Feathers

[adb]

I cut and grind my feathers, only because I'm set up to do it. I find I get a better base for gluing if I grind them. Very labour intensive process, however.

[Dictionary]

i have never had trouble stripping goose feathers........So i just strip and then place them on the shaft........wow. Seems too good to be true.

[JackCrafty]

Stripping the feathers is becoming my favorite way to deal with feathers and works very well with the wrap, like Iowabow has shown.  It is much faster and simpler.

Here's a video I did on fletching with stripped turkey wing primaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=intMRmqqikw

Edit:  You can skip the part where I waterproof the bowl...  I think I'm going to take that part out anyway.

[Dictionary]

my eyes have been opened.I've always wrapped through the feathers when i 3 fletch. Now i can prepare a feather in 10 seconds.

[iowabow]

Patrick I tie my feathers differently. I will shoot a 5 min video  tomorrow night and so you see the difference. I kind hold all three feather on the shaft with one hand and tie with the other then wrap with thread but not permanently. This hold the feathers in place so that I can tie the back end. After the back is tied then I wrap for the final time.

[David_Daugherty]

Can't wait to see that video.  Always up for learning something new 

[crooketarrow]

 My friend crooketarrow was 1/2 Iroquois he built bows and arrows for over 50 years. He always striped. But he steamed the feather first to make it more plyable and make it look easy. I striped for years buy now personally I split with a razor blade, chop and sand.

[JackCrafty]

Cool.  I'd like to see that video too.

[JW_Halverson]

Crooketarrow knows my secret to easy stripping....getting all steamy first!  It adds a little moisture into the surface of the quill and allows the vane to flex more as it strips.  I tend to get longer and smoother fletches when I run the feathers thru a stream of steam from the teapot on the stove first.

[BowEd]

Hey nice to know about that steaming step thanks.

[crooketarrow]

  Your right steamed feathers to never have any tear offs and you can stirp it the full lenth. As far as my secret no just the way CROOKETARROW taught me. I'm sure if was just past down to him also. I coujld write a book filled with all the little secrets he taught me.

[iowabow]

OK I shoot 2 videos with real funny bloopers, so I will try again tonight unless you want to see a feather tied on backward and then a left hand feather tied on with two rights lol. The best part is seeing me struggle with why it doesn't work as easy as pie lol. I was thinking about making a short movie and not an arrow!

[iowabow]

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished arrow seen in the video. Isaac was my camera man and the video is a little shaky. I think you can make out what I am doing if you don’t get too sea sick.


http://youtu.be/E5lrLo42gus

[TRACY]

Does this work for goose feathers too? Their quills are usually thicker than turkey i think?

Yes, you just have to take your time. Mostly all I use along with duck primaries.

Tracy

[Roy]

I wrap them too.
I clamp the arrow shaft in a padded vice to hold it. It's tight enough to hold the shaft but loose enough that I can rotate the shaft around. Like having a third hand.