Boco , I'd like to tap into your fur handling knowledge if you don't mind . I'd PM you but I'm not sure how to . When my computer wiz daughter in law comes back this way I'll have her show me . I've recently hand plucked a beaver with fair results but it is VERY time consuming .
I'm trying to figure out an easier way with possibly better results . Much of the guard hair came out by the roots but a fair amount did not . It just broke off higher than I wanted it to . The back hairs come out easy but the sides and belly DONT lol . I know paying a processor to do it is the smart thing but this is one of those bucket list things I wanted to do . If I had unlimited furs to wreck in the learning process I wouldn't ask but I don't lol . I'm thinking about some kind of wooden dowel or squared off piece of wood coated with rosin or something to make the hair stick to the tool and doing it like fleshing the the hide . I don't think corn starch would be grippy enough but I'm worried the rosin would be too difficult to remove from the fur . I think wood alcohol would dissolve the rosin but would it hurt the fur ? Do they make a tool for this ? Maybe some kind of metal tool with a squared off edge that would grip the guard hairs and pull them without cutting them or the underfur ? Do you think it would be better to pluck while the hide is fresh , put up , already tanned or does it matter ? I'm thinking fresh before the hair roots are "fixed" but I don't know . I can't find anything online about plucking beaver and I don't have access to a truckload of them to practice on . I'm not looking for any trade secrets but a nudge in the right direction would be appreciated . Thanks in advance for any info you could provide .