Does anyone know what the tool is called for plucking a beaver pelt? I have googled it and am coming up with nothing. I would like to purchase one but can't find anything about them?

As far as I know it isn’t a tool. It is a machine. I saw a video a while back about how it works. Probably an investment of several thousand dollars.

Get a comb and......

Good luck scrubby , I looked for a very long time for such a tool . Quite a while ago I saw a beaver tanning video that contained a small segment showing a guy plucking a beaver hide by hand with some type of scraping tool over a fleshing beam and using what appeared to be some type of powder . Maybe it was rosin or chalk I don't know . I never could see the tool clearly and never could find any more info on it . I wound up sitting down with a few beers and a couple of Gentleman Jack shots and plucking a January prime beaver hide by hand . It came out pretty good and I don't remember it being too hard or taking that long ........LOL . You might reach out to Boco on here . He has quite a bit of knowledge with fur handling/tanning and is usually willing to help if he can . PS , The guy doing the plucking was working for a commercial tannery .

Family trapper used double faced tape wrapped on a butter knife (I think ) On wilderness trapping

What's to stop the non guard hair from being plucked out with the duct tape method?

I've been told that plucking a beaver is combination art and science.
Apparently at some stage in the dressing process the skin is allowed to get just to the verge of tainting, and at that point the hairs are plucked either by hand or machine.

So they don’t need to be plucked, just shortened?

I would think they would still be too stiff to render the fur soft.

I have been told the powder they use is chalk to pluck on a beam. I have done a few with a spoon and my thumb. It's not fast, but can be done. I would not want the guard hair trimmed.

VH60, I think I saw the same video. There has got to be a hand tool for this process. I had read in one of the NAFA reports several years back that was one of the reasons beaver fur wasn't as popular as other types because there was no way to mechanically pluck the fur??? The plucking process was all done by hand?

A very big difference between plucked and sheared beaver, plucked is way softer and from what I understand is all done by hand which is why it’s so expensive, those sheared look good but the sheared guard hairs feel like 5 o’clock shadow when you rub them

The tool used is called a skud or puck but might be known by others

I have seen it done using any number of different tools, I think as long as you hav something that holds the guard hairs firmly so you can get a grip to pluck them would work, then it’s just putting in the time to do so

Plucked beaver is as soft or softer the bunny fur and dos not shed like bunny fur does

If they could come up with a mechanical means I think beaver fur would be in high demand

My understanding is beaver guard hair is plucked and then the underfur is sheared to a consistent length. Takes a heavy winter beaver to be considered shearable, very labor intensive which is why a sheared beaver coat is very spendy.

^^^This.

Have been told there is only one place that does it as well

Can one of you folks that has plucked one post a picture of what you are plucking and where the best place to start is?

So help us newbies out here, are you just plucking the guard hair?

Not the best pics but I’m trying to learn something.





And is this what we are looking for?

Yes. Plucking (pulling out) just the long guard hair. Leaving the soft underfur.

It doesn’t work just to cut or shave them off. The stubble that is left feels like a day and a half old beard. Very prickly.

Thanks Wissmiss.

I did see them do that with a dull fleshing knife like tool on an episode of “How it’s Made”.

They made it look easy. I’m gonna have to give it a go tomorrow. I left you know how it goes.

A lot of those are broken off-must have not wet the leather.

It’s not leather yet. Maybe that’s the problem.

Just hearsay but have been told that hand plucking is easier when beaver is fresh

It wouldn’t matter because it’s me doing it. lol

I could have sent it out and had it done and it would be wrong.

Results of the dull side of fleshing knife.

A couple things to consider, the pelt is not leather yet nor was it wet. These two things may improve your results should you give it a try.

While it did take off the guard hairs it broke a few as well. It also pulled some of the fur you want to keep. I didn’t do the whole thing, just up the middle of the back.

Another question.

Can the softer hair on the sides be sheared or do they have to be plucked as well?

Okay, apparently nobody knows or cares. lol

Try to PM family trapper or get one of the Alaska folks to contact him as he has DONE IT .

Found it. Guard hair removal starts at 3:30.

Thank you Hobbie I might have to try this.

I noticed they did it after it was tanned. I did it before, which is my earlier post. I have two in the tanning process now that I will be scraping the guard hair off. I will bring this thread back to life once I give that a try.

Have finished the first one. Not bad but still need to work on the thinning and scraping the guard hair off.

Let me know what you think.

I did read somewhere that chalk is used in that process but I don’t have details.

Looks sorta like one of them carpets they put in bathrooms. I imagine its quite soft, how long did the whole plucking process take?

Moyles tannery will have the equipment in by late summer was told this by Lee Moyle at our last fur sale

Scraped most of it off in a matter of minutes. Took a bit to get the feel, I imagine that’s why some of them broke. I also think that the angle of the beam matters. I believe a little steeper angle on my beam and it would go even better.

HobbieTrapper, thanks for keeping us updated on your process and progress. It is interesting to see how others do this difficult process. I have mostly sheared without plucking. I think the sides of the hide feel nice with just that but I can see how a really large, and therefore old, beaver would have bristly hairs down the back. These are probably better to pluck than just shear. Just the same, I don't think the sheared beaver alone is as bad as most people claim. Just my experience & opinion, other's results may vary.

You’re welcome. Thanks for the feedback.

I wanted to give some more details on the tanning but forgot. While there is some give to the pelt, it’s not what I’d call “stretchy”. That may make a difference too.

If anybody else gives it a go I’d really like to hear about the results.

Just a comment that might provide fodder for more discussions. I believe that the Northern Fur Seals have a dense soft underfur that is protected by long stiff guard hairs and that the fur was nearly valueless UNTIL a process was developed that thins the skin side until the roots of the guard hairs are exposed and then those hairs are pulled through from the skin side. If folks are working to develop techniques perhaps some variation of this method might be explored. Others likely have investigated this possibility and perhaps the guard hairs in beaver are not more deeply rooted so the technique would not work. I have read that the technique only worked well on male fur seals and did not work on females.

From what I’ve read if you thin beaver to the hair it ruins all of it. Might give it a go while they are worthless just to see.

#2

I would also note that the hair on the sides/belly fur is not as soft as the rest after you take the guard hair off. You will have to remove those guard hairs as well if you are using the whole pelt.

1st generation trapper/1st season so take with a grain of salt, but from what I understand the guard hair follicles are deeper than the under coat. So in theory could you put the beaver in a “hair removal” bath, just enough water for the skin side to be soaked (say 1/4” deep bath/solution) for a day or two and allow the guard hairs to slip easily, remove and pluck, then neutralize the skin, and then start the pickling process? What’s your thoughts?

You'll lose the underfur too.