When feathering sticks, how much pressure should you put on the knife because I tried it before to see how sharp my new knife was and I had to put quite a lot of pressure on, I am not sure if my knife is that sharp, or my technique is wrong?
feather sticks
- Thread starter timtom1
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Timtom,
I think it just depends on what type of wood you're feathering and how sharp your knife is. After a couple of cuts, you shold be able to adjust pressure accordingly. Have the blade at a fairly flat angle. I find it easier to use power from the whole arm as oppose to forearm or wrist. Just keep practising with a sharp blade, and have a good base to stand the stick on.
Julian.
I think it just depends on what type of wood you're feathering and how sharp your knife is. After a couple of cuts, you shold be able to adjust pressure accordingly. Have the blade at a fairly flat angle. I find it easier to use power from the whole arm as oppose to forearm or wrist. Just keep practising with a sharp blade, and have a good base to stand the stick on.
Julian.
I'll second what Jjv110 said - It depends on the wood - I've tried praticing on some offcuts of pine sawn timber - and some of it was hard work.
Something else to try is turn the wood around - end for end - so you are cutting the other way along it - sometimes the grain cuts one way, better than another - ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOUR BODY!!!
I've also found that sometimes if you rotate the stick, some sides cut better than others
The biggest problem I have is I get a good group of 'feathers' and then go too far with the next cut and slice them off the stick :11doh:
HTH
Steve
Something else to try is turn the wood around - end for end - so you are cutting the other way along it - sometimes the grain cuts one way, better than another - ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOUR BODY!!!
I've also found that sometimes if you rotate the stick, some sides cut better than others
The biggest problem I have is I get a good group of 'feathers' and then go too far with the next cut and slice them off the stick :11doh:
HTH
Steve
thanks guys, I can get small feathers on the stick but I too go to far and cut them off d'oh!, I will keep trying.
Timtom,
It's not foolproof, but if you place another stick horizontally on the ground next to the one that you are feathering, it can/will restrict the cut at the end of the stroke. You can still take too big a cut and split the feathers off, but it might be worth a try until you get the feel for when your stick is about to break!
ATB
Ogri the trog
It's not foolproof, but if you place another stick horizontally on the ground next to the one that you are feathering, it can/will restrict the cut at the end of the stroke. You can still take too big a cut and split the feathers off, but it might be worth a try until you get the feel for when your stick is about to break!
ATB
Ogri the trog
Even if you cut the feathers off, they still make good kindling. If the feathers stay on the stick, it isn't much different to just placing the remaining stick next to the burning feathered section, if you know what I mean. Try using a few different knives to see which one feels more comfortable to use.
Generally, my feather sticks aren't very long, so I use a different technique to make them up, prefering to hold the knife, edge towards me, in my curled fingers and using my hand only, drawing it towards my thumb, which supports the near end of the piece I'm working on. Kind of like peeling an apple. I cut the feathers thin and rotate the stick as I go.
Depending on the knife I'm using, I vary the angle of the blade, as compared to the piece I'm working on. The grind and thickness of the blade determine the angle and I adjust my technique until the knife is cutting at it's optimum. I rarely have to apply much pressure with this technique, so control of each cut is much easier for me, than using a pushing technique with full arm motion making the cuts. I guess it's all in how we are shown.
Depending on the knife I'm using, I vary the angle of the blade, as compared to the piece I'm working on. The grind and thickness of the blade determine the angle and I adjust my technique until the knife is cutting at it's optimum. I rarely have to apply much pressure with this technique, so control of each cut is much easier for me, than using a pushing technique with full arm motion making the cuts. I guess it's all in how we are shown.
I find if I lock my wrist and elbow and only move my shoulder it's easier to control and put more controlled force into. Because my shoulder can only move a few inches at a time I find it easier to control. That's not to say the feathers always stay on the stick !
Cheers
Mark
Cheers
Mark
I've found that I'm getting much better at making feather sticks - the lock-wrist-and-elbow trick certainly helps. Unfortunately it seems that I've been practicing on super-special non-flammable wood, that just blithely sits there while I'm scraping away on my firesteel...!
You'll not get far trying to light a featherstick directly with a firesteel, no matter how well feathered it is or what the wood is. You need a better tinder to start with - birch bark and thistledown is my usual choice. The sparks light the tinder, the tinder lights the featherstick(s), then on to larger sticks. 
led said:...unless your name's Ray
I'm certain he cheats! I bet he uses kiln-dried wood and soaks his feathersticks in petrol when no-one's looking. Or, at the very least, that his producer cuts out at about half an hour of trying...
Yes, it can be done. But for practical purposes, especially in damp, windy old Blighty, it's probably not they way to go.
Actually it quite possible.. if your using a wood with a high resin content and your feathers a fine (which mine rarely are) and there is enough of them it helps..gregorach said:
Use tinder instead of directly lighting the feather stick? That's cheating isn't it?
Fortunately I don't mind cheating, and have had success with thistledown and vaseline/cotton wool. Still, it's a bit annoying when RM does it so easily (or apparently so, as gregorach points out.)
Fortunately I don't mind cheating, and have had success with thistledown and vaseline/cotton wool. Still, it's a bit annoying when RM does it so easily (or apparently so, as gregorach points out.)
You do not need to put a lot of pressure on your knife when making feather sticks, your after lots of fine shavings. Imagine the front of your stick in thirds length ways. Shave a feather off each third in turn. On the front third point the tip of your up and the feather will curl towards the front. On the middle third hold your knife level then it will curl straight away from you. On the back third point your knife down and it will curl towards the back. This way you get a mass of curls.
You can light a feather stick with a firesteel if use maya (resin soaked pine), I was demonstrating this technique to my Mother-in-Law yesterday.
You can light a feather stick with a firesteel if use maya (resin soaked pine), I was demonstrating this technique to my Mother-in-Law yesterday.
Or there is the method in Mors K's book, where you feather the whole tree and break bit's off as kindling.
Ok, so it's not the whole tree, but it sounds good...
:borgsmile
Ok, so it's not the whole tree, but it sounds good...
:borgsmile
