I have one of the angled wire wheels you can get from Van Dykes (the on for Turkey and large birds). Well cannot seem to get the handle of it. No matter what I do the skin looks like Swiss cheese. I tried holding a soft ball and a tennis ball under skin, and it helped a little but not much.
I have read the archives, and have tried most suggestions. I start at the tail and work my way up. If I don't push into the wheel it will not get in between the quills.
So my question, I know some of the problems got to be me, but do you think it could be partially the design of the angled wire wheel? One thing I have found it the arm does not come out for enough for a large bird like a turkey. So do you think I could achieve better results using another kind? Or should I just take the motor sent with it, and build a bigger box? Any suggestions would be great.
Rob Akers
Richmond Virginia
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A common mistake of people just starting out with the wheel is they get the skin too thin. You only want to remove meat and fat...you DO NOT want to thin the skin. Bird skins are naturally thin. My suggestion is to take it slow. You have to touch the area to the wheel gently and apply only enough pressure to get the fat off. I don't see how a softball or tennis ball will help.
Turkeys can cause problems in the "gobble box" area. This stuff is hard to get off with the wire wheel. I use the pressure washer for turkeys. You have to be gentle, but I can flesh a whole turkey in less than 10 minutes.
Hello coach, My experience with a fleshing machine is not extensive and the machine I have is a soft touch from Van Dykes. Contrarily I have to apply a little more pressure then I would have thought. I did take the added precaution of taking a piece of wood and brushing it with the wheel to soften the wires on the wheel. Also the wheels do come in different degrees of stiffness. For birds I want the most soft. As for working room I agree there could be more working area under the plexigalss shield. I elevated my fleshing machine off the work table to accomodate larger birds. Hope this helps somehow.
Make sure there are no stray wires sticking out from the brush. Get down to eye level and look at it, just one stray strand can rip holes.
Also you might try putting water/bactericde in a spray bottle and spraying down the flesh side. Keep it wet while fleshing. It helps.
Make sure there are no stray wires sticking out from the brush. Get down to eye level and look at it, just one stray strand can rip holes.
Also you might try putting water/bactericde in a spray bottle and spraying down the flesh side. Keep it wet while fleshing. It helps.
Make sure there are no stray wires sticking out from the brush. Get down to eye level and look at it, just one stray strand can rip holes.
Also you might try putting water/bactericde in a spray bottle and spraying down the flesh side. Keep it wet while fleshing. It helps.
It will come to you. I also recommend a video- watch how some one with experience runs the thing. I dont put ANYTHING under the skin. I hold the skin with two hands, with the area I want to wire in between. Then I GENTLY apply pressue to the skin by lifting this area up to the wheel. Another good idea is to slow your wheel down for ducks and delicate birds. I put a dimmer switch on mine to do this. For those fussy wood ducks, the motor almost kills when I apply pressure. As alaways, check the forums for other advice
I am also new to all of this. I found the comment regarding the pressure washer interesting. Is this a option for other birds as well?
Thanks, Kirk
I can do ducks so quick on the wheel that I've never tried the pressure washer. I just use it on turkeys because it does a great job removing all the junk in the "gobble box". Pressure washing is a tricky technique...don't think you can just lay the skin out and blast away. You have to turn the pressure down and watch what you're doing very carefully.
Keep trying. You will find on some bird skins it will work great while some others will have you picking up your scissors.
This tool can do lots of jobs around the shop. Try different brushs, angles, etc. Before long that wheel will be working for you.
I did not hit that submit button more than once. I might be losin my mind, but it's not completely gone - yet. BP
At first, most of us do plenty of sewing on bird skins where we burned thru. I see a couple of things that I would do different that might help. I NEVER put anything under a bird skin so I can apply more pressure. I keep my hands away from the wheel so I can apply light pressure from both sides. You might try putting some borax or cob media on the skin to help while fleshing. Lastly, I never start at the rear of any bird. That is the most tender area on all birds. I start near the shoulers or neck and get a feel for the skin before starting toward the back end. Hope this helps.