My Troubles With The Bitz

I recently switched up my fletching jig from a relatively non-adjustable inexpensive model and picked up a used Bitzenburger jig. This jig is very adjustable and the “gold standard” in fletching jigs. I figured it would only help my arrow making prowess. I set up the jig with a left helical clamp and went to work trying to adjust the clamp properly on my test shaft. It seemed to align perfectly. Then I started fletching my first dozen arrows and began to have problems. It seemed that when I rotated the receiver to put on feather #2 and #3 they did not make contact from leading edge to back. I ended up with a few that had gaps in the glue line. After some time I finally figured out the problem. The newer mercury speed nocks and bohning classic nocks I had been using have a fairly high indexer on them. When I first aligned the jig I made my adjustments based on the cock feather position. The indexer on the nock was making contact with the nock receiver and preventing it from being perfectly centered. Once I rotated the receiver the misalignment was magnified. I ended up taking my broadhead file to the indexer for a few swipes and my problems were solved! The picture below has a vintage Bear archery POC nock, along with my modified nock, and the original unaltered nock. Another lesson learned…. Once again I find that sometimes our “improvements” in design as not always the “best”.