Feather in lays? Ever done em???

[CustomRodFan]

I have my second ever feather in lay drying as I type. You will never see the first! Has any body else done a feather in lay?

A feather in lay is some decorations usually placed just in front of the butt fore grip area. Most will wrap a base thread and color preserve it to make it tacky. Next lay whatever feather(s) you want over the thread you put on the blank. Next apply some more color preserver. (Some folks use expoxy - but remember it becomes permanent if you do that) By using color preserver you still have a chance to abort.

Once the color lock is dried - apply the expoxy and woala - you got it!

Know that the feather will turn dark in color once the color lock is put on. Don't worry - once the epoxy is applie dthe colors jump back out.

Use whatever feathers you wish. Michaels craft store sells em by the bag full. Vibrant is best!

Stay tuned for the picture!

[upnorth]

I have not tried that yet. I have spent some time thinking about it. I am thinking of making a new fly rod and that may be just the ticket for a butt decoration.

[DinkADunk]

I've applied a feather inlay on a couple of rods. When applying the epoxy I like to use the light formulation, thin it somewhat, and apply a very thin first coat. After one or two thin coats then I apply a full strength coat of the light formulation. I try to go for the minimal epoxy coat that will cover the feather completely.

The following is an inlay on a 9', 3/4 wt, 3 piece fly rod built on a Lamiglas Perigee blank. The thread are Guidebrod metalic (matt metalic green and gold).

[CustomRodFan]

Oh my - nice work. Very nice. That is striking. Call that one the Favre rod?? (lol)

The rod I did this on will be a donation to the Delta Waterfowl banquet.

I just bought and had the threadmaster lite in my hand and chickened out and went with the old stand by high build as I did not want to try it on this one here... When you thin it out tell me that process? Thin out just the batch you mixed or add thinner to the bottles? You thin for what reason? Viscosity I am guessing? I bought a coffee cup hot plate and turn that on and off to keep the viscosity thinned. Maybe we are doing the same thing different ways. I agree though its got to be thin water like properties.

Again, good job it looks nice.

[upnorth]

You can add acetone to thin it the viscosity out. I played around with heating the epoxy before applying it and had some issues with it setting up too fast. I will put the bottles in warm water for a few minutes to warm it up it, but no heat until after it is on the rod. I will if need be sparingly use a propane torch to heat it up on the rod and release bubbles. You really have to be careful and keep the heat down and keep it at least 8 inches away and keep it moving.

I have done 2 rods now with the low build epoxy and can see using it quite a bit, I like it. I should break down and order some threadmaster as I have read some good things about that too.

[DinkADunk]

I try to keep my epoxy at 80F, lower than that and it's too thick (even the lite stuff). For this application I thin it with acetone (a couple of drops) that I add to the mix while I'm stiring it (don't add acetone to you bottles). This is in addition to any heat that may be added to keep the epoxy at 80F. One word of caution, it can take a few days for the acetone to fully work it's way out of the epoxy and for the epoxy to setup fully. I've found out the hardway when applying labels that if I use acetone I need to wait a few days after applying my last coat of epoxy before I use any wetting agents on the blank (to get labels to lay properly). You can get into a situation where the epoxy will cloud up, bubble, and soften and you end up having to strip the epoxy off.

The reason I thin on inlays is I want the first coat of epoxy to really set the feathers. From there you're trying to get a smooth, even coat, this is where your normal mix can come into play; an old credit card is useful to spread the epoxy out so you don't get any footballs. The feathers will stand proud of the blank and can require a couple of coats of epoxy to provide decent coverage. I use the lite build because it keeps me from making too thick of a build.

[Otis1]

Nice work! I first saw this on some fly rods up in the adirondacks, but the feathers were on the butt. Definately a nice touch.

[MW AL]

CustomRodFan,

Welcome to the world of feather inlays. They really do make a great addition to any rod. We have used a variety of feathers in our custom rods, but if looks don't decieve me, I believe DinkaDunk is showing a jungle cock feather which we are almost using exclusively now. But as stated earlier any feather is a good addition.

Al McColl

Midwest Rod & Reel

[Otis1]

Is the rachis (hollow shaft) removed from the feather before it is used in this type of application?

[DinkADunk]

That one has three jungle cock eye's with the small end's pointing to the right. The underlying feather I believe came from a Pheasant. The stems were not removed but were trimmed.

[CustomRodFan]

Hi Al. Good to see you sponsoring this site. I bought a blank from you folks in mpls at the Guild Conclave last year.

Otis, "they" say to use the bottom of the feather to the point that the shaft does not play a part. Making any sense. THe last of the feather if you will.

Pictures to come this evening if I get ever home!!!

[drowned minnow]

DinkADunk....GREAT Looking Inlay. What did you use for winding check?? Looks like nickle/silver but can't make out in pic.

[CustomRodFan]

Ok, here goes. the pics don't do it justice if I can say so without sounding too proud...

[Otis1]

I got ya. Thanks for the advice.

[DinkADunk]

Looks nice CustomRodFan. What's the background feather?

[CustomRodFan]

Uh, I dunno! I bought a bag full of feathers at Michaels crafts and also threw some rough grouse and duck feathers in last fall after a hunt. So,... I guess my answer is wild, hungarian, minnesota grouse waterfowl...(:

[DinkADunk]

 Originally Posted By: drowned minnow

What did you use for winding check?? Looks like nickle/silver but can't make out in pic.

Yep it's nickle silver, I used a nickle-silver Struble downlocking reelseat, so I probably used a Struble nickle-silver winding check. If not Struble then it's a REC (I almost always use REC stuff on fly rods). It also has a Ring and flat hook keeper (REC NHK?) and the cork is the Lamar Laguna Exotic Burl. Guides are a titanium smoke DF for the stripper, SF to the tip, I don't use snakes (personal preference).