With the onslaught of Tannerys opening over the last few years by anyone with some money in their pocket, and a pipe dream of getting rich, I figured I would propose a few questions for the novice Taxidermist to ask a potential Tanner. Who knows, these might keep you from getting burned. First, is the owner a Taxidermist, or has the owner been involved in Taxidermy tanning for a number of years? If not- RUN! Recently I have seen alot of furriers(tanning for fur coats etc.) that have begun to take on some Taxidermy tanning to help boost their bottom line. I say, stick with one thing and do it well, not multiple things half-assed. Second, ask about their employees. How long have your shavers been shaving? How long have other department heads been doing what they are doing. Every aspect of a Tannery works together as a total package. One cant carry the other and expect a quality result. I have seen tannerys on this site open doors for business without any experienced shavers. Go figure? Heres a question for you, ask how much money their shavers make from the least to the most. Some will tell you loud and proud, and some wont. Low pay- employee could care less. High pay- employees that actually give a damn about their job, and considers it their career, not just a temporary job! Its more of a competition to these guys, their mortgage depends on it! Third, are you going to be tanning all my skins, or farming the ones you dont want to do out to another Tannery? In all actuallity, you are paying for shipping twice when this happens. There and back from the Tannery you sent your skins to in the first place, and also a mark-up to cover the shipping to and from another Tannery. Seems to me, if the Tannery you sent your skins to in the first place trusts this other Tannery, why shouldnt you seed ALL your skins to the other Tannery, and avoid the mark-up? Last, but not least, can this Tannery afford the cost of a replacement skin if the impossible happens, and mine is ruined?(machinery etc.) This question would probablly be better suited for more experienced Taxidermists, since they would be the ones sending in the lifesize marco polos and bongos, but you get the idea.These are by no means all of the questions you need to ask when choosing a Tannery, but they are a good start, and hopefully you will get honest answers. This post was brought about from some of the posting I have been seeing on Tannery problems lately. P.S. How can you have the best Tannery in the U.S. when you cant even tan it ALL? And before anyone asks, NO, I am not worried one bit!
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Please email me. I find your post extremely interesting because of an experience yesterday.
What is the name of your tannery? What is your turnaround time? Email pleas. Thanks
I am a Tannery employee, thats all. I dont try to get business for my employer. He does just fine at that on his own. Im just one of those into-my-work people that likes spout off their opinions.
I'm not sure who oldshaver is but he's 100% right, and the Wildlife Gallery fits the mold. They pay there people well, and the shavers have been in the business for a long time. The owner is also a TAXIDERMIST that demands what we all want. Great product, great turn around, and great customer service. No I don't work for the Gallery but I do take all my tanning there....
to keep this from being a Tannery advertisement, and Don Ho turns it into one! Your mold is only 3/4 of the way full there Don.
for a shaver?
That 40k gap in wages is determined by the speed of the shaver. Low end,4 deer capes per hour- high end, 9 capes per hour. Of course, it is a given that know matter where you are at on this scale, you have to make little to no damages to keep your job. The shavers on the high end are limited to only a handfull of Tannerys that they can work at in the U.S. because of the volume of skins it takes to keep them busy 50 weeks a year. For example, lets slow that high end shaver down to 6 capes per hour. Thats 48 per 8hr day. Times 5 days per week, thats 240 deer per week. Times 50 weeks, 12,000 deer capes per year just to keep this one man employed all year. Of course, we are only using deer as an example, without throwing in all the other types of skins they shave. A GOOD shaver can go from fox, to deer, to african, to bears, and back to fox without missing a beat.
That's some excellent advice and I appreciate your objectiveness. Many people will claim they have the BEST tannery when they've never used any other. Sometimes that works, other times it doesn't. I think your statement that every taxidermist should know tanning says volumes. Thanx.
I guess a well rounded Taxidermist should know how to tan a skin. You will probablly have those times when a skin has to be done yesterday, and dont have time to wait on a Tannery. If it was up to me, no Taxidermist would do their own tanning, but that aint happening.LOL I was refering more to a Tannery owner having a Taxidermy background to enable them to communicate with their customers on their level.
I visited a tannery on Friday and the most experienced shaver makes 60k. For this demographic area that is very high. He has been shaving somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 years.
Juyst came into this, and started tanning and shaving some cased furs for a friend of mine. I'll tell you what, there is a learning curve for both.
I have tanned a LOT of deer hides(braintan) before I even considered a modern tan, and tanned quite a few Buffalo now doing braintan and modern tan. My experience is that they both take a HUGE amount of thinning and shaving, and I made a LOT of holes in my first few.
Oldshaver, my hat is off to you and anyone who has done this job on a multitude of diffrent skins. Makes the sense of touch the most presciuos ally a shaver can have.
Ron Z
(and I know you aren't really old, just my age, ha ha) I can't even imagine shaving that fast. I'm finally up to 2 deer an hour, and thought I was progressing pretty well! My hat's off to you, too.