Folks may have done this before, but the family that gave me 5 sets of turkey wings wanted to know what how I was going to use them, so might as well show everyone. From the "Turkey Fairy" thread earlier, I used wire cutters to clip off the left wing primaries and secondaries and dusted them in borax to protect from bugs. First step was to split them with a razor knife right down the grove.

My grinding jig is for fletch length only so I cut the feathers to 5" to fit the jig and load it up:

Latch it in the jig then off to the belt sander. I just bought a cheapo drill press and some drum sanders, so I will probably rig something on that soon, but....was dying to try some feathers, so light touch on the belt and you can eyeball it quite well.

The take the clamp to the edge and trim the sides. Take care so as not to destroy your jig!

Although I've got some stuff to build a feather burner..and don't have any cutters - time to hand trim some feathers. A good guide, sharp scissors and a little effort, they come our pretty good.

Three fresh turkey feathers ready to go.

Finished arrow although the color's kind of weak, still looks "purty".

Wanted to add one more picture that's pretty good of the raw feather in the clamp.

Cheers, now only 200 more feathers to grind!

Hope this helped out some of the other rookies - this is the time of the year for those turkey wings. Steve

wear a dust amsk-those sanding dusties are deadly

Whatcha mean are deadly? Irritating or actually toxic?

I beleive you can inhale mites/egg and the dust collecting in your lungs is not good for you. I made my jig like your out of Al and found that the mask keeps me from ssneezing and having ddust boogers!

Guys, as far as mites or eggs,throw 3 or 4 moth balls in with your feathers and they'll last forever.I keep moth balls in with all my fletching supplies and the bugs let them alone.Glen

Thanks for the info. I hope to be grinding some feathers of my own soon.

Thank you for your effort to show us all how to do this. You have impecable timing. I've got some raw turkey feathers coming. Guess I better get off of here and out into the garage and build a jig. Thanks! ;~)

What do you guys use for protecting them from "bugs" when storing them? I have heard that moth balls work. I don't like the idea of the smell getting into the feathers though. Any other ideas?

Thanks for the grind-along SOS.

I use moth flakes. I started using them when I tied flies. It'll keep the bugs out of your feather stash. I don't worry too much aboth the smell, after they are out enough that smell disappears.

How about sticking them in the freezer for a few days to take care of the bugs?

I put my feathers in a plastic tout with my cedar shafts. Bug don't like it and they smells natural. If you don't use cedar shafts you can buy cedar dog bedding at Wally-World. It keeps the ticks and fleas off of old rover.

Love Life, Bowhunt, Flyfish, and Play a Martin Guitar !

DJ

SOS Thanks for taking the time to post all that. Where are you buying the borax ? I've ont seen it in any stores. donnyjack I really like the ideal of the cedar bedding if it works.

I haven't tried it, but I have heard that a couple of seconds in the microwave will kill the bugs.

I'm with donnyjack, use the shavings for POC tapers. I just dump them in the bottom of arrow bucket.

I don't have anything to add about the feather grinding. But, the bugs, my kids are in to bug collecting. We use Ethyl Acetate to kill them before pinning and drying. Does a real good job and doesn't hurt the color of the insects. I would think it would work well with the feathers. the smell goes away after being exposed to the air.

I've used the borax because an article on preserving turkey skins I read a long time ago said to rub borax into the skin and feathers, pin to shape and let it dry. I've had that skin in the garage in Georgia for 7 years and no bugs.

Diesel, the borax is 20 Mule Team Borax and I bought it in the laundry detergent section...of course that was 7 years ago!

Microwave oven...? I don't think I will be able to get that past my wife!

Snag, just tell her you're cooking dinner tonight!

Assuming you have killed off the worst of the bugs, then just keep them in large zip-lock bags bugs can't get in or out, in fact you can sit on a zip-lock bag and it will hold pressure then blow out the bag (well, depends on your weight but the point is the seal is air tight)

Great build-along SOS--I've hopefully got some feathers coming shortly, too. Nice jig--I'm with Nomo, I should be out in the garage making one! Thanks again for sharing!

ttt

SOS, Finally someone I can ask this question to. How can I build a grinding jig like yours? I've been making turkey fletching for a year now. I've been putting the feather in my jojan fletching straight clamp and grinding the base with a dremel tool equipped with a sanding drum. I've gotten pretty good at getting the base even and close to finished. I have to make the final touches with a piece of fine sand paper and elbow grease. The real problem has been that my clamp is too thick to allow me to grind the base from the sides to narrow it- so more finishing touches and elbow grease to trim the base with a scalpel. Then I use a Little Chopper and a mallet to make my shield cut feathers. It takes me on average 8-10 minutes per feather to prepare them for the chopper and only 2-5 seconds to chop them. I have over 500 raw feathers put away that need to be finished. But it takes me so long to make them that I only make as many as I need for a given fletching task. If I make one like yours, how much could it speed me up using a belt sander? I'd appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks, jostov7

jostov7 Go to Bowyers Edge and look under Barred for Life. Here is the link. http://www.bowyersedge.com/feather.html

They walk you wright through how to make your grinding jig.

jostov7, that's exactly where I got my info. I didn't make full length, I used 7 inch pieces of 1x2 oak I had left over from a board bow. For the metal part of the clamp I found some nailing strips for connecting lumber in the lumber section of Lowes. It is 1 3/4 x 5 with little nailing holes in it. I countersunk about 4 holes in each one for some 10 x 1/2" screws. and then carefully lined up the sides for the hinge and latch. I used the Dremel to whack off part of the latch so the clamp will fit flush to a table - will try and take a photo - so I could use a sanding drum on my $35 drill press from Harbor Freight. I just clamped a strip of wood (anything straight) 3 business cards away from the drum and use the jig. Works great, but belt sander and a little care works great, too. Here are some more photos - a little dark cuz it is nighttime! Steve

Here's one view of the jig and the drill press sander:

Here's another view:

And here's a view of the latch end that I cut down so it would sit flush. Sorry it is a little blurry. I'm still using the belt sander to dress the edges. A strip of duct tape on the metal help keep you from wearing it down too far! Steve

Steve, are you using that strip of wood as a stop, by placing your jig flat on the table behind it and simply sliding the jig back and forth?-meaning that you clamped it in just the right place to keep the feather just the right distance from the sanding drum to keep from grinding off too much and/or grinding into your jig. Or are you simply clamping the strip close to the drum and using it as a guide while placing your jig flat on top of the strip and being careful to keep the jig's edge in line with the strip's edge? When you said "width of 3 business cards" were you saying that because this is the thickness you want the base of your feather to be? Or is it an arbitrary distance just used to keep the drum from contacting the strip? Sorry for all the questions, but the dark photos combined with the poor resolution on my computer makes it hard for me to see clearly what you described. But maybe after I visit the link above on making my own, I will better understand what you describe. Anyway, if you find the time, I'd appreciate any clarifications you could give me on the questions I have posed. Thanks, jamie

Jamie,

Yes, I set the wood as a guide for the jig. I positioned it so the metal part of the clamp was about 3 business card thicknesses off the sander - seemed to be about right. Found this afternoon after sanding them flat, I could lower the table, move the guide and set the jig with the feather up to grind the edge off the feather. Works pretty well. Steve

Steve, man what a great, simple tool. The web link you gave is awesome. After viewing it, you could have saved you time on answering my last questions. Hey, how long has it been since you last visited that site? There has been more information added since the original article posted. He describes in detail how to grind off the edges using a "contact guide" attached to the base of your sanding drum. He had a circular piece of hard slick wood only 1/32" more in diameter than the drum attach at the bottom of the drum. He then added a strip of wood to the jig that kept a 1/32" space from the metal part. Then when the drum is set to the proper height, you simply run your jig through 1 time letting the wooden disc on the drum make and keep contact with the strip on the jig for the entire pass. He claims this will make for a perfect grind, leaving a 1/16" thick glue base in one swipe. He says you can do over 100 feathers in an hour or less with this technique! Then he goes on to explain how to use these contact guides for grinding the sides, but I don't remember the procedure well enough to try to explain. But if you haven't already, check it out. But thanks again for the great link. My only problem now is that I don't have a drill press. How much you think I could get by spending to get one sufficient to the task? And if I can borrow one, how much would a sanding drum cost me and where would I find one? later, Jamie

Jostov7--Just about any drill press would be adequate for this; I've got a benchtop from Sears that will do just about anything (Power isn't really an issue on feathers). I think Steve said he got his from Harbor Freight (they have really good prices). On the drums, you can find them about anywhere--Harbor may even have them. I got mine at Sears (notice a pattern? :-)) in a entire set of different sizes for about $20. I think a single would cost you around $5-10. I believe I've seen them as Ace, and pretty sure that Lowes/Home Depot might have them.

Steve--again, great job on the 'grind-along'--I'm building a jig after seeing this! Thanks again for sharing!

I just use a barrel sanding bit in my hand held drill. I don't have a belt sander or drill press....for now. The drill works pretty good. Just have to be careful to keep it moving and watch the depth it is sanding to. I made a clamp like the one you are using too. In the good, better, best scenario mine would be OK while yours is BEST! It all works though,

I love these things! Great, now i've got something else I have to try!

TTT for a friend that wanted to see it....

i am getting some feathers also i need to fletch about 2-3 dozen arrows for cloverdale. i use a sanding jig similar to yours and it works well. cool buildalong very cool. irondawg(kevin)

This is great!! Thanks

Borax is much better than moth balls to keep the bugs at bay. I put a couple of table spoons in each zip-lock bag of feathers and shake the bag, no bugs and best of all no moth ball smell.

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