Cleaning Turkey Tails

That’s awesome. Am using the grid pattern for pin board idea as well. I’ll add that I made an extra large compass from two wooden yardsticks to check for symmetry, wings etc. Thanks for sharing.

 

How I do my tails is to pull each quill, clean it and arrange them back into a fan, tape them down and Bondo. Zero meat, zero fat, zero membrane. Just single clean quills arranged in a fan. It is way faster than any other method I have ever used. If I want a shingled fan or a 1/2 or 3/4 strut fan I made a foam form with dowels in them to set the feathers on.

 

Now that sounds worth a try!

 

If you don't like the fuzzy down of the saddle feathers and even the secondary coverts getting in your way, you can grasp the feather in one hand and pinch the the down (fuzz) just below the feather part with the other hand and strip it right of the quill. You can trim the quill to any length you want to make the fan aesthetically pleasing.

 

Would you have a picture of this you would share

 

Have done the stick built method out of necessity, with great results, but found it as much or even more tedious. Not knocking others preferences but I sorta like how a properly cleaned and dried fan just fluffs out naturally with little effort. It’s quite a transformation.

 

All I do is cut the first quill from the tail meat, grasp the quill with a paper towel between finger and thumb, pull down. Everything on that quill comes off. I lay it down and continue to shape as go following a grid on a sheet of cardboard, on to the middle feather. Then start on the next half, working my way from the first to the remaining middle one. I take maybe 5 seconds per quill. I can have a fan ready for Bondo in less than 10 minutes.

 

Exactly how I do it! Now if they need washing, I use a red for right side and black for left side and number the quills before slicing them off. Use a piece of paper towel to pull off the fat/meat and throw them all in the soapy sink. Very fast process

 

That is a great idea.

 

Do you pull only the main tail feathers and do you still cut the whole tailfan off before pulling out the feathers?

 

I cut the fan off the bird then go to town on it. If you want to see how it is done, go to Youtube and watch "How to Make a Turkey Tail Plaque/Easy DIY" by Rodney Elmer & Mountain Deer. I don't do the Bondo the way he does it, but he shows you how to pull them and clean them. He uses a knife to clean them. It takes him maybe 3 to 5 seconds per quill.

 

Here's the link. It's a great video for it. I don't use a knife either but a small piece of paper towel. I hold the feather in my left hand tightly and with the paper towel piece in the right hand I grab the gook and twist and pull it off very cleanly

youtube <<--- click

If I'm doing a fan mount I mark them on the backside, on the shaft, down low.
If doing a lifesize I mark them on the front, on the shaft, down low.
One dot = 1, Two dots = 2 etc I use an "X" for number 5. For 6 - 9, a single dot with a space and a single dot, 7 would be a single dot then a space then two dots etc.
1 .
2 ..
3 ...
4 ....
5 X
6 . .
7 . ..
8 . ...
9 . ....

works for me and its simple and quick

 

That's the video I was referring to. I have always just shaped the fan as I cut them out. I also tape them down so they don't move.

 

I do the secondary covers the same way as I do the fan.