Well I can’t help much, but since nobody else has posted, I can say that I’ve split lots of wild turkey feathers with an Xacto and no problem — just hold the quill above where you’re cutting and slice from the thick end toward the tip. I’ve found that once you get the blade tip in, it tends to stay in the center of the quill rather than want to wander out. Nor did I have any problem gluing the feathers on. But in the end they are softer than factory feathers (as are goose feathers) and in my experience don’t perform or last as well, so I quit using them. You are likely right that the factory process includes some sort of stiffening, perhaps just from the dye. dp

Yes what Dave said. I just finished chopping over 4 dozen turkey feathers a couple of weeks ago. Although, these were already split and ground. They are quite old, but I had no problems.

I don’t know, but maybe carolina feathers are different from the rest of the country…

Here’s my experience with how to split the feather, and toughness/stiffness:
– If the feather is dry, then I cut off the very tip of the feather and the thick end of the feather with a scissor. Then I can use my fingernails to split the tip. Then I can carefully pull the quill apart. No need for a razor.
– I have found natural turkey feathers to be tougher/stiffer than store bought feathers. To me, it only makes sense. Store bought feathers come from farm raised white turkeys that have been bread for generations to produce a lot of breast meat, not fly.

Setting aside all matters of economics and access to natural feathers, here is the question: If you want your arrows to fly straight, why would you use feathers from a bird that can’t fly at all?

Good article in the Oct/Nov 2007 edition of TBM.
Knife, file sandpaper and two strips of metal !
I sure like Steves comment !

Bruce

Like Bruce said, try that article…. but splitting the quill is always abit of a stinker.The Xacto knife as DP said is the best cutting implement to use. Once you get them split you take the two strips of metal and clamp them together over the split feather and carefully grind them down on a belt sander to the proper thickness to glue on. Make sure you use only the primary flight feathers. Hope this helps you,Nick.
Wayne:wink:

get a rotary cuuter they work great you might find e at a quilt store they use them a lot for cutting fabric

I use all my left wing primary feathers for fletching not only because I enjoy making them but also it lets me use more of my spring gobbler. They look pretty good on the arrows too. What I do is use an exacto knife to split them. I lay the feather down on a board and insert the tip of the exacto as close to the top of the feather as possible. Stick the tip of the exacto through the feather and into the board. Then just pull the feather through the blade. This keeps the blade stationary and eliminates cutting off my finger. I then grind the base with a stationary belt sander and use a standard 5 1/2″ chopper to finish. They don’t come out quite as good as factory feathers but work just fine for me.

Actually, the Wild Turkey is like a 747 he needs plenty of room to take off. One reason why it is best to call from the top of a hill. Turkeys are more likely to approach uphill that way if they need to make a fast getaway, running downhill makes it easier for them to get airborne. Furthermore, once he is in the air, the american wild turkey is capable of a flight speed up to 60 miles an hour.

Steve Graf wrote:
Setting aside all matters of economics and access to natural feathers, here is the question: If you want your arrows to fly straight, why would you use feathers from a bird that can’t fly at all?