earlier, I had sold all my regular cam bow archery accessories
and remembered that I had one aluminum arrow shaft outside under the
stairs to the deck which I used to stir deck stain with and retrieved it,
whereas it was an Easton 2315 arrow that had the nock and also the
arrow point aluminum insert which would work out just right for this
project.
I didn't do a complete photo essay of the steps, but there is enough
information if you desire to make one for yourself.
Below is pix of my Bitzenburger Fletchmaster straight clamp jig,
circa. early 1980s,
patented in 1959 and a close-up
of the receiver portion:
You can put an off-set right or left using this straight Bitzenburger
Fletchmaster fletching jig.
As stated earlier, the above receiver that holds the nock is too narrow in
width to use with a half-moon crossbow bolt nock.
As evidenced by the above pix, there is way too much
"slop" between
the fit of the half-moon nock and the Bitzenburger Fletchmaster nock receiver.
The Bitzenburger nock receiver does a poor job of keeping the crossbow
nock/bolt in position to fletch....too much room for error!
The Carbon Express Piledriver crossbow bolt inside diameter is .283
inches +- and the arrow point threaded bushing in the Easton 2315 aluminum
arrow is .334 outside diameter. I ground the aluminum bushing
O.D. to .2825 +- inches.
I drilled the inside diameter of the threaded arrow point bushing to fit the
Easton nock for a press fit which was .246 inches. The Easton nock
string slot inside dimensions are: .092 at the tip and .109 inches at
the base where the string would rest, giving a tight fit depending on
the diameter of the string used and the slot fits like a glove in the
Bitzenburger Fletchmaster nock receiver.
I used the above drill bit to center the bushing with the drill press
chuck. I have a
compound drill press vise which makes an easier
set up with the X Y axis movement, but didn't want to drag it
out.................grin if you must!
Drilled the bushing to a near fit for the Easton Nock.
Drilled the bushing to the final .246 diameter for a press fit for
the Easton Nock.
Above crossbow bolt with the nock adapter for the Bitzenburger
Fletchmaster fletching jig.
Close-up of the adapter. BTW, I use lighted nocks for my
hunting arrows!
When your crossbow bolt is fletched, simply remove the adapter and
insert your crossbow bolt nock. I am using the half-moon nocks for
target shooting and the lighted half-moon nock for hunting.
I plan to continue to use the Carbon Express Piledriver crossbow
bolts, therefore I don't need to make another adapter for the
Bitzenburger Fletchmaster fletching jig. I have found over the
many decades, that when you find a product you like, the manufacturer
eventually will change it and/or discontinue it, therefore I try and keep enough
replacements on hand such as the Carbon Express Piledriver crossbow
bolts!
NOTE: I stocked another dozen of the Carbon Express Piledriver
crossbow bolts, but ordered 22 inch versus 20 inch length.
In summary, this was a
very simple and easy project and did not cost one penny; just a little
bit of fun time on the drill press, some hand filing, sanding and works
great! The Bitzenburger Fletchmaster fletching jig is definitely accurate
enough for crossbow hunting bolts in my humble opinion and target
practice as well. If your pockets are
deep enough, purchase a 300 to 400 dollar fletching jig for crossbow
bolts. For the price of those "high
dollar" fletching jigs, you could purchase six (6) dozen
carbon crossbow bolts for sure and if you don't fletch arrows/bolts
yourself, pay an archery shop to do them for you!
FLETCHING CROSSBOW BOLTS WITH .300 INCH INSIDE
DIAMETER
I needed to make an adapter for my Bitzenburger Fletchmaster
fletching jig to fletch Black Eagle Executioner crossbow bolts and
others which have a .300 inside diameter. It would be easy if I
had the correct nocks (.300 inch outside diameter) to fit the nock
receiver on the above stated fletching jig, but none were readily
available. The TenPoint ProElite 400 shaft nocks fit the
Bitzenburger jig without an issue.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, my friend Tommy Williams of Monroe,
NC stated that he addressed the fletching issue with Jim Skipper, now
deceased of Skip's Archery in Indian Trail, whereas he stated to use the
field tip/broadhead crossbow bolt insert; grind a long field point flat
and then grind a slot into the end of the modified field point to fit
the nock receiver of your fletching jig.
Here is a close up of the adapter:
The insert was removed from a TenPoint Pro Elite 400 series crossbow
bolt which has a .300 outside diameter for the insert.
I had to use heat on the insert with a field point inserted to remove
the insert and not damage the carbon shaft.
I will be all set when I need to refletch my crossbow bolts in the
future.
Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 05-03-2023.
LEAVING ON A
SPIRITUAL NOTE
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take
this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation
will be attained.
Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.”
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God.”
Open this
link about faith in the King James
Bible.
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Open this
link of Bible Verses About Salvation,
King James Version Bible (KJV).
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God;”
Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what
doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God?”
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
