I did check the "Search" button I didnt find any answers so IM asking here.
I was wondering if anyone had designed a fleshing room that could be hosed down? My loft is being designed for my taxidermy work area and IM wondering if I shouldnt put a walled in area that I can hose off to clean up the mess a flesher seems to sling everywhere? I was thinking if I put a garbage disposal in the floor (accesable from under the loft for easy aeccess if it needs work) the fleshing scraps could be washed down it and then on down into a septic type system. or into screen cage that could later be dumped. (water would go thru the mesh but the flesh bits would stay in the cage). THe disposal would be covered until I need to use it then I could take off the cover, and hose down the area.
Does this sound feasible? My problem is Ill be doing alot of my work during the cold months and I dont care to be standing outside..What do you all do with the mess the flesher makes? How do you dispose of all the scrap? I know a guard helps deflect alot of the mess but from what IM reading in the archives its still quite a mess. I dont want it to get the rest of my work area messy. It wouldnt take much to throw up a few walls. Or do I even need a drain? Do you just use shavings on the floor then sweep everything up?
Thanks
Rae
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You must have a mini flesher? The mini fleshers are messy, a tabletop flesher is easer to clean up after, and do not sling slop everywhere. You can build a little 10 x10 shed to flesh in out back, or sell the mini flesher and upgrade to a table top flesher. The better fleshing machines have a removable blade, and can be wiped up with a rag and hot water. On a tabletop machine, the scraps fall straight down under the blade and collect on the table, or if you cut a slot in the table, the scrap can fall into a tray or bucket. A drain and running water is a luxury for some taxidermist, but if building a shop, it is a very good idea to have that running water. I would want all the walls to be covered with washable material, Vinyl, or fiberglass paneling. When you lay out your shop, do not anchor anything down, as you will constantly be moving things around to create a better flow, as you go.
Actually My husband is building a table flesher using a grinder. International Wildlife Design in Georgia sent me the specs and how to build it. It does have a shield but Ive been going thru all the posts and it seems that even with a shield its still a messy procedure. The design we are using has the wheel hanging over the edge of the table so I suppose a bucket would work well there.
Thank you for recomending not to anchor anything down. I didnt even think of that. I can see where moving things around for good work flow would defintely be good LOL.
Most beginners rub on a nickle and pray for a dime. I understand that, but jury rigging PROPER TOOLING always creates bigger problems that if you'd used the correct one to begin with. Shaving and fleshing machines are designed for that prime purpose. They make virtually NO MESS and with a chute mounted underneath a fleshing table, clean up will be just a matter of sliding the waste container out and dumping it when you're finished. Rewired clothes dryers, grinding wheels, and even a concrete mixer are things that were designed to do a special job. Converting them to another still finds them coming up short of what the real tool especially designed for the job at hand will do. Invest on the REAL tool and it will save you money down the road. If you elect not to be a serious taxidermist, your investment will be returned immediately when you resell it. You can't say that about a grinder, a broke clothes dryer or a concrete mixer.
Just because some one named a tool for a job he found it worked on does not mean that is the only job that tool is able to do.
Do you still use a monkey wrench on the monkeys you mounts, it is suposto be used on monkeys isn't it?
Rea A grinder is a sloppy way to flesh hides and if you do not get your timeing down you will heat you hides up causing slipage. I would suggest a real flesher.
Type in benchgrinder flesher set up. its all in the archives.. along with pressure washer fleshing, fleshing beam fleshing, you name it its in there and its all personal preferance. Dont be surprised you come across a bigname taxidermist who will tell you its made the best looking fleshed hide he's ever seen. Nuff said. Preach on .
a lot of taxidermists wouldnt have any tools at all
Okay let me get this straight, if someone uses a home built tool its jury rigging? George Roof designed a tool to push hides into the manniquin relief cuts. (Taxi-Tuk)Its basically a wire with a handle, Home made but it works, People are buying them now. Even in the archives there are people using the bench grider as a flesher. It works for them. Why wouldnt it work for me? And heck the Taxidermist that I got the specs from teaches all his students how to build the grinder/flesher. :)
LOTS Of items taxidermists use arent even designed as "Taxidermy " tools. For example, scalpels werent first invented for taxidermy, nor was a farriers rasp,the lip tucker is nothing more than a flat head screw driver with a bend in it, and sand paper wasnt invented for doing mounts, what about all those dental tools? I bet the first person who used an airbrush got laughed at. All IM saying is people will use what works for them, It shouldnt be knocked or put down. Helpful tips and advice is always nice but does it have to be so negatively put? :)
I plan on using it as a flesher not a shaver. I plan on shaving with a skiving knife and the meyer fleshing knife. I just want to get the majority of the meat and fat off with the grinder flesher so I can work the skin by hand easier. Im not planning on taking it right down to the skin with the grinder, Though Im sure Ill make mistakes and I might even tear up a hide or two. But as I learn to use my hands better and get used to the feel of it, I imagine Ill do better.
I might be able to 5 deer/elk this year. That is IF my husband, son, Father in Law, Uncle and myself get an elk/deer. Some how I dont think IM going to be pushed for time. Im in no hurry, IM taking my time, Im learning. Investing 1000 bucks in a table flesher seems a bit premature at the moment for what little Ill be working on. Once I learn to do the majority of the work by hand THEN I will invest in a table flesher/shaver.
At any rate just because I want to use a benchgrider to flesh out the major flesh on the hide doesnt mean Im "Jury Rigging". I have enough expense already going into this I dont need to spend 1000 bucks on something that esentially will just make doing a hide faster.I have alot to learn and doing by hand is generally a good way to learn. Otherwise I could just send it out to be dealt with.
Maybe when I have zillion people saying Dang can you do my deer- I might need to go more professional, But for what little Im going to be doing right now the expense far outweighs the need. Id rather spend that money on schooling. Then I can be ASSURED someone will knock on my door and ask me to do their deer. (If I have the talent of course)
I do plan on buying a "Real" table flesher in the future if I find the need. But for 5 deer a year? Ill do most of the work by hand.
Thanks for everyones input.
Now back to the original question. Which was would a room sectioned off be good for doing my fleshing so clean up will be easier? Running water etc. I will have my fleshing beam, and of course that horrid little bench grider it the room. :) LOL
Rae
I've never said any of those things DIDN'T WORK. My advice is to use the correct tool for the job. Nothing changes. Comparing a Taxi-Tuk to a bench grinder is a bit of a stretch since most people use a damned cabinet screwdriver or putty knife before they saw my tool. The Taxi-Tuk was invented for TAXIDERMY. Even the best carpenter uses moulding to finish his work. The $1000 flesher is a little steep for most people, but that's a top end model. I see the cheaper models here for half that. (I'd pay to see an elk fleshed on a grinder, BTW). And I'm just picky but the thought of having to hose down a room in my house because bits of meat and fat were caught in the rafters, or behind appliances or in light fixtures isn't exactly the ambiance I'd like to portray. As long as we have people who insist on JURY RIGGING, this profession will never be looked upon as "professional".
But George, you never said it would work either. All was negative.
Okay so you are the George who invented the taxi tux, Then you can understand how using something unconvential and previously unthought of can be a benefit to some?
In the original post I am asking if anyone had thoughts on a room made special so that it can be hosed down. I like a clean area, so made sense to me. I dont see it as a problem., My house is not where my work area is, as I stated in the above post. My work area is being built specifically for taxidermy, being able to easily clean and sanitize the whole area. I WANT to be able to hose down everything. I want to be able to spray bleach on the walls and rinse it off, same for the floor. skinning and all that is messy work, I intend to be in my work space and when Im done clean it up. The "Fleshing area" can also be used to rinse off hides and degrease them too. All contained withen an area so that it doesnt mess up the entire shop yet I dont have to be outside in the heat or cold when Im doing it :)
Thanks anyway
Rae
If you can, do the skinning and fleshing outside, or in a different area or garage away for the work/mounting bench, or the main shop. Just for the odor factor alone. Having an area that needs a flush and drain would be more of a meat/butcher shop. You seem to think that everything can be done in the same room, when most of the taxidermists keep these two areas separate. Once you have the skin pickled and tanned, the rest of the job is very clean. The shop will not be a bacteria problem if you keep the blood and meat out of it. In addition, if you have a mount that you have drying, and you are washing a bloody spray all over, the mount will absorb the unwanted room odors and moisture. However, you sound very firm on what you want and are going to do. Nevertheless, it makes sense to me to keep one area away from the other if you are going to have customers come and sniff around. We had a debate about shop odors here a while ago, and the consensus is that a shop that does not smell like fresh wild game is preferred by customers and taxidermist that care about appearance as part of making the shop customer friendly. Just my 2 cents.
Guess I am not with the times. I just use a beam and a good knife to flesh hides. Fleshing from the head back takes no time at all. And I am very picky about fleshing the face area. I use a golf ball under the eyes, lips and nose as a mini beam.
I am also lucky that I do it part time, the only thing I have going in the fall is prepping capes, so I don't have to worry about mounting a deer while there are hides laying around drying. I agree though, if I did it on a larger scale, I would want a separate shop with a concrete floor I could hose down if needed.
I dont mean to sound like Im very "Firm" about anything. I simply asked about making a fleshing room, but since it needs to be in another building that is fine. I didnt think of the smell, but I did think of seperate rooms. The Fleshing room was to be enclosed, to keep the ick away from my work area and so hosing down everything wouldnt get the rest of the area wet. Wasnt going to be hosing down where my mounts were LOL..
But since I never thought of the smell Ill need another shed. No big :) Thanks for all the input. I greatly appreciate it.
Rae
My shop is a concrete floor double garage (it was never a garage and never built with garage in mind, but the neighborhood sees it as one). I used to hose it out regularly to give me that clean fresh smell. Now there's so much crap on the floor it's not that feasible, but I COULD if I got off my butt and cleaned a little. I think it's wise to make a shop with a wash down floor if you can. Go for it. THEN buy you a good fleshing machine. LMAO.
George, I have you know that I am actually considering a "REAL" flesher LOL... Its the Dakota IV. Van Dykes has it for 449.00 MUCH better price than that other website which has the same exact machine for 989.00. Go figure. I was offered a nearly new one from a lady who has two, so we shall see if its feasible at this time for me to get it :) All depends on the price LOL. I have to kinda watch what I spend since I am investing so much into building the work shop. Not to mention having to buy everything etc. I dont want to have to take out a loan to do this. Just doing what I can when I can :)
But I thought you might be pleased that my shop wont always harbor that horrid grinder flesher :)
Rae
I'm a bit late on replying to some of these posts.
Elk have been done with a grinder George and have come out out finished up with great results. This is almost as bad a bringing up the DP. versus. Tanning issue again. Its all personal preferance whatever works to get the job done. Roadkill Steve Gossard has done it all on the benchgrinder from small clear up to Bison and he saved himself piles of money from buying a meatslicer. Not to mention he did buy a fleshing machine and still turns around and goes right back to the grinder. Just ask the man he can tell ya.
just remember. Personal prefferance . Thats all you need to remember.