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Author Topic: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?  (Read 2049 times)

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Offline Prarie Bowyer

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How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« on: June 13, 2012, 12:05:53 pm »
Hi,

curious to make a few new flu-flu arrows and I wanna do the spiral wrapped type but I've got a large supply of feathers.  Should I use 2ndary for this or primaries?  I understand they are ground differently.  Haven't tinkered with it yet but I'm curious.

thanks,
Scott
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Offline Pat B

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2012, 09:29:24 pm »
I use full lerngth store bought feathers just the way they come out of the pack. You can just tie the rear, wrap the feather and tie the forward and you're done. Be sure to make the front wrap smooth so it won't injure your hand.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Ifrit617

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2012, 11:13:58 pm »
Just grind the qwill as thin as possible in order to easily wrap the feather around the shaft..

Jon
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Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2012, 02:40:29 am »
If you have a complete feather, simply strip the feather away from the quill.  It naturally provides a thin even base, much thinner and consistant than can be achieved by grinding.  After discovering this trick, and learning tips on here from others, I amm never going back to grinding...too much work.  That said, I have several dozen full length true flight feathers that are right wing, and all my jigs are left wing, so I use these for spiral wrapping flu-flus until I run out of them. 
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"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

Offline Bear Claw

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2012, 03:51:17 am »
I agree CMB. I discovered stripping/ peeling the feather from the quill a few years ago and have not split and sanded a feather since. One thing that I do before I strip them is soak them in warm water for 15 minutes or more to soften the quill. The feathers lay closer to the shaft than sanded feathers and I have noticed no durability issues. I have several practice arrows that have been shot hundreds of times and still look as good as the day I put them on.

Aaron
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Aaron from northwest Arkansas.

Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2012, 04:01:22 am »
Bear claw, rehydrating the feathers prior to stripping is one of the tips I learned on here.  I usually place a couple dozen feathers in a zip loc bog with a damp paper towel and put it in a warm place, like a hot car on a sunny day, for several hours.  That helps too.
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"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

Offline JEB

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Re: How are spiral wrapped feathers ground?
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2012, 08:10:47 am »
I have a feather grinder and all the feathers grind the same, primary and secondary, although the secondaries are a weeker feather they will work good for your project.
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