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Feather stripping.
Pat B:
I split mine with a razor knife, cut to length and use a fletching clamp and belt sander to grind the quill.
Have you checked out the "How To" section. Might be something there. I know Pappy has a great method fro grinding feathers. He can whip them out like a machine. If there is nothing in "How To" maybe he will post some pics when he gets back on Monday.
Parnell:
I didn't even think of the belt sander...sometimes I guess I just don't catch on too quick! Duh! ;D
riarcher:
I'm still looking for it.
One I speak of is where the guy has the quil between his teeth, and stripping both sides of the feather while holding the empty quil still in his teeth.
There was a couple of "tricks" to the technique that I don't remember. That's why I'm looking.
wolfsire:
I usually strip feathers. Here is what I learned from the last time. Rehydrating can really give old feathers quite a bit of strength. You can go as light as a damp bag or wet washcloth. I just fill the sink up with warm water, mix in some hand lotion and soak for about 15 min. It really reduces the risk that the feather will break while stripping. However, I forgot about some in the sink for about an hour. When I stripped one, the outer casing of the quill held together so well that it did not merely strip off one side as wanted, but pealed clear over to the other side making quite a mess, too difficult to fix. With that caveat, IMO, it is way easier than grinding once you get the knack after about 3 tries. Unless the feather is too soft, such that you want a lot of quill, like for something other than turkey or goose, or for mega mass like an atlatl dart, it is so much the way to go.
riarcher:
--- Quote from: wolfsire on February 05, 2010, 06:36:28 pm ---I usually strip feathers. Here is what I learned from the last time. Rehydrating can really give old feathers quite a bit of strength. You can go as light as a damp bag or wet washcloth. I just fill the sink up with warm water, mix in some hand lotion and soak for about 15 min. It really reduces the risk that the feather will break while stripping. However, I forgot about some in the sink for about an hour. When I stripped one, the outer casing of the quill held together so well that it did not merely strip off one side as wanted, but pealed clear over to the other side making quite a mess, too difficult to fix. With that caveat, IMO, it is way easier than grinding once you get the knack after about 3 tries. Unless the feather is too soft, such that you want a lot of quill, like for something other than turkey or goose, or for mega mass like an atlatl dart, it is so much the way to go.
--- End quote ---
DUH! Hand soap. ::)
Thanks that and the rehydrating was the part I couldn't remember.
Bite the big or small end and pull both sides evenly???
I seem to remember him using tail feathers but not sure on that either.
I loose a ton of bookmarks on computer pukes. sometimes I get a rash of them too. :'(
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