[borderfly]

It has been told that if the stem of the feather is to thick to wrap or you want to just use one side and not waist the other then you can split the feather in half. Is there a trick to this that would make this easier?:Eyecrazy:

This has been driving me crazy for a long time and would love some ideas from the experts.

KC

 

[Beauly]

Use a very thin, sharp blade to split the stem (rachis?) from the base on up. I use a scalpel for the task. Watch your fingers.

 

[kyleedge]

..

Hey.bud
look up how to split jay feathers
For classic salmon flees..old tech are
still relevant ..in many cases...

 

[Hardyreels]

You may find it handy to use something to press the quill flat first. I have used a number of things including the rounded end of my Benchmade carry blade to roll / press flat the quills. After they are flat they are easier to cut without going off course.

Ard

 

[theCC]

Ard..clear your mailbox bud...

Carry on...sorry for the intrusion gents

 

[failtospey]

I cannot say that this works on every type of feather, but it works on quite a few ive tried.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F-VADVzarw

 

[aaronostoj]

Having split 1000's of feathers, I can only offer one bit of advise:

It gets easier after the first couple hundred.

Every feather is different. Repetition is the key to efficiency. I use sharp razor knife like an exacto and do them freehand.

Hope this helps.

Aaron

 

[PGB]

I find for the larger quilled feathers such as goose, soaking them in warm water with a little drop of dish soap (un scented) helps. Then i smooth the quill flat with the back of some thin flat pliers I have and use a very fine exacto to split them to about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up then i peel them apart and hope for the best. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.