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csearsdirk

how to strip peacock herl

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I will soak the herl in a glass of water for several minutes and then use a pencil eraser. I'll work it from the base of the herl to the tip then I'll go from the tip back to the base of the herl for anything that might be left in the first pass. I will also just do small areas at a time, no more than an inch.

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I use one of those 'ink' erasers - the otherwise useless half of a 2 material eraser. It works well on dry peacock.

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how about burning off the herl with bleach?

 

 

If you need a bunch of stripped herl, you can burn an entire eye in a 50% solution

of bleach/water. 2 cups bleach and 2 cups of water. Dip the eyes in the bleach water

for about 18-20 seconds and then swish it around. Thoroughly rinse it off in the sink or dip it in another pan of

straight clean water. If there is any flu left on the quill, dip it back into the bleach for

another 8-10 seconds and rinse. You can easily ruin and bleach the color out of

the quills if you leave the eyes in the solution too long. Also, they tend to be much more brittle

afterwards. The less time in the bleach, the better. Some follow up by soaking the stripped herl in hair conditioner.

 

I generally just use an eraser.

 

 

Mike

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Big eraser does the trick everytime. Not sure what Mikes doing :dunno: but please be carefull and don't blow up your house.

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Mark, for quill bodies, the herl is generally taken from higher up, right below the eye, where

the quills have a more prominent stripe, or dark edge on one side. Of course you can use the

herl from lower down on the feather, but those up higher tend to make a better looking "ribbed" body.

 

Ian...if anyone's house blows up, it's A.K. Best's fault. :unsure:

 

 

Mike

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Mark, for quill bodies, the herl is generally taken from higher up, right below the eye, where

the quills have a more prominent stripe, or dark edge on one side. Of course you can use the

herl from lower down on the feather, but those up higher tend to make a better looking "ribbed" body.

 

Ian...if anyone's house blows up, it's A.K. Best's fault. :unsure:

 

 

Mike

 

Sure give away all the secrets :devil: :devil: He is right though it also helps to create the tapered effect!

 

Blessings,

Jeremy

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