Hello Fletcher!!! Feather question

[jbullard1]

Turkey feather question
Do I need to keep the left wing and right wing feathers separate or can you sort them

And which feathers exactly do you need
Do I cut them off or pull them out

Jerry

[bluelake]

Turkey feather question
Do I need to keep the left wing and right wing feathers separate or can you sort them

And which feathers exactly do you need
Do I cut them off or pull them out

Jerry

I'm not Fletcher, but don't mix wings on arrows; put lefts on arrows with other lefts and rights on arrows with other rights.  As for which feathers, Korean fletchers use the inner wing feathers, as they tend to be the fullest and least damaged.  As long as you are close to the base of the quill, you can probably cut them.  


T

[jbullard1]

I am gathering/saving these for fletcher
I just need to know if I need to keep them separate
If I were to fletch an arrow I would be lucky to hit the ground with the aid of gravity  

[bluelake]

I am gathering/saving these for fletcher
I just need to know if I need to keep them separate
If I were to fletch an arrow I would be lucky to hit the ground with the aid of gravity  

Ah, o.k.--I see where you were coming from now...  In that case, you'd better hear from him as to what he wants.  

As for fletching (and shooting), give it a try--you'd be surprised what you might be able to do.  I taught my university students, here in Korea, fletching and shooting and they were tickled when they shot arrows they made themselves (and actually hit the target!).


T

[Fletcher]

If you are willing to snip them off the wings and save shipping weight that is the big deal.  They would also be easy to keep in separate gallon ziploc bags (1 left - 1 right).  A small moth ball in each bag does wonders to knock out the natural vermin that might be on them.

Feathers shorter than 7" will not make good arrow feathers.  Keep them and sell them to fly tiers.  They are great for dry fly wings.  I saw in the sporting store they wanted $3 for a left and right Turkey wing pair, and they were less than 8" long.

I saw a HUGE Tom on the road about a mile from the house the other day.  Just askin' to be 'road kill'  He was Struttin' His Stuff  Must have been some Ladies gigglin at him up in the bushes off the road a piece!!!

The season opens here in about ten days!!!

[Christiaan]

Fletcher,
please show us how you prepare a bare feather to be fletched ..... or guide me to a site that does it.  I'd like to learn.

[Spotted Bull]

Jerry I call the short ones for fly tying...

[bluelake]

Fletcher,
please show us how you prepare a bare feather to be fletched ..... or guide me to a site that does it.  I'd like to learn.

Here are stills from a video I produced over a dozen years ago on crafting the Korean bamboo arrow: http://www.bambooarrow.com/arrow.html  The feather preparation starts at page 9.

[Fletcher]

Great Site Blue Lake.  How do they keep the dihedral angle true without a jig?  Just good eye and a lot of practice?

Now that I have my digi camera I will try to post a series of prints on how I cut, sand and shape a feather.  I will show the fletch jig as well as a hand tied fletch.

Just got back from Eureka Rondy and already packing for Traditional Archers 3-D shoot next weekend.

Snowing again today!!!

[bluelake]

Great Site Blue Lake.  How do they keep the dihedral angle true without a jig?  Just good eye and a lot of practice?

Thanks!  Yeah, just a lot of practice.  It's really amazing watching them do it, as they make it seem so effortless, yet, whenever I've tried similar, my results were less than satisfactory, to say the least.

[Christiaan]

Thank you Bluelake.  Very interesting site.  Pity the pics are a bit blurred.