now first of all I'm no taxidermist; I'm just getting into deer hide tanning as a hobbie and maybe as an extra source of income.
Well, I've tanned one deer hide once, and am in the process of tanning my second now. and I found that fleshing by hand with a knife or fleshing beam and "scraper" is a big task that requires lots of hard work. I've heard of fleshing machines before on some taxidermy websites, but what exactly are they, how do they work, and are they more useful in fleshing deer skin than by hand?I would like to look into the price of one also. Any answers are appreciated, thanks!
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I do not have one, but basically it is a spinning blade and you run the hide across it.
I still use the beam and knife method, but I can crank one out in no time. Scraping is no good, get a good beaver skinning knife like the ones made my Dexter. Then make sure your hide is nice and tight against the beam. You don't scrape, you actually slice away the meat. It takes practice.
You may be interested in the benchgrinder wire wheel method. Check out the archives . look up wire wheel method there is a load of info on the subject. and the set up is much less expensive and great to get started with. Ray
And a Fleshing Machine is - actually most useful as a Shaving Machine. However in the hands of an experienced operator it can very easily be used for both.
For using it as a Flesher - a lot of operators prefer using a used blade and set their guards wide apart - that way pieces of fat and flesh wont get caught in the guards and pull the skin into the blade.
As a Shaving machine you want a razor sharp blade and the guards closer and its used to actually peel off thin layers of flesh. By thinning the skin you will get a much softer skin and usually lots of stretchiness.
I personally still Beam flesh a lot of my skins. Then I use the Shaver to thin it down after its been thoroughly pickled (3 days). The only reason I do it this way is because I dont like to keep switching my guard settings back and forth.
If you'd like information on the Eager Beaver machine, which we sell - feel free to e-mail me and leave your address. I'd be glad to forward you a flyer along with prices.