Wallstreet III w/Feather Inlay ... Failures and Success. (LONG post)

[Shane Whitlock]

I have been trying to perfect my feather casting technique. I have been successful by tying the feathers to the blanks like I have done here ...
http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/428-1/IMG_0445.jpg
... but I really don't like the way they look. I want the feathers to appear to be floating or just laying on the tubes. To do this I needed to figure out a way to glue the feathers to the tubes. I remember seeing feathers set in fishing rods so to get some ideas I spent some time on the rod building forums.

They use flex coat lite epoxy for sealing their thread wraps and I saw a few with feathers like I wanted so I gave that a try ... failure 1.

The epoxy set up nice and the feathers looked good but when I cast it in resin the resin would not cure next to the epoxy. The outside was hard but the inside was a milky white color liquid. Maybe I should of done a better job of cleaning the epoxy before casting.

http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/412-1/IMG_0447.jpg

Next I tried using CR instead of the epoxy ... failure 2.

I got the wraps sealed and the feathers set, everything was looking good. To make the blanks I hot glue the tube to the end of a spindle thats mounted to a chuck on the lathe, works kinda like a large fly tying vise, and when I went to pry off the blank it popped right off, flew out of my hands and landed in the sawdust below. :eek: The CR was still wet and it was covered in crap. Needless to say I was a little upset with myself. I cleaned it off the best I could but there is no way I can use it .

http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/415-1/IMG_0448.jpg

According to the instruction on the CR can to cast multiple layers you want to pour on the 2nd layer just after the first layer starts to gel. Well I got another blank all ready, wraps were sealed and the feathers were holding nice. I waited for it to gel, very carefully removed it from the lathe and put it in mold and poured in the resin. Well apperantely the fresh resin made the gel turn to a liquid and the feathers floated ... failure 3. :mad:

http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/417-1/IMG_0449.jpg

Okay ... Attempt 4. I have learned a little each time, improving my wrapps with each blank and getting more creative with each failure, so hopefully this one will work.

This time I let the first layer of CR cure over night and then cast it. I was worried about the 2nd layer sticking to the first but it seems to have worked ... Success! :D

The tube is wrapped with blue and green nylong thread, gold metalic thread and gold tinsel. Four golden pheasant tippets, 2 white grizzly hackles and 2 yellow grizzly hackles. I like how the tinsel looks in the previous attempt more than I do on this one. They are spaced out a little more and don't looks quite so busy, but I can live with this one.

(Sorry for the hot spots on the pics, I need to reshoot them).
http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/419-1/IMG_0451.jpg

http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/424-2/IMG_0452.jpg

http://www.shanewhitlock.com/photo/d/427-2/IMG_0453.jpg

I'm curious, do you guys put any kind of finish on your CR pens? I usually use CA cause there is always a little feather poaking out and the CA seals it but I didn't have to on this one. Its just sanded to 12000 and buffed.

Thanks for looking, sorry it was so long.

Happy Turning,
Shane Whitlock

[Bernie Weishapl]

Shane absolutely beautiful. Very well done.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

UH.....Shane.....I hate to break a couple of things to you......1...You might be the first trying this.....2....IF so....You're wasting your time asking for advice...:rolleyes:

Those pens are unbelieveably beautiful! I can't wait to see what you're going to do with them after you get the techique perfected. Very well done Shane!

[Pete Jordan]

Unbelieveable Shane!

I really like your new frontier.

[Patrick Taylor]

Awesome Job! I really like where you're taking this concept.

For acrylic pens I just MM to 12000 and buff. YMMV. :)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Unbelievable! This is wonderful! Great Jo b!:)

[TYLER WOOD]

Sorry Shane, giong to have to steal your idea and try it myself!! I absolutely love the finished producct that it turns out!!!

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

shane--

this is very cool.

thanks for sharing your progress.

[Steven Wilson]

Shane, I do feather inlays on some of my fly rods and I use Color Preserver (Flex Coat or Guidbrod ) to glue the feathers onto my blanks (usually a thread underlayment). Have you tried using CP to attach your feathers to a blank, let dry for 24hr and then cast them?

Also, as far as the rod finishing epoxies, I've noticed that the epoxy will go mushy if I apply a decal on it without having given the epoxy enough time to cure. If you applied a coat of epoxy over your feathers and then applied the casting resin I bet that it reacted with the epoxy. You might try that approach again but give the epoxy 3-4 days to cure (above 75F) before hiting it with the casting resin. You can also scratch up the rod finish surface (320grit) before applying the resin, it should show clear when done. I've been tempted to apply feathers to a pen tube and just use rod finish to get the build up - it would take awhile but is doable.

[Shane Whitlock]

Thanks for all the great comments everyone!

I like the pen but its way to busy for my taste but I took it to work and showed it around today and everyone flipped over it, especially the fisherman. It does look a lot better in person than it does here. Anyways I have some other ideas, just waiting for payday so I can get get some supplies.

BTW any of you fly tyers know a good source for good quality jungle cock nail feathers? I hit all the stores around here and none of them had any imitation or the real thing in stock. :(


Sorry Shane, giong to have to steal your idea and try it myself!! I absolutely love the finished producct that it turns out!!!
Oh sure, steal my idea ... I knew I shouldn't of posted it... LOL ... J/K Tyler ;) Thanks for the comment .. Have at it! They are a pain to do so I look forward to seeing what ya come up with. :D


Shane, I do feather inlays on some of my fly rods and I use Color Preserver (Flex Coat or Guidbrod ) to glue the feathers onto my blanks (usually a thread underlayment). Have you tried using CP to attach your feathers to a blank, let dry for 24hr and then cast them?

Also, as far as the rod finishing epoxies, I've noticed that the epoxy will go mushy if I apply a decal on it without having given the epoxy enough time to cure. If you applied a coat of epoxy over your feathers and then applied the casting resin I bet that it reacted with the epoxy. You might try that approach again but give the epoxy 3-4 days to cure (above 75F) before hiting it with the casting resin. You can also scratch up the rod finish surface (320grit) before applying the resin, it should show clear when done. I've been tempted to apply feathers to a pen tube and just use rod finish to get the build up - it would take awhile but is doable.

Steve thanks for the suggestions. My first attempt was with the Flex Coat Lite. It worked great for sealing the thread and feathers, and was nice and clear, but I think it might be to soft to make a whole pen blank out of. I was playing around with the practice piece I did and I can easily dent it with my fingernail, maybe it needs to set up longer still, but as it sits right now it would be to soft. I am pretty sure I can make the casting resin work, just need to be sure to let it fully cure before casting it.

Happy Turning,
Shane Whitlock