Feather burner/Choppers
 

I have been considering making my own feathers after these huge price increases. The feather chopper is around $25 and the burners are like $100. It appears you need to have the feather on the arrow to use the burner and be careful not to touch your shaft (cedars) to the ribbon? That would make it difficult to make shield cut, etc?

Can you burn feathers without the arrrow? And why does everyone like the much more expensive burner over the choppers?

Thanks for any advise.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

You'd probably want to get a vario.

The $20choppers are really not all that great.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

I make mine. I cut the feathers with a razor blade, down the middle of the spine. I then made a simple gig that is nothing more than two pieces of wood that hold the feather with the split spin exposed. I glue a small piece of 3/32" stock to the ends of the two boards (I actually use metal so that it doesn’t grind down over time) with enough gap between them to slip a feather of 5" or less between them.. I grind them while holding them between the pieces of wood (you can use a dermal tool, or hand sand, or a belt sander to grind them, I like hand sanding). The two pieces of wood on the end keeps the spins all even in thickness. To burn them, I simply have two pieces of wood that I cut out with my band saw in the shape I want my feathers. I glued a popsicle stick, flat to the base of one with about a ¼” or more over hang so I can rest the other board on the base of the feather spine, trapping the spine between the popsicle stick of the other board and base of said board. I then sanded both shaped pieces together, so they are identical when placed together with an 3/32 inch piece of wood between the popsicle stick and the board (this way they will be identical when I trap a feather between the two). Now all you got to do is take your ground feathers, hold them between the two pieces of shaped wood, cut the feathers close to your design with scissors, then burn the rest of the feathers off with a propane torch. The way I do it, you can start with raw feathers and make them any way you want. Burners are prefered becausethey willmake much smoother edges. Triming leaves jagged edges adn uneven barbs that sometimes will not catch the barbals worth a flip on the ends.

I hope this makes sense.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

You can leave a burn mark on the shaft with the burner if you aren't careful. I don't know of a way you can get a consistent burn without the feather being on the shaft first. And they stink!

I prefer a chopper myself--the Vario is great. Probably going to start using 4-4" feathers since feathers have shrunk--can't get two good 5" cuts anymore.

Chad

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

Make a simple jig like I suggested and you can burn all the feathers you want and never touch a shaft. the popsicle stick serves as the shaft and the shorter feather template holds the feather in place. Works wonders.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

Don't like the constant "BAM,BAM" of the choppers.Once you have the burner set up for the shaft,you won't burn it--and you can find them used for way less than $100.Bought mine at a swap meet for $45

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

I liked the burner too, but for simplicity the chopper IS easier.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

Thanks guys, on 3Rivers, they show a video and make the choppers look like a piece of cake.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

i have been using a lil' chopper and i love mine. if have a high profile bananna and stealth i think. its kind of a modified shield cut that is lower profiled and rounded towards the back. they are fast and i just wait till i need to take out my frustrations for the day and sit down with a rubber mallet and go to town.

RE: Feather burner/Choppers
 

If you go with a chopper, I strongly suggest the Vario Feather Clipper. It's not cheap (around $50), but well worth it IMO. Don't use a hammer (you'll ruin the blade if you do)--just the heel of your hand--so it's not so noisy. It has a quill holder so your fingers are totally away from the blade, and it does a factory cut every time. Quick, easy, no stink. You can get them custom made for a particular cut, or they have gobs of designs to choose from. You can also get different blades for one chopper (cheaper) if you want.

Chad