Grinding Turkey Feathers

[Papa]

Do any of you who grind their own feathers use a Dremel tool to do the sanding?

[Jim now in Kentucky]

I just clamp them in the fletching clamp and sand them with a sanding block with 60-grit. works fine. Have also held them against a disk sander with the clamp.

Jim

[eaglefacts]

Papa, I have used a Dremel tool, and it works fine, but find the sander works better and quicker.

[John Cooper]

I tried using a Dremel the first time, but it was hard to get the same thickness and the right angle all the way down the quill.  I found that using a straight fletching clamp and a belt sander (can even use a hand-held one clamped upside down in a vise) works the quickest.  You'll have to hold it at an angle.  Just use the commercial ones as a guide.

John

[BryanB]

The best I have found is a drum sander on a drill press.  It is easy to get an even grind and you can prduce them rather quickly.
Bryan

[Aeronut]

I got tired of resetting everything on my drill press and made a stand-alone feather grinding station.

 


Dennis  

[Littlefeather]

Dennis, Can you post that pic in Adult size please? I'd like to see a detailed look at that thing. I also have a question about grinding. I find that when I grind feathers on my bench sander, one side on the feather has a remaining wide side to it. The wide side is on the left for a right wing feather and visa versa. How do you remove the width once the height grind is made. I hope that makes sence. CK

[John Cooper]

I grind the side even first then do the thickness.  Lay the straight fletching clamp on it's side and do it that way and you'll be able to judge thickness better, too.

John

[BryanB]

Littlefeather-
I like to remove the wide side after the thickness is ground down properly.  I find they are easier to attach.
Bryan

[Aeronut]

Curtis,

I'll get some pictures tonight to post.  I made the jig that Dean Torges shows in his 'Tale of Grinding Truth' article and got tired of having to re-set everything on my drill press.  I had an extra motor so I just made a stand for it.

I run the feather through and grind the side first, then flip the jig and grind the base.  I have two spacers that I use to get the right depth of the grind.

Hopefully I can get a good view with the camera to show this.  I don't know why the first picture came out so small.  I had posted that picture before and it was bigger.

Dennis    

[Littlefeather]

Fantastic! I anxiously await the pics. CK

[Aeronut]

OK Curtis, Here are the pictures.

First is a shot of the Grinder, feather clamp, and two spacers.  I used a 1725 rpm motor that was a freebie (had to do some very minor repair work on it) and made a bracket to mount it.  I bought an arbor at Ace Hardware to fit the shaft and then screwed a drill chuck onto that to hold my drum sander.  Everything but the arbor was scrounged material.
 

Next is the feather in the clamp after stripping off one side.  You always grind the back side of the feather off, not the top.
 

First I grind off the back using the narrow spacer.
 

Next I flip the clamp on its side, put in the wide spacer, and grind the flat.  After this pass you can use a sanding block and fine sandpaper to put a smoother finish on it if you want.
 

Here is a closeup of the last shot.
 

You don't want to put too much pressure against the sanding drum or you will just fold the edge over the clamp and use a vacuum or dust collector unless you like the smell of semi-burnt feathers.

Dennis  

[Aeronut]

Here is a couple of feathers I did.  I will grind secondaries too and use them for Flu-flus.  I'm going to try some guinea feathers some day.  I think the polka-dot pattern would look cool as a fletching.
 

Dennis  

[Littlefeather]

Thanks Dennis! Why don't you post to the "how-to" forum. Appreciate the help. CK

[kobus]

anyone want to try heritage turkey feathers get ahold of me theyre some awesome colors-primaries or secondaries

[swampbiologist]

Hey guys, Canada Goose Primary feathers work well too. They make a good cock feather. I also use the drum sander technique as Aeronut does. If I have only three or four feathers to grind, I will split the quill with a knife and sand the remainder with a hand block sander. It's a little slower but does a good job. Those of you guys who can't afford a drill press with drum sander or don't have the room. The grinding process can create a good bit of dust but with the sanding block, you can take it outside with you and keep the wife off of your back and feather dust out of the kitchen!

[D. Johnston]

Hey Dennis, Nice setup there! I was thinking you might be able to be a little more efficient if you stacked the narrow spacer on top of the wide one so you wouldn't have to mess around with switching them out to make two passes on your feather. Just a quick thought. Nice work there. David

[Richie Nell]

WOW... you guys have to be doing it the hard way.  I have been making my feathers off and on for about 15 years.  
I first cut out the best 5.25 inch section of the full feather, then I split the quill with a sharp razor knife, put it in the clamp and shave down the quill pretty low with that same knife,  with sandpaper in hand I then sand the quill smooth.  It is very easy to do.  Then get sharp scissors and cut the feather to whatever shape you want.  Low cut nanners are my preference.  

They have worked great for years.

[Kingstaken]

By griding, do you get better results by this I mean a better product then just stripping the feather off the quill?
I just strip and chop. Never had a problem. Feather seems to shape much better being that it is not so stiff due to the quill being thinner then grinding.

Yes marriage is a great institution, one I'm committed too.  :confused:

[snag]

If you grind it you get a beautifully flat even surface to glue to the arrow...if you do a good job grinding it!