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Making fletchings

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Morgan:
My nephew is an avid waterfowl hunter. He has offered me the wing feathers off of any geese he takes this year. Do you have to season feathers? What is the easiest method for a newb to split and grind them without messing them up?

bentstick54:
You do not need to season them. I use a single edge razor blade to split the quills in half, then I have a Great Northern jig I use to grind to finish product. I am sure others can give you ideas on homemade jigs that you could make yourself.

Buck67:
If you lightly hit the quill with a hammer over an anvil the entire length of the quill it will be easy to split the feather with a sharp scissor.  Then fasten the half feather in a vise.  I shave off excess quill with a razor knife.  Then I use 40 grit sandpaper fastened to a block of wood to smooth the quill surface.

I made my feather vise out of two pieces of hardwood and a few bolts.

DC:
I use an old door hinge as a clamp to hold the fletch for grinding. I use 5" fletch so I epoxied two larger pieces of sheet metal to the hinge. I just put whole feather in it for illustration. You have to split them first.

Aaron H:
You can always just strip them off instead of grinding...

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