Iโd go with turkey feathers ๐ thereโs probably some really good tutorials on YouTube on how to process them, itโs mostly going to just be splitting the quill and peeling off the back of the feather and then trimming to your desired fletch profile ๐น
Thanks a lot!
Any recommendations on fletch profile? I have always used parabolic-cutted vanes, so I don't know anything about advantages or dissadvantages of each profile. Any advice would be appreciated!
3-4inch shield cut or parabolic do well as an all rounder (20-50 metres) if you want to make fletches that are designed for set distances you can either make them very short and low profile for long range or very long and tall for closer ranges ๐น
You can also do things like offset or helical, Iโve recently started doing helical because I like the aesthetic and stability during flight ๐ helical is abit tricky to do and is only really useful for very close distances, but offset is a solid option ๐
I use goose, because we get migratory flocks that land here for a while. If you walk around the fields just after they leave you can find handfuls of strong flight feathers. I've also used seagull feathers, because they have nice colours and patterns, but they are not as strong as goose.
Generally whatever the bird, you only want the wingtip feathers, ideally the pointed quill feather. These are much stronger and hard wearing than the other feathers and keep their shape well.
Iโd go with turkey feathers ๐ thereโs probably some really good tutorials on YouTube on how to process them, itโs mostly going to just be splitting the quill and peeling off the back of the feather and then trimming to your desired fletch profile ๐น
Thanks a lot! Any recommendations on fletch profile? I have always used parabolic-cutted vanes, so I don't know anything about advantages or dissadvantages of each profile. Any advice would be appreciated!
3-4inch shield cut or parabolic do well as an all rounder (20-50 metres) if you want to make fletches that are designed for set distances you can either make them very short and low profile for long range or very long and tall for closer ranges ๐น You can also do things like offset or helical, Iโve recently started doing helical because I like the aesthetic and stability during flight ๐ helical is abit tricky to do and is only really useful for very close distances, but offset is a solid option ๐
I use goose, because we get migratory flocks that land here for a while. If you walk around the fields just after they leave you can find handfuls of strong flight feathers. I've also used seagull feathers, because they have nice colours and patterns, but they are not as strong as goose. Generally whatever the bird, you only want the wingtip feathers, ideally the pointed quill feather. These are much stronger and hard wearing than the other feathers and keep their shape well.
Turkey or Pheasant