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stripping rhea

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  flytyer 
#1 · (Edited)
does anybody have a way of keeping the rhea feather membrane from drying out and becoming brittle after you have soaked and stripped the feathers??seems like i remember someone saying they added somthing to the soaking water??thanks.
 
#2 ·
i find that if your careful, you can strip rhea with out soaking the feathers first. though they still require a counter rib. or you can avoid striping the feathers all together and cut the fibers off the feather and spin them in a dubbing loop, which would eliminate the need for a counter rib.
 
#3 ·
I like it better if you split the feather down the middle with a razorblade(put the razorblade in your vice and pull the feather carfully)
after you split a bunch, you can put some sand paper (like 120 grit) around a piece of broom stick, grab the top of the feather in one hand,and the bottom in the other hand and pull the feather back and forth till you reach the right thickness ,this way you have more meat to play with, and besides who likes playing with wet feathers.....
 
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