Arrow building equipment

[Button]

Looking to start building arrows for my wife and I.
Any suggestions on equipment? As in cutters, squarer, fletcher, etc.
Looking forward to getting some arrows tailored to perfection.

 

[Billy Goat]

Bitz is what it seems like all other fletching devices are measured by. Offers a fair amount of options in fletching. Some jigs can definitely do more but they are pricey. Others that are cheaper have more limitations. If you don't intend to play with degree of fletching, number of fletched, or any kind of unusual fletchings the Arizona ez Fletch doesn't work bad and is quick.

Weston arrow saw seems pretty good, I use an Easton Arrow saw, I haven't seen them for sale for a while.

I use a g5 arrow squarer, firenock makes one that is cream of the crop.

Get a spin tester, they are cheap and helpful.

 

[Button]

I will look into that, thank you. I do plan on playing with helical fletching.

 

[jmez]

I have a Weston saw, has cut a lot of arrows and is a great option for home use. Bitzenberger jig. There is a bit of a learning curve with it but it works well. Tip, if you are fletching two different arrows, put marks on the jig for each when you get it set. Will save a lot of hassle when switching between arrows. I use the G5 squaring device as well. It is cheap and works good.

 

[TX_Diver]

I have a bitzenburger jig, G5 ASD, and a pine ridge spinner. A fletching remover scraper thingy is also handy as-is some sort of scale (I use a reloading scale).

I just buy my arrows cut from a local shop (or lancaster) rather than owning a saw.

 

[Samdemarais]

I have a bitzenburger jig, G5 ASD, and a pine ridge spinner. A fletching remover scraper thingy is also handy as-is some sort of scale (I use a reloading scale).

I just buy my arrows cut from a local shop (or lancaster) rather than owning a saw.

Same equipment here. I made my own saw for 40$ but it’s a little cumbersome and you end up doing a lot of squaring. A scale is nice too.

 

[Zac]

I would take the plunge and get the Last Chance Vane Master Pro. It's basically the same price as the Bitz once you get all the crap that you need for that system. I would definitely use the Firenock APS arrow square. I also have the Dcut arrow saw. I don't need to square ends after the cut, it is very precise. However Last Chance also makes a better saw its just pricey.

 

[Reburn]

The tools I am using.

weston 8k arrow saw
Fire nock aps arrow square
pine ridge arrow spinner
Last chance vane master pro with 3 fletch, 4 fletch 90 and 4 fletch bowtie knobs.
omp arrow scale

I like the last chance saw but $550 is pretty steep.

 

[Arctic Hunter]

I’ve got a bitz that I traded some arrows for nearly 25 years ago. It’s still going strong. I have a helical and straight clamp. It’s fletched thousands of arrows with no issues.

G5 ASD zip tied to a table works well. Pine ridge arrow spinner is cheap and works well enough with arrow shafts replacing the horizontal braces to give it more length.

I have an apple arrow saw I’ve had for several years. It’s the lower RPM model. Do yourself a favor and buy the higher RPM one if you go that route.

A torch head and Coleman propane bottles is also handy if you use hot melt.

you don’t really need much else. A mouse pad is useful if you want to put wraps on. A can of acetone and some q-tips maybe.

 

[aaen]

MY tools, sadly I went off the deep end when buying, I don't recall the exact names/part numbers but here they are and they are not cheap. And I only build arrows for myself an my buddies

-Firenock fletching jig, hands down the most precise jig ever, sadly you pay for it.
-Firenock arrow squaring tool, also doubles as a arrow spinner
-Firenock spine finder with a few accessories fro finding the spine/etc
-Easton arrow saw, picked one up from a shop going out of business.

You don't have to go off the crazy end like I did, I tend to get into the nitty gritty and built my arrows typically so they are with 1 grain of each other when completely built. But I find it comforting to build arrows with precision tools and it appeases my inner OCD.

Now, I have used a lot of Bitz, but I do not find they are very good anymore, the older ones seemed to have a more precise mechanism in them and were very repeatable, could just be me. However my firenock fletching jig, I could probably by 6-7 bitz. you can certainly get away with a Bitz, they work well, but it didn't appease my inner OCD monster with arrow building and repeatability.

Squaring tool, you can get away with some cheap ones, but I have found them not to actually be square and screwed up a lot of arrow ends or had to redo them.

Arrow spinner, pine ridge has a cheap one I think for like 20 bucks, does the trick

Spine finder, well, people debate on owning one of these, I find in to be invaluable and i do not like the process of nock tuning, which this completely removes.

All said if you wanted to get in on the low end with everything you need (bitz, pine ridge, arrow saw, squarer), your probably looking at about 3-400 for the cheap end of everything. you can buy a lot of Bitz and i have found them for like 20 bucks are yard sales.