Author Topic: 3 River feather chopper?  (Read 4116 times)

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Offline nclonghunter

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3 River feather chopper?
« on: March 15, 2014, 12:09:20 am »
Does anyone have one the 3 Riber feather choppers. I got a bunch of turkey feathers and need to cut them into shield cuts. Are the choppers good, they are not too expensive. What's your opinions?
Thanks
There are no bad knappers, only bad flakes

Offline Mohawk13

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2014, 01:39:40 am »
I use scissors or a piece of sharp obsidian. Had a feather burner, but it stunk up the house. Have never used a chopper, but a friend does and gets great looking feathers...
He That Raises the sword against us, Shall be cleaved upon seven fold-Talmud.

Offline chamookman

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2014, 05:11:32 am »
Been using choppers for years, love them ! Bob
"May the Gods give Us the strength to draw the string to the cheek, the arrow to the barb and loose the flying shaft, so long as life may last." Saxon Pope - 1923.

Grasshopper Mouse

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2014, 08:22:07 am »
I use choppers for all the fletching I do. They do take some practice to get consistently good results. I feel that the base grind on the feather makes a huge difference in how well the chopper works. I get the worst results with Trueflight feathers and the best with Gateway and the feathers that Sagittarius Archery sells.

Guy

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2014, 09:12:40 am »
They work great, Just keep an eye on the cutter band. Be sure its not coming down and hitting the back-up bar the quill rides on, you'll see what I mean when you get one. I have four of them in various lengths and shapes, love them.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline nclonghunter

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2014, 09:16:14 am »
Thanks everyone, looks like a chopper is in the future.
There are no bad knappers, only bad flakes

Offline nclonghunter

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2014, 06:08:53 pm »
Chopper ordered....feathers will fly
There are no bad knappers, only bad flakes

Offline PAHunter

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2014, 12:42:25 am »
Does the chopper work well on turkey feathers?  Any pics?
Thanks,
Rob - Wexford, PA

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe". - Abe Lincoln

Offline nclonghunter

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2014, 03:01:48 pm »
Chopper has worked great on turkey feathers. What I quickly realized was the better feather cuts were based on how well the feather was prepared for the chop. I have a lot of scrap stuff laying around, so I took two pieces of thin metal and some wood and made a feather clamp to grind the base and sides. 3 Rivers sells one similar to what I made. I also use a table drill with a round grinder attached. Like I said the chopper works well, but getting the feather ground was the most trouble to get correct and I am still working it out. Just takes a few seconds to grind a feather.

Something that I noticed is when I chop the right wing feather I lay the underside of the feather up. If I want to chop a left wing feather I put the underside down, but both facing in the same direction. Seems to work okay, but I only have a right wing fletcher.

Good Luck
There are no bad knappers, only bad flakes

Offline adb

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2014, 04:22:15 pm »
I think it works OK. I use it with wild turkey feathers, after splitting and grinding. You have to be careful to line up the cutter every time, otherwise the profile turns out just slightly different. You really have to give it a good hard whack, too... hard enough that the cut feather pops out forward. Put the chopper on top of a hard surface. I think for the money, they're great.

Offline nclonghunter

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2014, 09:22:51 am »
Here are a few that I chopped. Still learning the base grinding.
There are no bad knappers, only bad flakes

Grasshopper Mouse

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2014, 09:51:08 pm »
I get the best chopping results when the bases are ground narrow. Thick doesn't seem to matter much but a wide base can and will fold over as the blade comes down and that will change the way the feather itself cuts. Narrow bases don't fold. That's why I've always liked Gateway feathers and those that Sagitarrius Archery sells, they both have narrow bases and I get consistently good chops on them.

Guy

Offline Jim Davis

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2014, 11:56:22 pm »
here is what I made to trim feathers. One jaw is padded to grip the feather. I trim around the jaw with a pair of scissors. I trim the quills first.

Jim Davis

Kentucky--formerly Maine

Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: 3 River feather chopper?
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2014, 07:15:36 pm »
I do like Mohawk
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