At 16:24 02-01-16, Daniel Jencka wrote:
 >
 >Thanks for your comments below about goose vs. crow and the mortise
 >shape. I have plastic jacks with the typical rectangular mortise in
 >the tongues. Will goose quill work with these? (Someday I would like
 >to convert to wooden jacks if I can ever afford it.) or do they need
 >to be somehow modified or treated because it is plastic rathervthan wood?

Daniel,

It will depend upon how large the plastic holes in your jack tongues 
are.  Generally, I would say that Canada Goose quills are comparable 
in thickness to delrin plectra, and I fitted them without any problem 
to wooden tongues that had been used originally with 
delrin.  However, wood gives a flexibility that you dont have with 
plastic, in that you just need to get it slightly wet and the fibres 
expand and close the hole to give a tighter grip!  Having said, that, 
I often leave a layer of compressible pith on the feather where it 
goes through the tongue.  This is sufficient to hold the quill tight.

The only real answer in your case is to try a feather and see if it 
holds.  You are unlikely to do any damage!

David

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