Part Fifty-five

Trucos de montaje

Stripping Quills 2, The Sequel
By George E. Emanuel


Last week we talked about an easy method for stripping peacock feathers in order to obtain the bare quill we need for tying many of the great quill type flies.

If you are only tying one or six flies at a time that method may be the best for your needs. It is slow but your needs being small, it will work.

If you are like many of us however, you will use more than a few quills. A faster method of obtaining a good quantity of these stripped down beauties is in order. As usual we have just such a method for you to use.

This will take some cooperation from your significant other, but you can sneak it in while they are at the grocery store. You are going to need to borrow their kitchen sink, unless you are fortunate enough to have a laundry tub, which would be great.

You are going to need in addition to the sink, a small quantity of Clorox Bleach, and a small shallow pan in which to de-flu your peacock.

Put about ¼" of the Clorox into the shallow pan. Holding your quill by the stem, submerse the eye and a good way down the shaft into the bleach, do not let go of the stem. (If you let go of the stem, you may go off and try to do something else while your eyes soak, do not do this, you will end up with a pan full of nothing if you walk away.)

Agitate the quill with a gentle stirring like motion until you see the green streaks starting to form in the liquid. At this point, agitate for about another 30 seconds and remove the now naked quill from the Bleach and rinse it with generous quantities of water, to neutralize the bleach.

Lay the quill between a folded paper towel and pat the excess water off. Open the towel and let the quill air dry.

You can probably do several quills at once if you like, though it takes only a minute to do one, and the results might just be better that way.

If you do many of these, you can store them for future use or dying if you like, by placing them back into the plastic bag when they are dry. That way they will stay together and quite clean. You can if you like for even more protection, slip the entire quill into a plastic drinking straw before returning it to the envelope. (This is also a great way to store them for travel.)

If you have any tips or techniques, send them along, most of this material has been stolen from somebody, might as well steal your ideas too!~ George E. Emanuel (Chat Room Host Muddler)

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