Late Spring - feather moulting time ...

[Rob DiStefano]

.... mmmmm, some nice Canada goose feathers I picked up during a morning's walk around the pond behind my house - just waiting to be turned into arrow fletchings ...

 

[bbassi]

love them goose feathers. othing better in the rain.  

[Rob DiStefano]

Cut off the quill tip.
 

Use a sharp Xacto or single edge razor blade to cut down the quill line and separate the feather.
 

 

 

Clamp feather ...
 

... and sand the quill base smooth.
 

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Smooth bottom!
 

Trim off any quill side excess.
 

The finished fletch.
 

Ready to chop and fletch or fletch and burn!
 

[Bmac]

Thanks for the "How to"!  We shoot dozens of geese each fall.  I guess I need to start saving some feathers.

[Jason Jelinek]

I like stripping them instead of grinding.  It's easy to do.  They are harder to fletch, but with a little practice and fletch tape it works pretty well.

Thanks for the heads up!
Jason

[Killdeer]

I spent a summer stalking dryponds here in urbanized Virginia, ended up with a gazillion feathers! I just couldn't stop...free fletches all over the ground! And more the next day!

Killdeer  

[frassettor]

Originally posted by Killdeer:
 I just couldn't stop...free fletches all over the ground! And more the next day!

Killdeer    

  Thats great

[pucci]

Thank you, Rob. I was looking for this kind of information.