Cut from bird. My grandson got this turkey with his dad. First one. Wash in Luke warm water and Dawn dish soap. Rinse well. JF

getting ready to follow another great project Jeff. Have you ever dyed feathers 2 different colors, like orange front, yellow back?

Yup, should be a cool thread! Shawn

As long as HE don't mess up the Kitchen, den HE BE ALL RIGHT! This should be interesting!

Well my wife told me to take them stinking turkey feathers outs. I said but honey I washed them and used soap ;-) JF

I found out through trial and error, that this curved blade works like one sided scissors. Starting at the thick end and rocking the knife into the quilt. If you're wanting to use both halves on the secondary? feathers. On the primary feathers I put them in a long clamp and grind off one side, close but not all of it. A razor blade comes in handy to. I really like the knife to split. I might make a different one to hopefully be more ergonomic.

Grinding the bulk thickness down,36grit on the belt sander. I will probably make a rough grinding jig for this and save my good jig for the final grin step. JF

For comparison how much I removed. It makes the final grind go alot better. JF

As suggested my the main Man, feather grinder. I'm going to dye my feathers first. Before the final grinding is done. JF

I'm using the liquid Rit dye mixed with water as directions say and add apple cider vinegar to get the color to take set quicker. I used 1qt solution,warm in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour over and hold or keep poking them in to the dye let sit for oh 1/2 hour. JF

I checked a couple and the water needed to be bit hotter 1.5 2 minutes. Hot but not boiling. Back in for another soak. JF

Hope that You have some kind of gloves for handling the dyed feathers? BLUE HANDS might look a little odd? BATMAN

When washing make sure to use a good oil cutting dish soap. And agitate the sh.. or I mean oil out of them. That is an important part of the dye working. 1/2 a cup of Viniger to the quart of solution. After a 1/2 to 1 hour rinse in cold water, until the water is clear. Save the rest of your solution in a milk jug for another day. JF

Let them dry. If I hunted in the rain I would use some water repellent on my finished feathers. But I don't see the need, unless it was an expensive paid hunt :-) JF

I am going for a aquamarine color like these old ones. Pretty darn close. JF

Can hardly wait to try the fuchsia or the orange :-) JF

Grind the bottom of the feather in the jig. I think I have 120 grit on my drum. Let the feathers dry completely or it end up to limp. The the width. Then the bottom again until it goes through without removing and more quill. I have a fence I take in an out, pending what I'm grinding bottom or side. JF

Now a width pass. JF

And for peet sakes where a dust mask and a vacuum hook up. Ready for the chopper :-) JF

Thanks, you make it look easy.

SA-WEET. Always into something pretty cool Jeff. Maybe you should write a book on the knowledge of traditional archery for those of us who are slow learners and need to repeat lessons regularly. :-) In a real wet situation do you think the color would run out of the feather?

-Bones

5" left sheild cut. Solid flat surface. Hold feather against the straight edge and usually I blow with a rubber hammer. You know those rubber things we used to use on hubcaps. Not your hand :-\ I did everything alittle to quick. The feathers need to be dry. I'll show you the orange and fuchsia next when I get more time on this same thread. JF

Turquoise turkey feathers :-) JF

Awesome. J. F.

Yes Cody the color will stay put. Thanks for asking. JF

Jeff, it looks like the dye splattered up on that pot behind you:>) Don't over do it bro.

Splattered oops don't tell my wife. I'll just say we bought it that way, remember ;-) JF

Oops the color I used is called teal. I just bought a bottle of aquamarine to try too. JF

Good to know, and like the blue. Guess I am going to have to try it on a few Stykz ground for me.

-Bones

If you dye after you grind lightly sand the color off where you glue. Just to be sure it sticks. Oh and yes stykz does a great job of grinding them. One of these days I may get as good as Todd. JF

I just did a few two weeks ago. Skyzz ground them Good tutorial

Great job.

Can you post details of your jig? Specs? More pics?

Thanks.

Fun to follow, thanks.

I've had a couple request. One some measurements on my feather grinding setup. Two a mixture recipe. 8 ounce bottle of Rit Dye, 36 ounces of water heated to 160 degrees, cup and a half of distilled vinegar. I'll be getting some measurements on the jig setup. I'll add them to this thread. Dying some orange today :-) JF

What's the shelf life on that dye after first use?

Jeff I usually just put my feathers in my great northern grinder and start grinding without first splitting the feathers. Have you tried this or has anyone else? It just seems to me that it saves a lot of time in the process and does just as good a job.

Yes I can grind without ? splitting. But if I want the other side of the secondary feathers, I have to split first. Rit Dye, Shelf life not sure put I'll be finding out. JF

mine turned out too green.

I like that green JT.

BACK TO THE TOP! Wanna SEE'UM with the finished ORANGE!

Nice!!

Gentlemen...this is what we should be doing more of on this site. Projects, How-to-do-its, repairs, restorations, tweeks, build-alongs, and such. Thank you BmBowyer for taking the time. I bet trad lovers are mostly DIY guys at heart. Thats the added satisfaction factor that lead us down this road in the first place.

I agree cobra, I like this stuff

There is no "shelf life" to speak of on the dye. When I was tying flies commercially I used dye solution that was a year old or more and never had an issue. You MAY have to let the feathers soak a little longer, but it doesn't go bad.

How did the ORANGE feather dye turn out? What's NEXT?

There coming Batman. Sorry we're experiencing technical difficulty's ;-) JF

Orange came out great Batman. JF

Fuchsia was next. Now for split and grind after they're dry. A aquamarine color is next. I'm just trying different colors and grinding technique. JF

Very nice Jeff thanks

Those fuchsia ones would look nice on my pink arrows :) Looks good Jeff, The orange ones turned out great.

Fishingcoyote :-) wait drybones will want them on his arrows too. JF

Fuchsia all chopped up. Now on the aquamarine color :-) JF

So you think you know me... Well,. Okay so I do want them and maybe the aqua as the off color. :-) They would be perfect for the pink zebra shafts. I am VERY tempted to get some Rit and go all pinks...

-Bones

It sure makes the store bought feathers look cheap considering all the work that goes into homemade. Good job!

EXCELLENT THREAD JEFF ... Thank you

Started making my own turkey feathers a few years ago. Lots of work but nothing like them. I choose not to dye mine like the natural look. Very nice Jeff thanks for sharing.

I'm feeling a little blue today ;-) A right wing blue dye bath. JF

Oh yeah mixed with some natural colors, bluebird :-)

Those look sharp!

When you can, pics on the grinding jig? Opened? You have my cogs turning.

You bet I haven't forgot the jig details. JF

I like that blue!!!

Here you go guys, that wanted to see them outside. Not full sun, light gray clouds. JF

SWEET Jeff. The pink and latest blue will look good on my pink arrows. Trip to wally world is in order now... Thanks Jeff. I believe to pick-up some Rit Dye.

-Bones

Buddyb the metal runs all the way through top to bottom. 18-20 gauge. I'm going to get a lay out with measurements, next week :-) JF

Very nice!

Thank you for the gift JT.

The green is even better in-person! Great thread JF. Thanks for doing it.

Your welcome zonic. But it ain't over until I get my butt in gear and get the pictures and dimensions of my jig posted for someone here that asked. I like your new color teal grean. JF

Man I think I have a new hobby! Love the blue- striking color

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Ok :-) here are the dimensions from the jig I built. Somebody else had the original measurements. I just tried to refine some. Maybe I did maybe I didn't. This all works for me fine. Maybe some tweaking still. I can't leave anything alone ;-) JF

When you make it. Just keep your surfaces parallel and flat to each other and square. JF

Very nice!

Did you get to see what you wanted to Bud B? JF

beautiful work Jeff thanks, love the blue ones

Yes, and thank you!

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