Can anyone share information or feed back on auto tanners. We are thinking of purchasing one, and are trying to get some information before we do. Pros, or Cons.
Thank you,
Little Bear
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a little on the $$$ side but well worth it. i bought mine from Dan Rinehart. I have the 22 gal. tanner. the capacity shows only 8 capes but when i attended his class we put about 16 in it. If you can fit the lid on then you can tan it! Being new to taxidermy and still slow...i fleshed, turned the lips, eyes, nose tanned for 3-4 hours, thinned the cape, did final fleshing and final tan (overnight) and ready to mount the next day.
Phenominal. I've heard good things, and read an article in the Breakthrough Magazine, but really want to get as much feed back as possible. I guess the amount of time needed for initial tanning depends on the amount of capes you put in? We do have a Quebec flesher, so I think we have the right machine for the job, but we will need to practice a bit on the shaving. Thanks for your imput, it means everything.
Is going into production! I got one the first year they were out. I don't thimk I would ever be without one as long as I do my own stuff. Just remember that the alum is OK for a pre-tan for shaving, but I always use one of the permanent tans for the final tan. The paint on tans are also good after final fleshing.
Where would I get information on a stainless steel auto tanner? Are you saying that a cape needs to have, for eg., Luiqitan painted on the cape after it goes through the pickling, shaving, and tanning process in the auto tanner?
Dan is working on getting them into production. You can call and talk to him about them. With an auto tanner the rough fleshed raw cape is put in and ran with the crystals that come with the machine which is aluminum sulphate/salt mixture. This is what I do for the pickleing process, there is no salting or conventional pickle involved. You can look it up in the archives. There are many many ways to do it with good results. I use a different tan because I want to have a more permanent tan, the alum can be washed out. Call Mr. Rhinehart , he can tell you all you need to know.
All that i have to say is that you should do some reserch on the mild steel presure tanning machine befor you buy.In about 2-3 year you will have to reline. Garinteed to chip and rust.Think about stainless steel. I have 3 - 30 gallon machines ready to go or i will build to what ever size you would prefer.Salt and mild steel do not get along there for they will rust look at the cars out there in the states that use salt.The stainless steel i use is food grade the best you can get
you can call about prices 608-868-4022 available NOW
Ron Wegner's stainless auto tanners. They are very nice and light weight. The only down fall to the ones in the catalogs are that they are not going to last near as long as the one's I saw at Ron's when I visited his shop almost two years ago. Definatly worth the investment.
Stainless Steel will not rust or chip like the mild steel machines out there will not have to get relined 2-3 years down the road.I have one left and after that it will take 1-2 months turn around.
Give me a call some time
THIS IS THE CADILLAC OF PRESSURE TANNING MACHINES
I've used Ron's units and couldn't recommend any other. Other taxidermist's machines that I have seen that weren't stainless, seemed like they were prone to chipping and rusting. Ron's machines are defintely are top of the line. I will have to say if you are going to buy a machine, this one is well worth it.