Left or Right Bevel……???

[horserod]

#4062

After going thru past threads on left and right side beveled broadheads…..I’m getting some confusion. If I have arrows fletched with “right” wing feathers, then I need a right side beveled head. That is the bevel that is sharpened is on the right top edge of the broadhead (looking from the rear of the head towards the point), correct ??? The underside of the head is not ground off, it’s just flat. In this positon, the left hand part of the head is not ground on the top side, but, is ground underneath……If I twist the head 180 degrees, it will look exactly like before, the sharpened edge is again on the right…..right? The opposite would be true with a “left” side bevel. The bevel of the broadhead and the wing from which the feather came from have to be the same….right??? Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions…..I think I’m starting to catch on to this EFOC thing !!! Bullseye

[Stephen Graf]

#26771

A picture is worthwhile here. Check out this link:

http://www.abowyer.com/dw_site/publisherdocs/RWvsLW.pdf

[horserod]

#26919

Steve, Thanks. You’ve been very helpful (again) especially with the picture and info. I understand completely now. It’s a good thing too as I misread my feathers…..had the broadhead bevel figured correct, but, not my feathers. All my new arrows are fletched left hand. Can’t use my right bevel Grizzly’s !! Bullseye

[David Petersen]

#26974

Bullseye — Let me use your original question to summarize this issue of right vs left bevel. First, as Steve has just illustrated for you, the fletching angle and broadhead bevel must agree, else the feathers have the shaft turning one direction and when the point enters an animal this rotation must completely stop and reverse itself. So with mismatched feathers and heads it’s counter-productive to maximum torque, which is the big thing single-bevels have going for them when you hit bone (in soft tissues it’s more the cork-screwing effect that creates a much “longer” cut line than does a non-rotating broadhead, thus far greater damage). When feather angle and head bevel coincide, you are maximizing twist and torque.

Second common question is which is best, left or right bevel. The answer there is, it doesn’t matter. A right twist will serve to tighten the head into the shaft on impact, while a left bevel can loosen the head — another thread recently discussed ways to avoid this, via LockTite etc. So from that aspect, it would be “better” to use right-bevel heads and right-wing fletching. But ironically, the industry standard is left-wing feathers. That’s what I shoot, because my fletching jig is set up that way. When shooting target points I am in the habit of checking for tightness after every shot, and often the points have indeed loosened a bit. When hunting with broadheads, I simply check for a tight fit of head to shaft before putting an arrow on the string and have killed quite a few animals by now with this set-up and never once had a head come off or loosen enough to cause problems.

If you want to shoot right-wing and right-bevel, it’s mostly a matter of finding a fletcher who does them, or getting yourself a right-wing jig. Because left-wing is most common, I’ve seen screaming deals at times on bulk right-wing feathers.

Hope that helps more than it confuses. And of course with glue-on heads the backing-off problem doesn’t exist. Dave

[Stephen Graf]

#27890

I too started out on the left wing path because I figured if so many people were doing it, it must be right…

But here’s something cheap, easy, reversible, and reliable to keep the old points in tight – Use teflon tape on the treads. The cheap plumbers white teflon tape is what I’m talking about. Works great.

I was thinking of getting rid of my LH jigs to solve the loose point problem. So I got some RH pre-fletched arrows and shot them. The points got loose on them just as much as the LH arrows.

[David Coulter]

#27959

I’m shooting right wing because I got a deal on my first jog and it happened to be right wing. If I don’t use something to keep the points tight, they work themselves loose. I use a very small dab of hot glue on the thread and screw it in while it’s warm. On my judos, I use a bit more and put it in while it’s still really oozy. You don’t have to use heat to get them out, just pliers. dwc

[CareyE]

#28429

I second what Steve said about the teflon tape. It has worked for me too.

[fattony77]

#28751

That’s kinda funny that the left wing is the industry standard. I recently had to pay the local bow shop extra to get some arrows fletched left wing because he said that I’m the first to have asked for them in over a year! He’s set up to do right wing & that’s where all of his business is. That’s actually why I ended up getting a jig & left clamp myself, even more recently!

[David Petersen]

#30217

Fattony — Indeed, maybe I “over spoke” re left wing being the “industry” standard. Let me rephrase: The arrowsmiths I’ve known either make only left-wing or mostly. Until quite recently few shooters seemed to know the difference (if there is any) or care, so it wasn’t a topic of much discussion. One arrow-maker friend, Milt Beens at the former Wildcat Canyon Archery, had 20 fletching jigs mounted around a big table and all were left-wing. He also had boxes of right-wing feathers he was happy to give away since nobody seemed to want them. This was a few years ago. Of the shooters I know, almost all shoot left-wing. Perhaps I should have said “in my experience with shooters and arrowsmiths, a left-wing preference has always been dominant.” Something like that. With all the current attention to these little details of arrow set-up, I’d not be surprised if the trend is shifting to the right. Personally I can tell no difference in performance, have no problem with broadheads backing out (the Teflon tape tip is excellent) thus couldn’t give a hoot right or left so long as everything is synchronized. Thanks for catching my speculative generalization. Dave

[fattony77]

#30465

Thanks for the clarification, sir. It’s still cool to see the differences of people’s experiences. And, so far, the only difference I can tell with the wing is that the right wing feathers tend to shred my bow hand when I shoot my recurve,since the shelf is so close to that hand.

[Raymond Coffman]

#30579

fattony77

I also get cut on my bow hand if I get too close to the shelf with right wing. Why, I mostly shoot left wing – although I have and still shoot rt wg – just reminds me to position my bow hand correctly. I have seen no difference in how they shoot [for me anyway]

Scout

[Fletcher]

#30721

Speaking from a fletcher’s point of view, the old common fletch was left wing. When turkey’s had their wings clipped to keep them from flying, it was easier for a right handed worker to hold the right wing with his left had while cutting the feathers with his right. The Right wing feathers were trimmed so there were more lefts for fletching. It was also the norm for RH shooters to shoot left wing (and LH shooters right wing) for the clearance reason mentioned above. With the advent of elevated rests and screw in points, left helical had a tendency to unscrew points and the clearance thing was no longer an issue, so right wing became popular.

I’m a die hard wood arrow guy and shoot RH so I use left wing fletch for me and my RH shooters. I also have jigs set up for RW fletch and lefty shooters.

The terms arrowsmith and fletcher go back to old England. The arrowSMITH made the points, the fletcher made the arrow.

[David Petersen]

#30727

Thanks for the clarifications, Rick, and for the interesting history lesson. I’d have thought that the guy who makes broadheads would have been called the Headman. 😀

Shifting topics but I’ll bet you know the answer to this one too, Fletcher — I’m thinking an original bodkin head, very big and heavy to knock a hole in heavy armor (not really “piercing” with a head that massive and not really designed to be a slicing tool) would have weighed a LOT and thus provide yet another example of the knowledge and use of EFOC. Just curious.

[Fletcher]

#30747

All that metal stuff back them was cast or forged, hence “smith” in the title.

Don’t know that I would call it an answer, but some thoughts, yes. The armour bodkin pints were a large and heavy point with three or four flat sides and did indeed pierce the armour. On a standard shaft they would have had pretty good FOC. The English longbow was the artillery of its day. A “clothyard” shaft was drawn to the shooters shoulder and launched at a high angle for maximum distance into the oncoming enemy ranks. I have no idea about their FOC, but they would have been some massive arrows.

[Author]

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