George just curious as to what you are using instead of gas?thanks for the help...hay the gas i bought was on sale for 2.00 the cans had dents in them...lol...Rich
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Rich..after use,only discard the small amount with the water and gunk that settles to the bottom. the rest can be used again and this will give you more to use from each can. good luck.
NONE of those combustible SOLVENTS is really worth your life and your livelihood. In my years, I've heard them all and to a person, they're all bullsh1t. These chemicals are solvents which means that they DISSOLVE grease and oil, but they retain it as well in their diluted forms. To use them, the only purpose they serve is to drive the water out of your feathers so that you can save a few pounds of corncob grit or sawdust. They do NOTHING to degrease a bird. Soap and ONLY SOAP is the only type of true degreaser there is. Wash your birds in a good SOAP (Dawn will work, but Epo-Grip Bloodout/Degreaser or Eliminator from Van Dykes are stronger soaps that will work without the need of warm water). Then put your bird in an old washing machine and spin dry it. THEN toss it into the tumbler. I might use a few more pounds of grit in the course of a year, but I don't risk burning my shop down or fumigating my family and myself with noxious and carcinogenic chemicals. Your insurer wouldn't be too delighted to hear about their use either.
On my last 4 birds I skipped the coleman fuel and the tumbling. I just spun in the washer and air dryed by hand. I liked the results. I'm just a hobyist so time isn't a factor. Read this tecniqe here and gave it a try. I like it. Pat
When I was taught, I was taught to use the Mineral Spirits method. When I built my house, I started thinking about a sprinkler system in the shop downsatirs- in case of fire. Then I thought- What- Am I NUTS? I switched to water based paints, and got rid of the petroleum pruducts on my birs. I hardly notice the difference in dry time.
Tips for drying. One, after the rinse, squeeze it out in a towel. Then I suppose you could spin it in the washer, not sure if much more will come out. Two- give it a brief tumble. Three- My secret weapon. I run a shop vac on the blow mode, with a hair dryer duct-taped to the tube.Double barrel bird drying bazooka! This gives me a high volume of air, with some heat to aid drying, but the cooler shop vac air keps you from cooking the skin.
I am just a hobbiest as well and I was taught to use the white gas method. Well I took Georges advise and stopped. My last 3 ducks have turned out just fine. Anyone wanna buy some coleman fuel....;)