Suggestions on how to secure feathers to a tube.

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
J

jjohnson

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
4
Location
Iowa
I have made several attempts to attach pheasant feathers to my tubes without much success. I tried tying, gluing with spray adhesive and CA and wrapping with fine fishing line. I am not pleased with the results. Next I plan to try clear finger nail polish. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jeff
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I have found that, after many lost feathers and stuck fingers, the easiest way is purchase them from Dawn and Ed at exoticblanks.com. The only mess after that is sweeping up the spent plastic.
 
I have read his tutorial and found them very helpful, but the feathers am using are not long enough and when I wrap them and layer them, they become too thick.
I have been looking thru previous posts and search the web, but have not found a clear explanation on how to secure them to the tubes.
I have read your tutorial on casting skins and even tried "painting" the feathers with resin, but the feathers lift off the tube after a couple of minutes of sitting in my mold.
I'm sure I will figure it out but it will be a trial and error process.
I appreciate the information you and others have posted on this forum.
Thanks,
Jeff
 
Not only do I think his feather pens are utterly fantastic but I reckon that Shane's tutorial is one of the best I've ever seen ( on any subject ). I also particularly like the really simply method he uses to square up a blank. It's so simple, it makes you wonder why everybody doesn't do it like that already. :redface::biggrin:
 
I tried several times, read the tutorials, spent hours of drive time thinking about what went wrong and the epiphany I had was to just buy some from JohnU at exoticblanks.com. I like to think I'm pretty quick at catching on to things and pretty creative and imaginative, but I am apparently not as witty as a feather!
 
I've not made feather blanks yet or I would offer some hints. I do have several pkgs of feathers I purchased but haven't used them yet.:frown::frown:
Do a good turn daily!
Don

jjohnson said:
I have read his tutorial and found them very helpful, but the feathers am using are not long enough and when I wrap them and layer them, they become too thick.
I have been looking thru previous posts and search the web, but have not found a clear explanation on how to secure them to the tubes.
I have read your tutorial on casting skins and even tried "painting" the feathers with resin, but the feathers lift off the tube after a couple of minutes of sitting in my mold.
I'm sure I will figure it out but it will be a trial and error process.
I appreciate the information you and others have posted on this forum.
Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...
 
I make my pens to resell. If I purchase the blanks, it would drive the cost of the pens up. I will keep trying until I get it right. I have seen the awesome pens that have been shown on this site, so I know it can be done.
Thanks for the comments.
Jeff
 
I also make my pens to sell, why spend hours making a blank when I can have someone that sells them at a fair price. The time I would have spent making the blank is better spent making the finished product THE PEN. Always remember your time is money weather your selling pens, shoes,lamps or any other thing, you have to pay for your time . I can cast my own blanks but its cheaper in the long run for me to buy from vendors that sell cast blanks like exotics, I'm sure I could also if I wanted to spent the time I could also cast feathers but its really not cost effective. Now if your just wanting to do it for a hobby or you just want to say "I did it" then thats a completely different story, but if your making to sell.........remember time is a cost.
 
I completely agree time is money. I have made several attempts, but total time involved is about 2 hours. I have learned alot from the post on this site which has reduced the learning curve quite a bit. For me, I don't really start selling until June, so right now I have the extra time to experiment and perfect the procedures. Once I get this figured out, I will be able to make and sell these at a competitive price. I do appreciate the advice.
Good luck this year,
Jeff
 
workinforwood said:
I make pens to sell, but the price John sells them for is not too expensive to make a profit, and because they are clear cast blanks, spinning them and polishing them takes very little time.
Click to expand...


I have made one of John's pheasant's and it looks awesome but because of the price of the blank I have to charge double what I normally sell Sierras for. Going to try to sell it anyway but I think it will gather dust. Once I have some time I am going to attempt to learn how to do them myself.
 
If you insist on making them rather than purchasing JohnU's well made blanks. Here's what works for me:

1 use double "sided" taped directly to your brass tube
2 gently adhere feathers on top of now sticky tube
3 "wrap" feather arould with thin, clear fishing lure string
4. cast as "usual"
 
A very good business model for figuring your time is as such...

If you have a full time job, which most of us do.. pen sales help, but don't pay the mortgage...

1. What does your job pay per hour mon-fri?
2. What does your job pay per hour if it is after hours?
3. What does your job pay if you are working on the weekend?

It took me a LOOOOONG time to get the point of being asked those question. My first response was .. I am doing this as a hobby.. and I was quickly asked if I was selling this pens or giving them away. A hobby was something that has no deadlines and something that you could start and stop with great ease. A job has deadlines... Again .. I fought this for weeks before I conceeded in telling ... sigh... MY WIFE she was right. Just one time I would like to be the right one, but that is a whole different thread.

Back to the point at hand. If you spend x amount of time on a blank that you could buy already made, then you need to figure your time, the cost of the material, and the equipment used. Unless it is a rare color, its almost always best to just purchase it from somewhere else unless they are charging an arm, leg, and one eye ball for it .. kinda like healthcare.:rolleyes:
 
You might try making the feathers about 1/2 inch longer on either end of the tube and secure them with thread or fishing line. Then after the blank has been cast, just saw away the threads on either end.

I have cast a VERY few feather blanks and this worked better (still hard) than anything else I tried.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom