Another fan bird question

[Elines]

Ok - I give in.

Just how do you get a fan bird to hang well?

The pictures on the internet always seem to show a bird hanging there on one piece of ?cotton thread and at a nice angle.

There do not seem to be any nails or hooks; and I have seen a reference to 'weaving' the thread through the wings, but cannot find any instructions on how to:

• find the balance point
• get the thread through the wings(?with a needle?)
• get the thread at the balance point
• tie it in place

I have several birds that I have done now which I can use to test out approaches - and have tried. But I am not very good at fiddly things and am just getting nowhere. I can't work out how you end up with just one thread hanging and with it at just the right place

Any help and advice will be much appreciated.

 

[shaggystu]

find the balance point: would you be able to get something like blu-tak (spl?) and use that to temporarily fasten your string to your bird.....that might work

tie it in place: how about drilling a tiny little hole where you want to attach the string and then wedge the string into the hole with a little wooden plug.......that one will work

HTH

stuart

 

[Elines]

find the balance point: would you be able to get something like blu-tak (spl?) and use that to temporarily fasten your string to your bird.....that might work

tie it in place: how about drilling a tiny little hole where you want to attach the string and then wedge the string into the hole with a little wooden plug.......that one will work

HTH

stuart

Hi Stu - yes I think it would work but I can't help thinking there is a better way - primarily because I think (but am not sure) that you need to be able to adjust the balance point as a slight shift in position would turn it into an imitation of a funny shaped stuka or a rocket to the moon

 

[Mesquite]

Hi Stu - yes I think it would work but I can't help thinking there is a better way - primarily because I think (but am not sure) that you need to be able to adjust the balance point as a slight shift in position would turn it into an imitation of a funny shaped stuka or a rocket to the moon

To find the point of balance you can use a pin on a thread Chris. Push it in where you think is the right spot and hang, if it's not pull out and re-adjust easily

Once you've found the sweet spot small drill hole and peg in a thread as Stu suggested.

 

[shaggystu]

To find the point of balance you can use a pin on a thread Chris. Push it in where you think is the right spot and hang, if it's not pull out and re-adjust easily .....

that's a cracking idea steve, much better than my blu-tak (spl?) idea

 

[Elines]

To find the point of balance you can use a pin on a thread Chris. Push it in where you think is the right spot and hang, if it's not pull out and re-adjust easily

Once you've found the sweet spot small drill hole and peg in a thread as Stu suggested.

Thanks for the suggestion - I have just spent about 20 minutes trying to get it to work and couldn't. It's almost as though the cente of gravity is moving, as putting the pin in slightly different places seemed to have unpredictable effects. Could just be me of course but at the moment I think an adjustable method is the solution. I will play about for a bit (East Enders is on) and see if I can get anywhere

 

[Elines]

Ok - well the nearest I have got to a solution is to tie something to the end of the cotton thread and then 'slide' the cotton between two 'feathers' such that the tied on thing is underneath. As nothing is fixed in place this allows it to be removed and re-positioned between two other feathers. but even putting the thread between the same two feathers on different occasions doesn't seem to give consistent results in terms of pitch , yaw (and the other one whose name escapes me!)

So still looking for a solution.

 

[2sheds]

i use a pin. like from a sewing kit. and leave it there, it doesn't detract from the bird.
people just look at the bird.

 

[Sean Hellman]

Use a pin, as used in dress making. try different angles and it will soon come. 9 times out of 10, I pin mine first time, you just get to know the balance point, it just becomes instinct.
I have and have seen fan birds with the feathers of the wings tied together at the interlock groove. For me it is not necessary as a well made feathers always interlock tightly.

 

[Elines]

i use a pin. like from a sewing kit. and leave it there, it doesn't detract from the bird.
people just look at the bird.

Use a pin, as used in dress making. try different angles and it will soon come. 9 times out of 10, I pin mine first time, you just get to know the balance point, it just becomes instinct.
I have and have seen fan birds with the feathers of the wings tied together at the interlock groove. For me it is not necessary as a well made feathers always interlock tightly.

OK - thanks - I now know that I am not just wasting my time with a pin approach and so will keep trying - thanks.

When I have made progress on all fronts - eg carving as well as hanging - I will post some pics comparing the first one with my current ones just to show that all the help and advice I am getting is having some effect (well - I think it is anyway), and as way of giving some feedback and saying 'thank you'

 

[Kepis]

all i do with mine is find the rough balance point on the bird then on top of it's head drill/awl a small hole and insert a carved wooden peg more or less on the line of the CG, to which the suspension line is attached, the peg doesnt look out of place and can look like a crest, adjust the suspension line up and down the peg until the bird hangs right then tie it off and cut off the excess stick - works a treat.

As 2sheds rightly says, people look at the bird, not the peg/pin

 

[Elines]

Duplicate post - deleted by Elines.