Getting ready to build a tumbler. Wouldnt static build-up be a good thing to help fluff the fur? Just considering different materials to build out of. Thanks in advance.

Josh

Static electricity is a real danger for burning down your fur-shed and all your fur with it.

I know of a couple trappers with homemade tumblers that suffered catastrophic loss of their
fur putup operations from static electricity fires.

Be careful.

w

I was considering using plexiglas or lexan for the outside covering, just thought it would he fun to watch the tumbler in action. But I'm thinking this would cause static. Bad idea?

I used plexiglass on mine and have yet to burn down anything.

Maybe Otis will chime in. He told me that’s why he uses wet sawdust when he adds paint thinner on the last tumble. Things can go boom!!!

This is an interesting thread. I never really thought about it nor heard anyone even bring it up around the time I originally built mine. I must have got lucky with something I did because I do not recall ever receiving a static shock.

Yeah, maybe substitute something else for the paint thinner/mineral spirits to avoid the flammable factor? I'm sure theres a way to alleviate the static, if there is any. Hmm..

Static electricity caused the static cling and your tumbling media will cling to your pelts. Adding water to reduce the static cling and getting the moisture content right results in a much better product, even when tumbled after dried.

I tumble a skin or two, all in wood drums never had a static problem. I rana cage for awhile made with a HDPE skin with a lot of holes drilled in it for shaking the dust out, and a little static was noticeable. Run a high grade odorless mineral spirits.

Put some water in with the sawdust=problem solved-been doing it for years and years-a small amount of paint thinner/mineral spirits,1/2 cup of water( depends upon the size of the drum of course)-no static

You just need to ground the drum with a heavy copper wire, off one of the bearing blocks to the floor or some large metal structure. If your still worried because the wire seems still sheilded, you can bend a curve in a piece of copper and attach it to the block with a mounting bolt, and let it ride against the outside of the drum on an edge,
Then watch it tumble away.

I'd not trust any other home remedy than that, it was professionally advised to me by a qualified electrician, when I made my own, never had a bother with it, I use all kinds of materials for absorption and also for glazing, nothing ever stuck any where !

Wouldn't a steel frame that's anchored to the floor already do the same thing GritGuy? Seems like the only way you would ground the atmosphere inside the drum, assuming it's not made of some type of metal, is because of the axle that's connected to the drum head, and as long as it's on a steel frame it's already going to ground?

Once you pull the pelt out of the drum and ground it, you will loose most of the static fluff. Unless you keep them separate as soon as you put them on hangers again you will loose that effect. Don't know that it's worth the possible risk.

Instead of using something that's flammable try using SIMPLE GREEN floor cleaner.

Put about a cup in the first time hide out. Add another cup and tumble fur side out for 5-7 minutes.

It won't explode and it strips the grease.

My tumbler was made out of a five foot professional dryer, was a metal drum, I fiber glassed the outside to seal all of the perforations in the drum.
Made it very static prone when tumbling with fine saw dust, I never put water with the material after the first time it matted my pelts up.

I bought some large wooden eggs and put them in the drum to help soften the pelts after tanning, then removed them to glaze and fluff

I never worried about the static after placing the ground on the bearing wheel block, My figuring was every time the pelts touched the door they grounded out, so it was not a bother to me any more after that first tumbling, when I opened that door I had saw dust sticking to everything LOL, but after grounding it was always at the bottom of the drum.

I kinda searched and found some good cleaners, etc that arent flammable. Between that and grounding the machine, should be good to go. Thanks fellas for the input.

Josh