having trouble splitting feathers

[DDRRedneck500]

ive been trying to learn to tie some classic salmon flies and im starting to get some pretty decent results.
heres a picture of a green highlander i did

but anyways, some of the flies i want to do call for european jay as the throat. this requires wrapping it like hackle basically. and as i understand, to do this, you need to first split the feather down the rachis. how do you do this? i decided to practice on some similar sized feathers in found in my yard before cutting up my expensive feathers, but whenever i try to split it, it just never works. what happens is itll splint just fine about half way up and then it gets too thin for the razer blade and it cuts off one of the halves, so i only end up with one half that i can use.
any advise? thanks

[Ken Y]

Be sure to use the thinnest and sharpest knife you can use.I would look at the back of the feather and look for the line you can see in the rachis and cut the feather there. After cutting it, I clean the inside out with a bodkin, then, thin out more of the rachis. You'll need practice to cut the whole feather in Half. hope it helps.

[JohnScott]

DDR -

Can't help you with your question. Just wanted to compliment you on the green highlander.

John

[Eight Thumbs]

Hi 500

Very impressive tying job. 8T

[GrayGhost]

DDRRedneck500
A trick shown me once to split feather is to place them in to some warm water and let soak for a few hour before trying to split them. The water soften the stem a little makeing it easier to split cleanly.
Ghost.
P.S. check the Atlantic Fly tying section by Ronn Lacus Sr. or drop him an email, I can think of no one better for Atlantic Fly Tying trick then Ronn. There is a link on the sponser page to his web site.

[scubatim]

This kid sure can tie some great flies can't he