128 holes later and still not fleshed (par 3)

[RoyalOaksTaxidermy]

   PATIENCE!  you must walk before you run....

First off... Why wouldnt you be able to flesh with a FLESHING MACHINE??.. They are desined for fleshing and shaving... I use mine for fleshing all the time.. Yes it takes awhile to get the hang of it. but as you know practise makes perfect I can flesh out a raw green cape in about 10 mins. Tale the roasts and steaks off by hand, no sense in making 50 passes to remove a roast when your knife does wonders... THEN use the flesher to go over the entire cape removing membrane and any small amounts of meat.
2. Adjust your guard so that very little of the blade is there for shaving... IM talking start small, like barely have the edge above the guard.. make a few passes see if its cutting a small amount.. and move it as you learn more.. It should shave a nice piece off nice and even, but yes you DO need to hold the hide rather firmly between your hands so that the spinning blade doesnt grab it and try to suck it into the machine ... If your trying to flesh too deep at one time you will get more cuts in the hide.

 Also how are you standing?  I stand behind mine, wrap my arms around it and pull the hide towards me.  I use the lower to middle area of the blade. You do need to apply some pressure so that the hide is pulled across the guard/blade as you go to the right, but if your blade is set too deep it will cut the hide up..its important to keep the area you are working on smooth, with no wrinkles, so when you pull it tight make sure you arent creating a fold for the machine to bite. Do SMALL areas at a time, Dont grab a yard of hide,  I figure I grab about 8 inches of work area each time. When you make your pass, drop the hide, grab another handfull, and make another pass, repeat until done.. Each time you drop the section your working on you are repositioning the cape. If you keep trying to make passes with the same handful you will get cuts since you arent repositioning your hands for the area that is making the pass. And where is the machine vs where your cape is laying? If your using a tabel mount the hide will lay in front and you shouldnt have to lift it up too high to reach the blade. If useing a stand mount flesher, be sure you use a work surface that allows the blade to be fairly close to the table, again so you arent trying to lift the cape a foot off the table to get to the blade. If your lifting and trying to pull the hide firmly to keep it taunt, and then also trying to pull it into the blade as you go to the right, thats alot of work..

 And another thing.... DO NOT flesh when you are tired... Practise for small amounts of time until you get good. Your hands arent used to holding that position. Your arms will feel like someone wacked you with a bat after awhile so dont over do it trying to get the hang of it LOL.. Good thing is once you DO get used to the new positions your muscles wont revolt at the mere site of the flesher   If you are getting frustrated, take a break, go do something else, then try again later.

And definetly wear fleshing gloves..


 PS. I went thru 5 hides before I got the hang of it My biggest mistake was shaving too much off and having the hair follicles cut.

[Gina]

Ive got a question about your fleshing green capes on a machine.  Do you sanitize the blade?  Ive been rather shy of using a green cape on my machine cause of the sanitary reasons.  Thats alot of raw meat.  Do you use the same machine too for pickled and tanned capes asa well?

[RoyalOaksTaxidermy]

Well if you want to sanitize it you can use whatever you use for your other knives. Personally I just flesh the raw ones, wipe it down with a damp rag with a little bleach water, then rinse the rag good with clear water, and then use clear water to wipe down it again. air dry.  It doesnt take long to do as I just flip the guard out of the way and wipe it down, reset the guard and move on to the tanned capes.
 Havent had any problems and it stays looking nice and clean.  Not sure which machine you use, but the only part on my Eager beaver that wil rust is the blade. So bleach water for me isnt an issue. It might be with other machines that are prone to body rust.
  And yes I use the same machine for everything. At the price of these things I cant afford to have one for every part of the process.. LOL.
 
 

 

[EM]

Rock, why are you counting the holes?  Oh wait...my first game head, I counted ummm...30 or so holes ON ONE SIDE.  The glands about killed me.  My teachers reminded me to hold the cape in my hands so the meat part of my thumbs...um...where the thumb bones are really part of the palm...use that part of my hand to give tension to the cape, instead of my fingers.  I got frustrated, and cut more holes.  I called my teacher back to the skiving room again, and they showed me, again.  I tried some more and cut more holes.  They told me to put the cape away for a few minutes...go get a drink, get a snack, whatever.  I got a Pepsi & ate some chocolate.  (cures most everything )  When I came back I did cut a couple holes, but I didn't get frustrated and just did the best I could.  With a lot of sewing (I needed the opportunities to learn anyway!) and a good hide paste, it mounted up alright.  Don't get down on yourself...you'll get better.  You might want to stop counting the holes though.

[EM]

How it mounted...not perfect, but not completely terrible either.  Just believe in yourself Rock...practice will hopefully bring the rest.

[GWebb]

I have an older VHS Tape "Fleshing With The Dakota II". If you are interested let me know, You pay $4 shipping and it is yours.

[Dave Hyer]

I use a good sharp necker fleshing knife and beam and do all my green fleshing, takes about 5 min max to do a cape. All my tanned capes on the machine.

[BNS]

I am new at the use of a fleshing machine also and agree to contact Bruce Rittle and get a copy of his fleshing video.

I also agree with posts above that when I started out on a machine I kept 8-10" of skin between my hands and flesh small areas at first. I found it much easier to do so on a freshly pickled hide. And stay away from thin areas (armpits etc...)

Hope this helps

[rock hunter]

Boy OH Boy!!!   The people of this site are helpful.  I am still having problems but I think that they will be resolved with time and the help of you.    Quite a few have offered there Knowledge and experience ( I THANK YOU).     RAY