So I know the dull side of the fleshing knife should be square , but is there an ideal width to the flat edge ? Mine has a flat square edge about 1/32" wide. Would it be better to make that wider out say 1/6" or 1/8" ? -Thanks

Nope. Leave it at the 32nd. Mine might be a bit more than that. And I asked this question a while back and didn't get much response. Best to just learn the angle that is needed to push fat and how thick it is won't matter as much.
I had all these questions about how the knife should be and after fleshing a handful of critters it gets easier and easier to the point of not even worrying about how wide the dull side is. If it doesn't cut your finger it's dull enough.
What knife do you have and what are your fleshing?

Take a file and square up that dull edge. Just a little bit of rounding on the dull edge will hinder you when pushing fat.
Width thickness what ever you want to call It just needs two square edges to make It work.

Should I take a file to the dull side and run it all the way down the knife length wise to sharpen the knife or width wise and a bunch of little strokes from one end to the other?

Perpendicular to the blade in a diagonal motion with the file

Ok that makes sense. How many swipes would you do? I’ve had my necker 600 for about 6 years and never sharpened it. I believe it’s gotten duller since I bought it, just never knew they could be sharpened or dulled for that matter.

Just a $20 dull side only knife I got from F&T. Mainly using for coons. What's the ideal angle 90* OR 45* ?

File until you can see and feel a square edge. You can't over file It. Once your done take a steel or a hard blade and take off the wire edge that Is left after filing. A couple of swipes will be all you need. You don't want to be rounding It off again.

Thanks Beav! Now I can’t wait to flesh a coyote again! Lol

Ya right.

I tossed a coyote today It ha d a nice belly but no fur around the neck and shoulders. NO sense I putting up a $4.00 coyote.

Got a question. If you are filing the dull side, will the corners get to sharp. Or do you touch them up a little also. I have a couple of necker 600's and on coon they still work great but the coyotes this year seemed to be a little tougher than before.

LIke I said after filing to get that square edge just take a steel or a hard smooth piece of metal and run It across the two edges to take off the wire edge. It dosen't take much.

I have a fleshing knife that just has a sharp edge that I purchased lots of years ago. Would I be better off filing it so it has a flat surface? I guess what I'm interested in is would it work better for fleshing with a flat surface then with the sharp edge that it has right now?

Go to the back side and square It up. Don't be messing with the sharp side.

Got it done. Now to get another coyote to give it a try. Thanks for the advice.

The sharp edge is convex for a reason. And the dull side I just used a diamond sharpener to dull 4/5ths of the blade and left the last 1/5th sharp. Like Beav said it just needs to be 2 square edges on the flat and it will push fat.




I can't answer this question, and this may be why I didn't get many responses on my own post about this last year. However I can tell you that if you expect to start out fleshing day one with all of the answers and knowledge it takes to put up great fur, that your wrong. This form will help you out alot a folk on here will almost always tell you everything they can to put u on the right track. However, fleshing and animal take experience and untill your using your knife, on your setup you won't know exactly what angle you will need and that angle will change from critter to critter and area of the critter and so forth.
I didn't do to good on my first coon, and same on my second bit after fleshing a few coyotes and a few more coons you get then hang of your knife. And then it's all down hill from there.
So don't worry about the angle so much get the experience.
Watch some YouTube videos on fur handling. You will figure it out.

Ken S I have to agree and disagree with your statement.
Practice practice and more practice Is good. But If your not using ten right angle your doomed to fail.

You NEVER run your knife at a 90Deg angle to your hide. And a 45 Deg angle Is probably just as bad.
You want to start out with your blade just about flat to the hide. You want to get the edge of the knife under the gristle and fat. You want It to act like a blade In a hand planer. And you want the bevel up. And the flatter your blade the less chance you have to cut that hide.
I like to start out at a bit higher angle to get a bite and then I flatten out the blade.
Never push straight ahead when fleshing remember your not taking the bark off a tree. You want to use a slicing motion so your just taking off sections of fat or gristle. Pushing straight ahead the gristle and fat just builds up ahead of the blade and It will stall you out.
But practice Is what you need. But you need some where to start.

Good luck

That is a darn good reply Beav.

Was thinking while fleshing a coon this AM. I use yet another angle. One where one hand is further down the beam than the other, mainly when getting started between ears and neck area.
Not saying others should, it's how I learned and for sure my beam, knife edge angle, sharpness, and gristle factor are different than others.
Late season coon are tougher here. Perhaps because they have used some of the fat reserve to survive. It has been cold here.
If I were to spend the cash on a real knife and beam, I'd have to relearn. Old dog new trick thing. If a beginner could first learn with good equipment, he'd be ahead.

I learned with and use Granpaps draw knife and a beam I made. It's likely 100 yrs old, excellent condition, and almost shaving sharp. Only sharpening it EVER gets is drawing the back of skinning knife to clean gristle from edge.

Guess I milked that reply, back to the grease pit for me lol.