would coarse sawdust not work as well as cob?. When the birdskin is in the tumbler will the weight of the legs not stretch and damage the skin or is there a ways areound that?
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If it is a duck sized bird leaving the feet on will not hurt. A large goose or turkey you may want to remove them. I cant speak on the sawdust since i have only used cob.
Brad: By clicking on the range search button and typing in "tumbling" there will be 381 responses on the subject. Probably more than you want to read, but ceretainly provides a variety of opinions on your questions. Coarse saw dust customarily is more difficult to get out of the feathers - the rough texture tends to stick in the feather veins and in the down. Fine sawdust is better but still seems to collect in the feather veins. I use ground cobs. With regard to the legs causing problems, I have tumbled a lot of bird skins and have never had a concern about the feet or leg bones on geese, pheasants or smaller birds. I remove the feet on many birds including turkeys for different reasons, like painting and positioning but not because of weight. I have never found that the weight of the feet damage the skin. You are more apt to have problems with large wings than feet. I do remove the tails on pheasants, rough grouse and turkeys before tumbling. Good Luck