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Post by paulette on Oct 29, 2011 8:41:03 GMT -5
Wellll.. someone trapped a beaver here in the neighborhood the other day and here's what's left of it. They did a heck of a job skinning it! No respect whatsoever! By braintanner101 at 2011-10-29 Well I skinned the tail and cut out a few scales while I was at it.. I also power washed it, thinned it and tanned it with Lutan F, now I'm waiting for it to dry up a bit so I can stake it. Our grandson got the biggest charge out of this skin the other day. LOL.. He was amazed! By braintanner101 at 2011-10-29 Waiting for it to dry a lot so I can stake/cable it tries my patience! By braintanner101 at 2011-10-29
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Post by whitedove on Oct 29, 2011 20:54:04 GMT -5
Your Little grandson sure has grown....
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Post by whitedove on Oct 29, 2011 20:56:22 GMT -5
At least you were able to salvage some of it.
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Post by paulette on Oct 30, 2011 17:55:43 GMT -5
Yep.. and yep! Very blessed W.D.! I was able to salvage SOME of the tail too! They're quite fascinating. I didn't use the utmost of caution and messed up a bit on this tail! It IS possible to fully tan them but it does indeed take the utmost caution! So kinda screwed that up a bit but it is a challenge to test myself every year on these. I suppose they are good for something.. I'm just not sure what, ;-) Bow handgrips perhaps? Anyway this particular tail might need some doctoring up a bit if someone wanted to try to use it for something. By braintanner101 at 2011-10-30 By braintanner101 at 2011-10-30 Uploaded with ImageShack.usHope these images load, lol.. pain in the butt loading images to online photo hosts and transferring them to forums! Fun sharing them though. Can you see on the beavers skin the little ridges? If you can those are caused by well possibly having a slight warp in my steel blade on the electric fleshing machine I used.. I did use the washer to flesh this beaver.. (real EASY, very quick) BUT.. big but, the ease in tanning comes in thinning down skins before anything else.. didn't take long for me to catch on to this NEED for enabling easier tanning of fur skins. Some folks can get real good at using stones on bench grinders to do this too BUT.. and another big BUT.. if you cut into the hair roots it's easy to burn them and well you could end up with hair MISSING! So I was never very good with the one I have.. I do like to use the wheel on the grinder sometimes.. to clean up the skins that I might get soiled abrading/staking.. Anyway this dang beaver STILL feels damp!!! tests my patience, I'll openly admit.. I'm in the "I WANT IT NOW!!" generation!
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Post by whitedove on Oct 30, 2011 21:14:52 GMT -5
Bow handgrips.."sounds like a good idea to me!!!" What does the guys think??Or if any ladies use a bow..."I think it sounds like a really good idea!!"Well...you can always try it...and see how it works.How about a hammer grip,or various tools that might need a hand grip would that work?And if so, how would you fashion it around the handle/??Just curious, you got me thinking....of ways that might work, and what uses for it.
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Post by paulette on Oct 31, 2011 19:09:09 GMT -5
This tail skin might best be used 'raw'... fleshed good but gluey, raw.. lol.. of course wrapped a bit over the edges with sinew might be an idea as well.. as rawhide dries it shrinks and tightens itself! Cool huh.. one would need to experiment a bit to perfect this perhaps.. dunno..haven't really been there and done it but have read about it.
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Post by paulette on Nov 1, 2011 21:56:55 GMT -5
Well wouldn't you know the fur would become tacky on this here beavers hair.. lol so I learned the reason from the taxidermy forum.. The ph of my pickle being LOW with the surfactant degreaser stripped the natural oil from the beavers hair and then the hair absorbed some of the grease from the beaver's skin side.. figures.. well I learned there is MORE than one degreaser available.. well I had the detergent type, surfactant degreaser with the Kemal 4 and NOT the solvent type.. well DUH! So anyway have it and a citric acid powder on order to try for a less LOW pH pickle.. looking forward to trying both those products on some of the skins I tan. So apparently I just have to redegrease with half and half mixtures.. and salt and water.. not sure about re lubing the fur.. I'm sure there's products available for that! Maybe a little V05 would give it a nice clean sheen again.. without being TOO oily! Looks clean in the pic but sure doesn't feel soft and clean, lol.. always something! By braintanner101 at 2011-10-31
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Post by whitedove on Nov 2, 2011 23:17:31 GMT -5
Vo5 it'll work,I beleive so anyway!!!
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