Okay. let me try again. I do have a rotary vise, fritz, I never thought of letting the hackle hang and rotating the vise. I 'll try that also. I have been trying this - I strip the fuzzy part off of the partridge feather. I carefully cut the tip section to make a "v" shape. Then I tie in the tip, concave side down, on top of the hook shank. So, I now grasp the stem of the feather with the hackle pliers and carefully try to align the feather perpendicular to the hook. As I wind the hackle around the hook, I seem to get a lot of twisting, the hackle twisting itself so that the feathers get "bunched" up. I have gotten about 3 out of 10 to look semi decent but would like to increase that ratio. The feathers may be old and referencing the post above, I may try to soak the stems a little. Also, I've read and viewed. It seems that 50 % tie the stem first, then warp, 50 % tie the tip, then wrap. I'm easy, what, in the collective wisdom, is the best way?
Thanks and I hope this clears my problem up a little.