Making a fan

[tigger]

actually you should be abl eto post the pics on here.

#1, you can soak it in water for alittle bit to soften it up then let it dry in the position that you want it


#2 gotta see the feathers before i can answer this one

[spottedeagle]

Tigger I tried to post them here, I have that bad resizing problem remember!!! I even took them with the digital cam and made them as small a file and compressed them as much as I could. They biggest was 58K, still wouldn't let me post them though!!!! :Mad

Link #1: Front Side

http://www.powwows.com/galleries/showphoto.php?photo=2590&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

Link #2: Back Side

http://www.powwows.com/galleries/showphoto.php?photo=2591&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

Both wings are pretty much the same, so I only posted the 2 pics.

[SBZ4life]

I can tell you how to make a fan..just getcha a bird with wings and make sure hes dead cuz what your about to do might hurt. Chop off his wing and slap it on some wood and call it a fan.;)

[spottedeagle]

Man you make some kick A$$$ fans!!!!
From what I can tell from looking at my turkey wings all the flesh has been removed already, with the exception of the skin. I'm thinking about soaking a wing for a few hours in the tub and see if I can get it to loosen up some. That way I can see what I have as far as how they were skinned. Plus I can reposition the wing if I decide to leave them feathers on.

I really, really, really, really hate plucking @($&)$_) feathers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But if I have to I will. I really want to keep the whole wing together. i love those radiant irridecent shingle feathers!!!! That's what makes turkey feathers so pretty. The primaries ans secondaries are ugly if you ask me!!!

Thank for the help everyone!!!!

StraightDancer, I still want to learn how to make those fans!!!!! My wife and I both love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe

[powwowbum49]

Here is one of the more recent flat fans that I have made for myself (though my wife laid claim to it and I only get to borrow it now).

[Blackbear]

Spotted...not sure if this is relevant to soaking wings or not..but like with rawhide, you want to soak it in cold , not hot so the hide does'nt start disentigrating on you...for some reason the same makes sense to me with the wing. However...I have no experience with this... so those with experience..what do you say?

[tigger]

i always soak mine in cold water. also, like straightdancerinaz stated. you might want to think about plucking the feathers adn getting all the meaty substance off of the quils. and on the subject of pre-made handles. i normally get mine and then snad them some to give them better shape.

[spottedeagle]

Well I soaked a wing this morning for a couple hours. It losened the skin up on part of the wing, lower portion where the secondary feathers are. The primary feathers and spikes stayed rock hard. But after soaking the wing and looking at how it naturally moved I realized I had to seperate it into 2 pieces. After doing so I ended up with what is going to be 2 fans. Think it will turn out real nice when I'm done. There wasn't any flesh on the wing, I trimmed off some excess skin, which is now more like rawhide than anything. I'll post some pics in the gallery as I start making some progress, to see what everyone thinks.

I really appreciate everyones help, ideas and input. As always it has been a great help and I honestly think influence the quality of the final product.

JOE

[spottedeagle]

I picked up some self drying clay from the craft store a couple days ago. Figured I use to use clay in school art class and loved working with it. Anyways I used the clay to make a handle to try it out. Used my worst feathers ......just in case...... It's drying right now, but when it's finished I'll post a pic.

Just kinda curious, Has anyone else has tried a clay like this before?

[spottedeagle]

Here is a couple pics of the fan so far....

[spottedeagle]

And a close-up

[powwowbum49]

Spottedeagle

It is looking pretty good so far. Just out of curiosity did you us anything inside the clay of the handle to reinforce it? Like a couple of popsicle sticks or some heavy clothes hanger wire? I ask because I am not use if the clay will have enough tensile strength to keep from cracking during use on a hot summer day. I have no clue if what you used will work out or not but as you said, can't hurt to try.

[Blackbear]

I'm not liking the idea of clay spotted...what kind of clay did you use? It might be very brittle stuff if it is'nt fired and you can't fire it with the feathers in it.. and if you make one that you can glue the feathers into..that is to be fired...remember that popsicle sticks will burn off inside it leaving you with a hollow handle and alot of ash...and wire will make it explode in the kiln.
The handle looks good and I REALLY like the way you layed out the feathers!

[spottedeagle]

Well my experiment didn't work this time. Back to the old drawing board. I made the handle too thin and it cracked. :Mad I had originally made it thicker, but then it was too heavy. Think I'm gonna have to think about this one. The clay is called Marblex Self Hardening Clay. The box says it will air dry but you have to varnish it to make it waterproof.

[spottedeagle]

I didn't use anything inside, but if I decide to try this again, I think I'm going to try that. It may help with not only the cracking but also to help give it some strength. One of the things I notice while making the handle, which caused me to trim it down some was weight. To me it seemed heavy. A couple pounds kinda heavy. I couldn't imagine carrying that around for a few hours. So I tried to thin it down and trim off some of the weight.
I am kinda curious though, because clay pottery has been around for so long, if it was used before wood. Perhaps this is why wood is used now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!