The Split-Quill Feather Duster: Cut the Stem, Keep the Feather

"Heretofore it has been found impracticable, in manufacturing feather dusters and similar articles, to use the strong, stiff feathers of the wings and tails of turkeys, geese, &c., for, owing to the stiffness of the stems and the liability of such feathers to be broken or permanently bent, they soon become worthless." "The stems are cut away by means of any ordinary pocket-knife; but in order to do it accurately and expeditiously a knife with a gage to regulate the depth of the cut, like a splitting-knife or spokeshave, is preferable." "The advantages of cutting away the stem are, that the feather is left pliable and flexible, and can be bent in any direction without breaking; and it enables me to make feather dusters from feathers which have heretofore, owing to their stiffness, been worthless for that purpose."

Take two matching large feathers. Clamp each by its base with the tip resting on the kitchen scale, and press the base down until the tip bends 2 cm; note the scale reading. On one feather, cut away the back of the stem along most of its length with the craft knife, taking a thin, even slice and cutting away from your hand. Measure the stem thickness before and after with the caliper. Repeat the bend test and compare the readings with the notebook's cube rule. Then bend both feathers round a pencil and see which one breaks or stays bent.

**Susan M. Hibbard** of Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, filed US 177,939 on 13 November 1874; it is dated 30 May 1876. It was assigned to Catharine Nichols, Emeline C. Webster and Francis S. Eastman of Chicago. **Honest limits.** A quill stem is not a solid strip; it is a tapering shell filled with pith, so the cube rule is only the trend. Thicknesses and the breaking strain are examples. Your scale readings are the measurement.