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Duck Feather Scales

Okay, it's not a razor and maybe this is a bit off topic. I just ran across this knife that I have had for about 20 years. These scales are made from real duck feathers and have preserved the actual iridescent quality of the feathers. And they are made in Solingen and still available under the "Bulldog" brand. Has anyone seen anything like this for straight razor scales? I'm betting that owners of Dubl Duck razors would love to have such scales. I'm wondering if any of our handy members would figure out how to make them. Just a thought and I thought these scales would be of interest.

BTW, the picture does not do them justice. The scales look way better than the photo.

duck feather scales.jpg
 

Legion

Staff member
Yeah, you can just submerge them in epoxy resin. The trick is to do it in a vacuum chamber to draw all the little bubbles out so it ends up nice and clear.

Search resin casting in Youtube, there are heaps of tutorials.
 
I'm waiting to see if someone will try making these. If so, I bet they will get lots of requests - especially from Dubl Duck owners.
 
that's gotta be all kinds of fiddly setting them up and laying out. I'm just sitting here trying to figure out how your maker laid up what looks like strips of feathers on a substrate to lay into the epoxy/acrylic.
 

Legion

Staff member
that's gotta be all kinds of fiddly setting them up and laying out. I'm just sitting here trying to figure out how your maker laid up what looks like strips of feathers on a substrate to lay into the epoxy/acrylic.
it was probably made as a sheet. Imagine a flat baking tray. Lay the background down, spread the feathers around, then carefully pour resin in to the appropriate depth. Once it cures just cut the sheet into scales, shape and polish.
 
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it was probably made as a sheet. Imagine a flat baking tray. Lay the background down, spread the feathers around, then carefully pour resin in to the appropriate depth. Once it cures just cut the sheet into scales, shape and polish.
yeah, but look how thin the feather "strips" are with the substrate edges on each side. that's the prep work I'm talking about.

there'd need to be a base layer of semi-set epoxy, lay the color sections on that, top off with epoxy and cure. if the colored bits aren't sandwiched, they likely wouldn't last unless there was a liner attached to the bottom layer.
 
yeah, but look how thin the feather "strips" are with the substrate edges on each side. that's the prep work I'm talking about.

there'd need to be a base layer of semi-set epoxy, lay the color sections on that, top off with epoxy and cure. if the colored bits aren't sandwiched, they likely wouldn't last unless there was a liner attached to the bottom layer.
You know what you´re talking about, this isn´t just a sheet cast with individual scales cut out. Each set of scales are cast individually. This is evident as the color/feathers layer seems to wrap around with the bevel edges, and no feather appear cut. There could be another, slightly, easier way than having an epoxy base layer, then the feathers, then final epoxy cast. One could place the colors/feathers in the mold, then cast the epoxy. The colored layer of feathers would be exposed afterwards, but could be covered with a clear coat of thinned epoxy. Thinned but still thick enough to build up 1/16th inch or so in a couple of coats. That would be the easiest way. One could do this at home easy enough. I mean it would take some trial and error and experimenting, but it isn´t rocket science either.
 
I wonder if a person could use spray epoxy on the feathers after they were first pressed/flattened/molded to the desired shape. I imagine that doing something like this would require practice and skill to develop, I have never tried anything like this.
 
So... I have done this kind of thing a bit, and as people have said - it's epoxy casting. And you'd want to do it in layers; you can set one layer in a cast, and layer other stuff in over the top. You want to wait until each layer is completely and fully set before adding the next because two-part epoxy is actually quite exothermic and adding more can f up a previous application if not fully set. You'd also want to clean the previous epoxy surface before applying the next, and also to watch out for bubbles at every stage obviously.

I suspect you could do this in a rectangular cast and shape from there, you'd be surprised how shaping a cast block doesn't really actually make much of a difference to the stuff inside, even when you're going through it. All in all... it's a somewhat fiddly tbh, but fun to play around with.

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The most niche thing I've done is someone who wanted a handle spacer made from plastic I'd cleaned off the beach, which I sometimes do, but wanted it sea-green. I told him that plastic you find on a beach is almost always white (sun bleaching I assume), but I'd do my best...

What I did come across was some old fishing net tangled up in seaweed. Cleaned it up a bit:

Screenshot 2021-12-13 182419.png

Cast in epoxy at the bottom of a shot glass:

Screenshot 2021-12-13 182444.png

Sanded it down and incorporated into a handle with winemaking oak and a buffalo horn ferrule, as requested:

Screenshot 2021-12-13 182537.png

Et voila!

Screenshot 2021-12-13 182637.png

Screenshot 2021-12-13 182705.png
 
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