Raw feather to fletching build along

[footed shaft]

Hey folks, it's almost turkey season again( finally!!). I decided to do a little build along for anyone who might be interested in how i take raw feathers and turn them into finished fletching.
1st off you need a full length turkey wing. This one is a left wing primary. You can use either primary or secondary ones, but for hunting with i use primaries because they have more oil in them and are quiter.


Once the feather is choosen, i use the "best" 6 or 7" of the feather. You can grind full length 10/11" ones but i find you only get 2 mediocre feathers instead of one great feather.I use a 6" ruler and wire cutters to cut the feather.


Once you have the feather cut to length, it's time to split the feather down the middle. I use a sharp box cutter and carefully split the feather .



Once you have the feather cut to length and split , it's time to load it in the feather grinder. The one i am using here is made by Great Northern Bow company from Michigan. It doeas a great job, but i am looking at building a slight variation of it to grind the base and width a little finer.



I have the drum sander ( which is part of the kit) set up on my drill press along with a Shop Vac .You need the Shop Vac due to the amount of feather dust that is generated when you grind the feather at 3100 rpm. I grind the width first.

I grind the thickness second, it seems to work better for me in this order.



Once you have the width and thickness ground you can use a small piece of sand paper to eliminate the "scalloping" that may happen from the grinding process. I just rub it along the length( width and thickness) of the feather a couple strokes.




Once you have the feather ground it's time to chop them( unless you are going to dye them, which i will talk about in another thread).
Place the feather in a chopper( i choose 5" l/w shield for the photo).


Align the back and front of the feather with the bottom part of the chopper and close the chopper down onto the feather. Using a dead blow hammer , i give the the chopper a sharp blow to the top frame.



Open the top frame and you will have a newly cut feather, chopped to the desired shape and length.






You now have a feather that is ready to be glued to the shaft of your choice.

Like i mentioned before, you can dye the feathers before you chop them. It is a very easy process, and alot of fun. I will post a feather dying build a long tomorrow for those interested.
Here is a pic of a few barred feather i have dyed .



If anyone has questions please feel free to ask. I have been doing this for awhile now and it never gets old!!
Bill

[bcmuledeer]

Thanks for posting, always wondered how you get the feathers the exact same! Keep it coming!
Bill

[masboy]

always wondered how they do feathers now i know .good job very interesting .

[wheelie]

Very good post. Enjoyed that.

[one shot scott]

Thanks for sharing that footed shaft! Very interesting.

[tat4life]

Very cool and interesting...thanx for sharing...

[Limbs and Sticks]

Hey folks, it's almost turkey season again( finally!!). I decided to do a little build along for anyone who might be interested in how i take raw feathers and turn them into finished fletching.
1st off you need a full length turkey wing. This one is a left wing primary. You can use either primary or secondary ones, but for hunting with i use primaries because they have more oil in them and are quiter.


Once the feather is choosen, i use the "best" 6 or 7" of the feather. You can grind full length 10/11" ones but i find you only get 2 mediocre feathers instead of one great feather.I use a 6" ruler and wire cutters to cut the feather.


Once you have the feather cut to length, it's time to split the feather down the middle. I use a sharp box cutter and carefully split the feather .


They would sure look good on my 2114's, must have got warm up there.

Wes



Once you have the feather cut to length and split , it's time to load it in the feather grinder. The one i am using here is made by Great Northern Bow company from Michigan. It doeas a great job, but i am looking at building a slight variation of it to grind the base and width a little finer.



I have the drum sander ( which is part of the kit) set up on my drill press along with a Shop Vac .You need the Shop Vac due to the amount of feather dust that is generated when you grind the feather at 3100 rpm. I grind the width first.

I grind the thickness second, it seems to work better for me in this order.



Once you have the width and thickness ground you can use a small piece of sand paper to eliminate the "scalloping" that may happen from the grinding process. I just rub it along the length( width and thickness) of the feather a couple strokes.




Once you have the feather ground it's time to chop them( unless you are going to dye them, which i will talk about in another thread).
Place the feather in a chopper( i choose 5" l/w shield for the photo).


Align the back and front of the feather with the bottom part of the chopper and close the chopper down onto the feather. Using a dead blow hammer , i give the the chopper a sharp blow to the top frame.



Open the top frame and you will have a newly cut feather, chopped to the desired shape and length.






You now have a feather that is ready to be glued to the shaft of your choice.

Like i mentioned before, you can dye the feathers before you chop them. It is a very easy process, and alot of fun. I will post a feather dying build a long tomorrow for those interested.
Here is a pic of a few barred feather i have dyed .



If anyone has questions please feel free to ask. I have been doing this for awhile now and it never gets old!!
Bill

They sure would look good on my 2114's,just plain ol turkey
Wes

[vixenmaster]

Well done walk thru very informitive on the building feather fletching. Pic's were great, Thx

[Boo]

They sure would look good on my 2114's,just plain ol turkey
Wes

LOL! Tooooo funny!

[footed shaft]

Thanks for the compliments folks. I spend alot of time in the garage cutting fethers from the wing, cutting,splitting and grinding. It's a pile of fun!

[footed shaft]

Wes, i will be working on your feathers this week. Nice enough to be out in the garage ( with a beer) and not freeze to death. Bill

[cmawdsley]

Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.

[Limbs and Sticks]

Wes, i will be working on your feathers this week. Nice enough to be out in the garage ( with a beer) and not freeze to death. Bill

Still not warm enough here to drink a cool one out side
Wes

[cmawdsley]

Still not warm enough here to drink a cool one out side
Wes

Dude, up here in the Great White North we drink 'em while ice fishing, standing out on Lake Huron*.
-10 Celsius with the wind howling down our backs!
By the end of the day, it's like having barley-flavoured slushies!
----
*You were lucky to have a lake! There were a hundred and fifty of us living in t' shoebox in t' middle o' road.

[frisky]

Very interesting. I never realized that a feather took that much work! Or maybe I should have said , took that much tender loving care!