I've been playing around with feather inlats, and I've been reviewing the past posts on the subject. In Russ Gooding's article in Rodmaker, he mentioned that metallics seem to go black when finish is applied. I did some practice inlays with metal lic green golden pheasant. It looked great under a coat of cp, but when the final finish, (flexcoat) was applied, the feather just went black, and the irridescence disappeared. Can anyone give me a clue as to why, and is there a way to avoid this? Thanks in advance, see you in Nashville.Bob Vasko

I just did a feather inlay using irredescence green mabye I got lucky it looks great. Mix 3 parts cp to 7 parts water this is flexcoat cp. Set feathers with this mixture.Using hair dryer dry then put another coat of thinned cp on. Dry again this time full strength cp.Let set 24 hours and coat with your epoxy.Hope this helps you Ken.

Bob,

I have tried the same thing and had the same effects. I just don't try to use Those feathers. If you like the irredescence effect, try using some Parakeet feathers. They have some of the most beautiful effects I have yet found. A friend of mine raises them and I have been using a lot of them for effect. When mixed with others they are outstanding.
Don't get caught stealing them at the pet stores! Ha! Ha!
See you at Nashville,

Bruce Young
Landing Gear

One coat of CP is just not enough.. Thanks Davesrods

I may of misled you I really am new at this feather thing.The feathers that I used were light blue and yellow,and they came out bright green when coated with epoxy.It seems that the blank color has alot to do with it also. I used a brown fenwick blank for pratice and they were brighter green then the lamiglas green and gold that I did the inlay on. Hope this helps you Ken.

I think what it boils down to is the way the feathers react, not specific methods. I use one coat of 60/40 or 70/30 H20/CP mix. The latest way I tried was simply dip the feathers in the mix and saturate completely (I tried this because I accidentally dropped the first feather in the mix, used it anyway and turned out great). I was using a feather is metallic blues and greens and after sticking to the rod, letting dry and coating, came out fine. What I did notice is the feathers did not reflect the colors "from all angles", but in sunlight and bright indoor light, anytime looking from above, gave the natural irredescense.