I tried the rehyrdating them old feathers and wow! What a difference. They zip right off now. Nice and uniform. I just placed a couple dozen feathers in a long plastic zip loc. (fish fillets from grocery store) and placed a damp paper towel in with them and then placed the bag in a warm car for an afternoon. Let them air out for a day or two in the garage, and when i got to them. I was excited with the results. Now i need to get to prcoessing some of these feathers I got stashed.
Dictionary, thanks for the compliment. I would say the arrow did not take more than an afternoon to make, excluding the shafting. Hard to say how long the shaft takes. After seasoning a bit I skin them, then season some more, then scrape the nodes/buds down and clean them up, then straighten with heat, let sit for a couple weeks, then straighten again, if needed. then i cut notches in the ends for nock and point. Once that is done, the rest is not too much work. Cut and shape the point, thin the cherry bark, wrap the feathers, mount the point, sinew, sinew, and glue on cherry bark. Finish with shellac once sinew is dry.
Sadie, I have not heard of that book. I must check it out. I have been wanting to learn various uses of cedar bark, and how to use it. Thanks!
