i am getting grease bleed through the seem of my birds. i do flesh with a flesher but when i get close to the seam i'm afraid of pulling feathers out. any help would be great. thanks.
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Go in the general direction of the flow of the feathers and keep your feathers on the upward side of the wheel.
You may loose a couple of feathers, but nothing major.. You have to get the seam clean, else you're asking for trouble.
Get a practice skin, and play with it on your wheel.. see just how much you can get away with..you cant teach the wheel anything, but it can teach you.
Jon~
At the seam where you're worried, try not applying any pressure, and hold the duck skin with a little sag in it. this allows you to work the area with very little pressure. If you can flesh the hackle and rear of the duck, you should have no problem at the seam. You'll lose a few feathers, but that is to be expected. Where you are cutting your opening, happens to be one of the thinnest spots on a duck. and if you flesh real well, it sometimes may look as if you cut your seam all the way from the tail to the neck. Wash your birds better, and if they look as if they still need fleshing after washing, then flesh them again. Yes, you can flesh the duck wet. and yes, you can flesh it twice. The point is to flesh it correctly. Franlky, you should see ALL the quills, not just the ones in the easiest places to flesh. Like the side of the duck near it's breast. Don't listen to the posts on how fast you need to be. that comes with practice. The main priority is to do a clean job. I'm never in a race, and my ducks are clean. I don't look at the clock, and if your concern is the time it is taking you. Be more concerned with repeat business, and word of mouth. The only other thing I am wondering, is how warm is the room where you are displaying your ducks, and how long does it take for the grease to bleed through?
I agree whole heartedly with Pete. You can wire wheel up to the edge of the cut and then switch to scissors. But, it would save time in the future if you go ahead and get comfortable doing it with the wheel.