cellular base. They were cut to length and attached to theshaft by winding with sinew thread or by gluing. While thismethod held them securely to the arrow, the feathers werenot standing up straight on the shaft; they leaned toward theinside of the feathers. This was corrected by cutting the vanesso as to leave a small wedge of pith on the underside whichcauses the feathers to stand at right angles to the shaft. Cut-ting the feathers and gluing them on was a delicate and pains-taking job; not every one had the patience or the skill re-quired to do it.
Now, we have clamps to hold the feathers while the basesare ground to shape. We also have fletching tools with whichalmost anyone can do a precision fletching job. We have anelectrical apparatus that burns the feathers to any desiredshape. Cellulose cement will hold the feathers securely tothe arrow no matter what the weather conditions are. Inrespect to fletching, at least, we are miles ahead of our an-cestors.
