Sheared beaver fur

Has anyone ever Sheared there own beaver fur? I wonder if you need special shears or would good hair clippers work? Would it be nice after shearing without plucking or would it be a waste of time to shear without plucking the guard hairs? Has anyone hand plucked one and how long would it take for a medium-sized hide?

Shearing without plucking would be like a guy with a heavy 5 o'clock shadow.

Plucking and shearing is very nice.
Plucking only is nice
Shearing only - bad idea. IMO

Are the guard hairs hard to pluck?

Yezzum...Its amazing how sharp and stiff feeling those guard hairs become when the tapered tip is cut to blunt ends.

Its terrible.

One can appreciate just how hair looks , with its own tapered ends instead of the tree trunk chain saw look.

The shorter they are when blunt cut , the stiffer and sharper they feel to the touch.

The only way to go is plucking .

Not that hard but very tedious. You almost have to do them one by one. Imagine plucking your beard instead of shaving, one hair at a time. Once you get the technique down, it will go a bit faster.

Here is an idea - why don't you give it a try. Time yourself and let us know how many guard hairs you can pluck in say 15 minutes. Let us know and then we will give you more advice and encouragement.

The head guy at Tubari says that the folks that work on the plucking "machines" only do 4 hour shifts because it is tedious. Not exactly sure what kind of machine it is but it most likely isn't cheap.

Thanks for the advice yall. It will be a little bit before I can try my hand at it. Gonna get some ready to send off to get tanned in a couple weeks. I will get back with yall when they come back from the tannery

Tubari plucks all their fur green...before tanning. Its easier and more efficient in process. Along with their own family secret "recipe" , that they keep strictly to themselves and the workers they train.

I had a beaver coat built by Tassos , of Excel Furs out of NY, and he carefully guided me with proper directions. He had the fur sent to Tubari first thing, green. They did their amazing work, then tanned them, sent them back to Tassos, who made me the finest beaver coat , of my custom design, I will ever own. From three under ice caught blankets and one super blanket. Northern, prime fur, deep chocolate brown.

So, you may want to try it on green pelts first...

Family Trapper on the Wilderness Fourm had a good how to on plucking

That makes good since to pluck em green before the hair is set I guess.never thought about that. I will give it a try green and se how well it goes.