spoon here too, on wooden boards that are shellacked and then waxed. No need for belly boards. BUT I have a lot of old wire stretchers and that Idea of Nimzs looks good, might try it......jk

With all due respect to all, Nimzy has probably caught and put up more rats in his life than anyone on this forum. Looking at the stretcher I can see the benefits, and I use wood.

Chippewatrapper - I used a cheap plastic ice scraper for years worked great, but I now have the Wiebe one linked and it's just a bit easier. It took a couple of rats to quit pushing too hard when switching to metal. I also made a fleshing board out of plywood, same size as my boards for scraping on.

Nimzy,

Thanks for the look at those ho-made stretchers !!!

Is that wire you're using from old stretchers re-modified
to achieve your desired measurements & pinning method,
or did you start from scratch with your own wire source ?

Thanks.

walleyed

So is this fleshed enough?

Yea that'll dry.

Don't know why there are no muskrat to trap down this far south. But, with the required fleshing job......

That flesh left on the pelt would be a mess down here.

I did rats on a reversible board,.stationary base and flipped board ,.no turning of hide,.a simple and quick.
Taught to me by an established fur dresser . A slim propane bottle cut and and handled with a dowel proved very effective.
This method served well with thousands of hides.

Cut bottom off old stretchers. Tape in coroplast. Slight taper to plastic or rats will stick. Put coro perpendicular to stretcher or it will fold. Advantage. Ease, speed & size.

How well do the pins hold in that plastic when the pelt dries.

Very well. Coroplast has 2 sides. When you get too many holes throw a piece of duct tape over it. Pinning is way nicer thN those hooks.

Nimzy,

What is the bottom/base width
measurement on your modified stretcher setup ?

w

Nafa sizes. Yellow is xl and orange lg and black is small

Thanks for your posts Nimzy,..many will benefit from it.

You’re welcome!
I was brought up tight lipped. Spent too many hours chasing marshes and muskrats. Figured most everything out the hard way. And still learning. such is trapping.

So six (6") inches WIDE down at the bottom/base of the stretcher ?

w

Thanks again, Nimzy !!!!

w

Great thread!

Use the broad you will stretch the pelt on, or if using wire for rats use a small rat board to flesh on. Pull the pelt on so that you can flesh the side and then flip the broad to do the other side. Then straighten the pelt out so you are ready to tack the pelt on the board. Then finish the belly and back, leaving the saddle membrane on the pelt, except mink if it has a lot of fat under the saddle.
A curved small pelt (stirrup) flesher is the ideal tool for the fleshing of rats, mink/marten and other small animals when using their forming boards in the fleshing process.
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