I plan to flesh and dry my coon hide this year can anyoe help o the best wa to flesh coons draw knife, scraper ect. never done this before so don't be afraid to be to general thanks to all
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if you have a fleashing machine....it will work on the back skin just fine.....other that that...sissors are the best tool. The fat is easily cut off with them.
You can do it a wire wheel that's attached to a drill. One thing to remember when fleshing any mammal is to start at the tail and go trowards the head. I will work the other way nose to tail but the wheel catches the flesh different and it will pull the cape into the whell and can make a mess.
As for drying the pelt, salt it and place it on a little incline to let the fluids drain off. The next day shake off the salt and resalt it again. From there hang and air dry in a cool dry place.
I agree with Frank that the wire wheel is a good way of fleshing the skin, just be careful not to tear holes, in other words, use a very fine bristeled brush.
To dry the skins i usually stretch them, hair side in on a stretching board, however, this only works on "cased" pelts.
Good Luck
I was taught to freeze the coon hide first for a couple of days- this supposedly helps separate the fat layer from the skin which is connected by a membrane. Flesh it when it's still pretty cold and the fat comes off better too. This process seems to work a little better as the shoulder/neck area is a real pain. The hides are so greasy.