Feather Processing

[Leo Carrisalez]

#2879

Has anyone ever considered using a Hand Sander instead of a belt sander to grind down your feathers. This is just a thought. I went down to the hardware store yesterday to price out the belt sanders then i realized that I had a Mouse handheld sander at home. I havent tried it yet but im guessing that i could place my feahter in my clamp of my fletching jig and grind. Any advice or ideas would really help.

[Ben M.]

#17729

I’ve used both orbital and belt sanders to process feathers. They’ve both worked fine for me. If you’re using the clamp from your fletching jig, I’d suggest using the straight one. It’s hard to get a good, flat consistent edge with the helical left/right wing clamps.

Also, I have had very bad reactions from breathing the dust that comes off the feathers. I always wear a respirator when grinding feathers. Something to keep in mind.

[Leo Carrisalez]

#18592

Thanks for the advice Ben. I recently saw some arrows on a website fletched with Guinea Foul feathers. I really thought it looks slick. Im trying to figure out where i can get some of those feathers for fletching my arrows.

One more question? Do you just use the fine grit. I figure the coarse is overkill…

[Ben M.]

#18876

If you’re able to make usable fletching from guinea fowl, please post about all about it. Their primaries are so small I’d be amazed if they’d stand up to regular use. Not hatin’, just wondering.

I think I always use a medium grit like ~140. My fletching usually turns out just fine. That is, usable and durable like True Flight but not quite so *perfect*. I’m interested to see what you come up with.

[grumpy]

#23766

People are still dropping off flat pidgens at my back door. I’ll send you some if you want to try…..

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