Ive been using a hardwood sawdust for the past couple years in my tumbler but was getting low so I orderd 40 lbs of corn cob grit from Research Manakins and used it on a pheasant. The saw dust always worked great and was easy to get out of the bird but this grit gets stuck in the primarys and its a royal pain. How do you guys get the stuff out. Is this normal or is the grit to fine. Are rice hulls better? Thanks
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and hit tap the wing feathers with it until it comes out.after you do this a few times you will develop the right amount of force needed to remove it and not tear anything up.i use a piece of 14 ga wire and bend a u in it for a handle.
I'm not a professional taxidermist--I just do it as a hobby. I mounted a duck without using coleman fuel or tumbling in corn cob grit, I just wire wheeled and washed/rinsed it several times and it came out ok. Correct if I'm wrong but isn't the coleman fuel and grit used just to speed up the process of drying the feathers? It just takes a little more time using just air or a hair dryer. Agree? Disagree? Thanks! Jim Wilson
An average duck after being washed in detergent and then patted with a towel and simply dried with a hair-dryer or blower might take 30-40 minutes to completely dry. But if you soak it in gasoline/acetone for five minutes, walk outside to allow it to drain dry, then stuff in a drum with sawdust (or whatever), run it for 15 minutes, then spend 10 minutes trying to get the sawdust out, steam the feathers to straighten them out, then blow dry because the down wasn't completely done, followed by turning it inside-out to get the sawdust out of the wing and leg pockets - Then the duck is finally dry - which probably takes 30 to 40 minutes, and the bird still has some sawdust stuck inside. Which makes sense to you?
On a pheasant I tumble for 4 min. Use air pressure at about 30 lbs with air nozzle from compressor for about 2 min. (which really helps with the corn cob grit). Then blow dry with hair-dryer for about 10- 15 minutes.
I think the corn cob grit gives the feathers a "shine" to them, but is messy. I run my fingers threw the feathers and use a toothbrush when preening the feathers after the bird is mounted for any stuff I missed. Hope this helps.
I started using grit, and it really absorbs any moisture on the inside of the skin. I only tumble for about 5 minutes, then blowdry, but I like how the grit dries the Inside!