bwhite

Dang Bingo_Orphan, it's all good. I never said you had a problem with anything. In fact, you brought up some good points. I agree with a lot you said, especially about the centerpiece and attaching the bustle to the base.

Originally posted by Bingo_Orphan

I do have a center piece rosette that I use but it's purely for aesthetics, it doesn't hold the loops down to the back board. I guess your best bet is to figure a way to get your loops more precise so that you don't HAVE to tie them down any number of spike loops. All that is really needed is maybe a single tie at the bottom of your backboard just to give some stability to your feathers. But even then, after a while you run the risk of that tie "cutting" the string thats in your loop and breaking it so that all your spikes come out. Which would really suck during a contest!

I always thought a center rosette was a nice touch. Just something more to an outfit anyway. I didn't know that there was a distinction to not having a centerpiece as being "Northern"


I couldn't agree more. Well said!

My only question remains..... Is it hard to get the spikes uniform due to the natural curve of the feather? Some curve more or less than others. If so, how do you get around that problem?

BeadMan

Hey, no problems here. It's good to have an opinion, I certainly do! Everything can't be black and white, we need that grayness every now and then.

I'm with bwhite in that I want to see some pictures of these bustles. I'm sure they're great, but I can't recall ever being impressed by unstraightened feathers. Proove me wrong.:violin:

sookout sh'nob

Nocbay also sells bustle supplies and kits with instructions (plus all the supplies you need) The whole kit runs about $120 US and looksk pretty good when you get it done.

www.nocbay.com

I like my fancy bustles with the natural curve in it. I started out a tradish dancer and we just don't iron our eagle feathers at home... I just can't get used to the look of a straightened feather (For myself). However, the looks just fine on other peoples'.

Thanks all. Peace.:)

robby

eagle bustles are the way to go

Furiously-Fancy

Old Skoo Fancy,

I'm wit you on dat Eagle Bustle thang....Eagle Bustles be da BomB!!!

robby

black and white eagle bustles definitely, have had quite a few comments at powwows about being ol skool

Furiously-Fancy

Robby,

I know you man.....you alright!

Keep jammin' bro! Keep your stylez!!

meetmeinthegarden

so can anyone explain the primary, secondary laces to me.....

Is this one long lace that is wrapped around each dowel and seperated by pony beads??

I have an idea in my head that is what the guys around here do is they drill through the dowel at the seperating lace....

can anyone clear this up?

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bwhite

There are two laces that hold the bustles together. The Primary lace is strung through the loops at the base of the feathers. There is no space between the feathers here. This lace ties the feathers to the bustle base at two points.... basically like the top of a horseshoe.

The secondary lace is the lace that spreads the feathers. I've seen it done two ways. One, the lace is threaded through holes drilled in the dowel rods. The other, the lace is threaded through holes drilled or punched through the quill of the feather. Believe it or not, I think that going through the feather is stronger than going through the dowel rod. Most of the time, the feathers are spread evenly by spacing them with beads on the secondary lace.

The secondary lace ties directly to the uprights on the bustle base.

To make the bustles have a nice cone shape, string the feathers together and lay flat on a table or the floor. When all the feathers have been strung together, and without the bustle being mounted on the base, you want the top left spike to be between 9:00 and 10:00 on a clock face. You want the top right spike to be between 3:00 and 2:00.

Then, when you mount the bustles to the base and tie the secondary lace to the uprights, it will pull the bustle into a nice cone shape.

If you can imagine the clock face again.... If the top spikes go past the 10:00 and 2:00 positions on the clock, then they probably lay too flat when mounted. (Then they rub together, collapse and all kinds of nasty stuff)

Just reduce the number of beads between the feathers or actually reduce the total number of feathers used to get the desired shape. It's all trial and error.

Hope that helps.

sookout sh'nob

Echo that - the quill is almost always stronger than the rod. I've had many rods break off at the hole, so I switched to harnessing through the quills. Even if I accidently split the quill, it still superglues back together pretty strong (just like when you accidently stick your fingers together;))

DeusExMachina

is there any way to get a shape other than the standard "U" shape on a fancy bustle? I was thinking a pair of bustles shaped like batwings and done up in black purple and silver would be cool. Also, does anybody actually do quill wrapping on their spikes?

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Dancin by the bay

DOH!! *laughing really hard*bat wings! must be the bear thing with caves right crabby?

DeusExMachina

Well, that, and so that nobody else will look like me.
I've wracked my brains over this, and the only way i can figure to get the batwing shape I'm wanting is prolly to make the dowel extenders varying lenths. I'm going to try to make a mini mock-up of that this week to see how it works. if it's a go, I'll see about putting the pictures up for you guys to see.

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Mad Scientists Union Local 42
Evil Geniuses For a Better Tomorrow

The secret of my succes is 30% natural talent, 10% inspiration, and the remaining 60% is just the fact that I am nucking futs.

The Rat

I personally dig the style of well-made curved bustles. Spike Draper has a set that he uses with his pewter (?) outfit that I think is really well done.

Orphan is right - the straight spikes are a little harder to dance in for big guys (I'm 6'4", so I feel the pain) because of the lack of airflow between feathers. The curved feathers, especially on the neck bustle when they're pretty high up, have a smaller profile against the air so they're easier to move with. There is a compromise, though, for guys that prefer the straight spikes (such as myself) and want better movement. In the new set I'm making, I've rotated the spikes a little (about 20 degrees or so) along the axis of the quill. That way the bustles still have a nice full look, but air can flow in between the feathers a lot better and let the dancer move more easily.

I shamelessly stole the method from Marty Pinnecoose because that bammer still owes me a fish sandwich (long story) :Chatter

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frybreadboogie72