davidstrout 0 Report post Posted December 20, 2007 I have been pillaging vintage feathers off of ebay for some time now.... As I have removed myself from commercial fly tying I feel the need to share the knowledge. At risk of prostelitizing......what are you all waiting for? Sellers on ebay have no idea many times what they are actually selling... A sharp eye and a modicum of knowledge of what you are looking at will reap huge rewards for the tyer looking for exotic/rare/at times ancient and unprocurable feathers... So today during break @ work I am searching ebay (more out of habit then neccesity, my wife is really going to kill me one of these days) and what do I find Below is a an item I could not pass up as well as some examples of the item in use... These are smaller egret (cattle I believe) feathers....I cannot even guess as to how many Worth the 15 bucks plus shipping? I think so! A few years ago I was lucky to score some and every time I used them I was like....almost gone..gotta conserve etc. Now....shit Ill be giving these away @ the shows.... So...take a look @ ebay once in a while search vintage feathers search antique feathers search edwardian feathers search millinery feathers search victorian feathers search old feathers I reccomend NOT checking the "item and description box" as you will get way to many hits If anyone ever has any questions re: what they are looking @ shoot me an email @ my website w/a link to the item in question and I will do my best to ascertian the value as well as nature of the material all the best happy holidays! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redwings1 0 Report post Posted December 20, 2007 good tips Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harold Ray 0 Report post Posted December 20, 2007 When I am looking at feathers on ebay, I can recognize a few like ostrich, the macaws and parrots, pheasants of some species, and the peacock, but other than those and a very small number of others, I don't have a clue. I am learning from Bud, but learning does take time and practice as with any other worthwhile enterprise. Its interesting, fun often and occasionally I find something that is a good addition to what I have. I woud never have really thought about egret. Down here, they are tremendous pests and health threats with the big rookeries. I'll have to view them with higher regard when they fly in next year. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
letumgo 0 Report post Posted December 20, 2007 Thanks for the great tip, Dave! P.S. - Awesome flies as usual. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harold Ray 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2007 Okay, David, there are feathers on ebay. We all want to find the feathers that will get us here: or here: but we've got to sort through all of these: How do you know what to buy? I don't even know what they are, other than the ostrich and possibly a few chicken feathers in there somewhere. I realize you have to learn, but there are thousands of different kinds of feathers; I don't believe you can learn them all. And, yes, I do enjoy ebay and do a lot of business there. I see a multitude of parrots at the clinic (I'm a veterinarian who people save their pets' feathers for), but when I get away from parrots, and even in the hundreds of parrot species, I'm at a total loss. When I look at all those above while looking for that "needle in the haystack", I'm overwhelmed. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidstrout 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2007 Hi Harold Bless your soul that you are a vet..... Re: your Quandry ..... working w/bud.....well that will take care of technique (as no matter the materials if one doesn't know how to use them fuggedaboutit) BAsically if you want simple identification in descending order from your pics 1-Guinea Fowl "PAd" Pad refers to individual feathers plucked from a skin and glues by base to a pad of fabric or leather...may have some use provided there is not to much adhesive crawling up from base..odds are that they are ok to use as Ihave recieved a few pads and the makers seem to pay attention to just gluing minimally the base 2-Goose Secondary/Primary Pads...crap 3-Chicken HAckle...dime a dozen stuff looks like neck hackle...available anywhere 4&5 Ostrich plumes...You get what you see...sometimes the vintage stuff has so little flue left that it looks like heron...thats whenI get it 6-"Burned" turkey or goose......the burning process removes the webby nature and makes for some very usable feathers..I actually bought some stuf from this seller a while back and use it w/ good sucess...the stems are thick so one need to hide the tie in/off with material 7-Simple Hackle Pad..looks cool...if you want to tie like 60 dark Syd Glasso style spey flies theese would make decent wings... 8-I think this is goose or swan shoulder...could be usable as thrats/body hackle (one side stripped) maybe a roof 9-excellent looking Coque..this is one of thos items you see alot of and I have yet to buy crappy quality..the stuff just works..excellent for speys (strip one side)..very much like spey cock in some cases....think speal or riach.... 10-Red Hackle Pad--Chicken....Dime a dozen Stuff 11- LAquered Secondary wings...unusable..if they ever have this "Sheen" most likely they are laqured and not usable Point is that some items are dime a dozen but then again there are some treasures.... http://cgi.ebay.com/Fly-tying-crafts-Trago...1QQcmdZViewItem Por Ejemplo tal vez hay una person who wants to try out using tragopan w/out ponying up for a whole skin or.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...s_promot_widget there has to be at least 6 rhea feather that have been stripped and wound on a base to make this pompom... just unwind and rewind onto a shank... ebay seems pretty light re: good inventory as of right now I wil post an article I wrote about tying w/vinatge feathers when I get a chance Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nrthcsteel 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2007 Hey DT. Whats up? Long time no talk. Hope all is well. Yes it is hard to know what to look for. Its like David said its a search and sometimes things show up there that instantly make you go OH YEAH! --- click---BUY IT NOW!!!!! Sometimes you take a chance and it pays off other times you get a bunch of C___! Personally I open every thing OUTSIDE and thouroughly inspect it. IF it looks ok then it makes it to the kitchen where it is washed if needed and/or placed in the freezer for a few days. Fortunatly (although sometimes its not so fortunate) I am currently single so my kitchen has been transformed into a feather cleaning,dying,debugging and and prep area. And also makes a great rod finish room. The counters are literally lined with all kinds of feathers and the freezer is full of skins,saddles fur and feathers. Only after they pass the detox area do they make it to the fly tying room(that would be the living room to all you non single people out there)If the materials look sketchy straight into the outside garbage can. Anyway rivers are open so I will probably be kind of absent the next few months. Take care all and good fishing. Wish I was at some of those shows to take some of those feathers off your hands David! Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CapeBSalar 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2007 Great tips and great looking flies!!! A master with feathers you are! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shaq 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2007 Or......you could suck up to David real bad Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidstrout 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2007 http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Millinery-Feat...1QQcmdZViewItem If the price does't rise too much..... 50-75 cents a feather would be a great deal for this item... soak.....strip each side Now one would have 2 10 inch long strips of 2-4 inch long fibred monster spey hackle This is the kind of stuff I have way to much of (an I still want to get more..its like crack) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.Z 0 Report post Posted December 24, 2007 We should have a board just for ebay finds HINT HINT!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willowhead 0 Report post Posted December 25, 2007 David...........PAlease........no dumb comparisons..........it's WWAAYYYY better than crack. :hyst: :hyst: :hyst: :hyst: :hyst: :hyst: :hyst: mark..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edward 1 0 Report post Posted December 29, 2007 hello salmon tyers. there is nice blue macaw feathers on ebay. seller is karined 6880, item no. 150197346650. seller also has body and tail . ed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edward 1 0 Report post Posted December 29, 2007 For the macaw feathers punch in blue macaw feathers. There is a 20in center tail. Ebay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ronn Lucas 0 Report post Posted January 11, 2008 Ray, I suggest you pretty much forget about buying feathers on the bay for now. Take it easy and just buy good quality feathers you KNOW will be useful. Buying old feathers is a crap shoot. Yes, you can find some good feathers but you need to know what you are looking at. The ability to do that will come with time. Also many old feathers will be dry and brittle. Old feathers that have been dyed are very often this way and black seems to be worst. It is far better to get to know feathers up close and personal either by hand selecting them yourself or getting them from a trusted source. At this point in your tying you don't need a Guidryesque feather collection. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
