Frost Scraping

I'm hoping Boco or any other knowledgeable person can help me out as I plan on frost scraping a beaver in the next few days due to the cold snap. I also was wondering how long it would take to that a beaver hide I have rolled up in the freezer.

Frost Scraping Thread

Thank you hobbie

No problemo.

I show -28 f for Friday and Saturday prediction. If you won't get cold enough where you are swing by, I will put the coffee on and have a jug of Irish Cream on hand.

Did an old bearhide this morning-about 20 minutes.(not counting the nailing last night)



.This ones going to the tanner for my own use-why I opened the head and removed the pads.

Boco how long do you think it'll take to thaw my hide for nailing. How long do you let yours thaw for?

I took two beaver hides out a few hours ago,I'll nail them up and put them out after the hockey game tonight.
Once they been out of the freezer for a couple hours they are generally soft enough to unroll,then they thaw quickly.

I got a black wolf to do,if the weather forecast stays cold,I'll take it out tomorrow to thaw and put out.

Watching

Moosetrot

Im going to take it out of the freezer Friday, so I can do it Sunday morning. Ill post on here to show how it goes for tips.

I'll watch for your post.
When you put them out to freeze,make sure the morning sun cant shine on them-it'll soften them up even at 30 below.

I’m still learning on T-Man

I just nailed and put out the hide against the house away from the sun hopefully she'll be froze good in the morning.

I did 2 otters this morning.minus 27c,very easy scraping.Thinned the leather on the bear a bit more too.Got two beaver ready to go for tomorrow morning.

Its supposed to get down to -20 F tonight which is around -29 c. So I should be good.

Yep,you wont need much pressure on your scraper.

Thank you Boco

I did 4 coons and 2 beaver last weekend ..going to do 2 more coons and 2 more beaver this weekend ..sure works well..l im just doing it for tanning purposes and thinning the hide

I have a smallish beaver thawing in the kitchen sink tonight. Might nail it out tomorrow and give it a try in the next couple days. Cold enough here at night for sure and I will be able to give it a try in the morning.

Thanks for all the tips, Boco!

Moosetrot

Its important to have your scraper sharp with the edge turned like a fleshing knife.
Sharpen only from one side with the file,and play around with the angle a bit.Feel with your thumb for a bit of a bur.And touch it up with a couple strokes when it starts to dull(the edge will turn)You will know when you got it right-the shavings will come off like the shavings from planing a pine board.
The only other thing you need besides the scraper to make it work good, is cold enough.

Omg I did a beaver this evening and almost died. I'm still a newbie at all this, but holy smokes its cold in Texas right now.

Don't they sell winter clothes in Texas?

They do, but it rarely gets cold like this. Just not use to this kind of cold.

I’ll tell you, like I told my Kansas family. “Sorry about not closing the door”! As cold as these past few days have been, I’m surprised how quickly people have forgotten that we had not even had a winter up until now. Gotta pay something in, to live where I do is my take on it. Few more days and it’ll be over, at least I’ll have some safer ice to play on the river now. Regretting putting up all my beavers already, will have to save some back next winter to give this frost scraping a try. Of course I always think that, but forget by the time next winter rolls around.

I tried the paint scraper last weekend worked ok ..made a new one out of a old ice auger blade waaaaay better ..thanks BOCO sure is nice to be able to thin the backs and butts of thick hides

I'm going to do my hides In where It's warm and I can work In a Tee shirt. And I'm not going to have to nail up that hide twice. Your going to have to pull the nails to clean up that area then re nail It.
10 min In a nice warm shed and I'm done fleshing.
I bet if you had 10 beaver to do you would lose interest In frost scrapping In a big hurry. LOL

Beave,you have no clue-you have never done it.Paul Milette working with his wife frost scraped and put up 80 beaver in 8 hours.I have scraped and put up 10 easy in 2 hours.That includes putting them out the night before and finishing them the next day.
I have done beaver your way and every other way and I know what I'm talking about when I say frostscraping is BY FAR the fastest easiest most convenient way to put up certain furs like beaver bear otter and wolf.Not to mention the superior finished product
Also you dont need a bunch of beams, tools,etc and your not working in stinky sloppy grease and you are never time constrained to get on it before it spoils-you do it whenever you have a few minutes here and there while doing other stuff.
I can nail up 20 beaver,put them out and do 4 or 5 over a few days whenever I have 10 minutes while waiting for my vehicle to warm up to go trapping as long as the weather is cold in the morning.

But I guess your an expert on something you have never done,lol.

This beaver was pulled up out of the water and partially eaten by wolves late last fall.
There is enough nice fur for a beaver hat so I salvaged it.
I spent a few extra minutes on it this morning and frost scraped down the leather to about the thickness of a fox skin.I will tan this one myself.

Keen eye for the obvious. Not all of us chose to live where your temperatures are conducive to frost scraping.

It goes without saying that you live and work fur in about the most ideal conditions, for you. I would rather work through my fur in warm comfort.

I guess that means you dont trap in the cold,LOL!
In Canada we prefer to be outdoors whenever we can,including winter.
Unlike Americans we dont shrivel and hide from the cold.We prefer the cold and revel in it.After all fur is all about cold.

You people can do up your fur any way you want,but until you do something your negative judgement on it is baseless.
I have demo'd all 7 ways to put up beaver and I am proficient at all 7 ways,when I say one way is easiest and most efficient for my conditions,you can take it to the bank.
I'm sure whatever way works best for those in the warmer climates use that method that is easiest and most efficient too.

I have ideal conditions at camp for frost scraping. I choose not to because I don’t want to leave any smells around that will attract bears when I’m not there.

You cant trap bears?
We have no bears out here in winter,and the scrapings I use for bait,feeding birds and other small animals on the line.Long gone before any bears come out.I keep my camp clean otherwise bears will damage it whether I frostscrape or not.
Do you leave the fleshings from other methods laying around?Dont they attract bears?

Well Boco I never said It didn't work I just said I prefer to do it my way.
I trapped beaver for 15 years In the Carolina's and my numbers were pretty impressive Averaged at least 250 beaver In a 2 month period. So I got darn good at skinning and putting up beaver.

20 beaver Is about a half days work In a warm dry shed. And they turn out just fine for the fur market.

BINGO.
Whatever works best for YOU.
It shouldn’t be this way vs. that way. And I sure as heck will not move somewhere colder to try that way out.

Is there something minus thirty does than minus ten doesn't?

No, I can’t trap bears. I also keep camp clean and bears come around all summer, but I don’t want them sticking around any longer than they would otherwise. All my fleshing is done inside over double tarps and tarps are cleaned and stored in the cache. I suppose I could frost scrape over tarps outside but see no need to.

Freezes the fat hard so it doesnt gum the scraper.I frost scraped a bunch of beaver at 50 below-it was effortless to say the least.
if you dont have the cold there is no use trying it-you wont gain the advantage of ease of work and speed and you can damage a hide if the leather is a bit soft.The sharp scraper can dig in and move sideways instead of shaving leaving a score on the skin.

Its easier to clean up frostscraping than any other scraping inside or out.If you dont sweep it into a pail for bait,it blows away into the bush and is consumed almost right away by all the little critters and birds.

Scraping In 50 below? I think the frost has gone to your head. LOL

Only thing I ever have to flesh is otter and wolverine and if they start getting warm and greasy I just hang em outside for a bit. Not saying my way is better. I am a squarehead.

Boco-One more question....Do you at some point remove individual nails to be able to scrape those areas? After it is all done I assume I nail it out like normal.

Moosetrot

You can get close to the edge,then just clean around the skirt with a one hand scraper when boarding,like normal.
You dont need many nails to hold the hide for freezing and frost scraping-10-12 nails all around is fine.Should be able to scrape right out to the edge if you want.I dont find it necessary as I always use the one hand scraper to clean the skirt before nailing out to dry.

I was at work up the north line,and brought some pelts to do at night while up there.
I worked outside all my life Beav,At 50 below there was always half a dozen old rails would snap under the train and we had to go out and change them out before the next train.
Cold weather is nothing for Canadians.

Thanks again, Boco!

Moosetrot

BOCO,

You're starting to sound like that Arstin Possum-Monkey character !!!

walleyed

Since you pointed that out I can see the similarity. LOL

Probably doesn't get hot enough up there to experience sun kinks in the rails, eh?

The idea of disposing of the fleshings to the birds and mice is a good idea, just not near the home. Mice and scavenger birds are considered nuisance and not welcome here.

I just finished the beaver the fat came of really easy but when I got to the meat that's where it took three hours I might not have done it correctly but it looks good. Boco how do you dry your furs after frost scraping do you brig them inside?

It does,Posco-lined out quite a few rail buckles in my career.
The temp extremes between winter and summer causes it.
Often when there is a pull apart in winter,we would cut in a chunk of rail.Next summer if you dont adjust you could get a rail buckle(sun kink).
The good section foremen would document all the extra inches of rail added in winter and go back in spring and change out the plug.

My father worked as a conductor for a small line here in northern Maine, the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. He spoke about those kinks from time to time. I guess they could really give a train a good whiplash if they were severe enough.

I f I just have few scraps I just toss them out In the drive way and the crows have them cleaned up In no time.

They will de rail a train,posco at track speed.

3 hours?
Something aint right,lol.
Got any pics? I might be able to point out some things your doing wrong.
Yes I dry them inside.

I'll post pics in a bit the meat was rock solid, but the fat was still able to be scraped of easily the next time i do it im going to have a sharper scraper I think the at was the problem.

Go easy on me that's the first beaver I've ever skinned and boarded. If I recall right I got real cold, or I didn't skin the head because I didn't know if you were supposed to. The problem was probably a combination of having too much meat from skinning and the dull scraper.

The hard meat should scrape off same as the fat.

I just got mine boarded and outside in the unused dog kennel, away from the morning sun. Supposed to be around -17F tonight so might go at it tomorrow. Once I got it on the board I went back with my beaver knife and fleshed off a lot of the bigger chunks of meat and fat.

We'll see how she goes!

Moosetrot

That's what it was then my scraper wasn't sharpened enough. What kind of scraper do you use Boco.

These all work but the second from the left is superior.
They gotta be sharp like a fleshing knife.

Are the three with the wood handles hand made?

Yes.The two on the right are very hard steel-I use them more for dry scraping in summer to thin hides for tanning.
Softer steel is better for frost scraping easy to quickly touch up with a file when doing lots of skins or bigger skins like bear or moose.
The cree often use an adze to frostscrape large thick moosehides.They dont use it like an adze is used for hewing wood,it is used as a scraper.
I prefer the oval shaped scraper,since I can use the sides for more agressive scraping on thicker meat/leather,and then use the flatter part to smooth out the ridges.

I'm going to thin the leather tomorrow morning again in the middle so its nice and pliable for when I tan it. I'm also planning on making a scraper like your oval one this summer or when I get time.

Pretty easy to make,Northerntrapper-do a bit of experimenting and you will come up with a great tool.
On another note-you can use those bell type or stirrup type scrapers(zepf or post,the cheap ones dont work) to frostscrape,as long as you sharpen them correctly from the outside only.They tend to chatter on the leather a bit more when the temps are marginal but work fine when cold enough.

When sharpened correctly on the outside, how sharp should they be? Finger-cutting sharp or just sharp to the touch (with a burr)? I will probably know once I start in on it but just checking with the Grand Master of Frost-Scraping.....Boco!

Thanks!

Moosetrot

Sharp like a fleshing knife,with the edge bur turned.A file is sufficient to establish/turn the burr.You should be able to feel it with your thumb or finged,and will know it right away when you start scraping,since it will "bite" with little presure.
If not sharpened correctly or when dull it will just glide across the hide or you will need to apply pressure to get it to scrape(that will tire you out).
When everything is correct(scraper and temps) frost scraping is effortless and large areas of the hide is cleaned in a few seconds with a few strokes.
If I knew how to make videos I would make some.
Much easier to demo than try to explain.

Boco I was looking for your tanning thread a little bit ago and couldnt find the one I was thinking of. It wasn't the tanning a fur skin one it was the other one.

Not sure,might be in the archive somewhere.

Turns out it was the thread that I stated earlier and just remembered it wrong.

XXXL big old grisselback,frostscraped,thawed trimmed and boarded.

Nice clean pelt nicely done BOCO

Boco your using those sharp point landscaper nails ?? If so best ive ever found, rounded heads

I like those nails-easy on the boards.They do tend to bend but easy to straighten.

Beaver I just finished scraping

Nice and clean RKH,looks like you're gonna tan that one by the skinning

Finished thinning the leather in like half and an hour after sharping the scraper. Making one is definitely on the list,

Boco u said u thinned a beaver almost as thin as a fox hide. Don't u get into the hair roots when u thin that much?

Depends on the primeness.You have to be more careful on early caught fur as the hair roots grow deeper into the skin.
I stop scraping when I see the shadow of the hair roots in the skin.
BUT,you have to be careful not to overscrape a prime hide because the hair roots arent as noticeable.That said,prime skins need a lot less thinning anyway.
Its a matter of experience same as using any fleshing tool.

Looks like some gouges, Boco. Scars?

You left a lot of meat on that hide for sure.
A good sharp scraper would make short work of that just the same.
Keep at it if you have cold enough weather-there aint much of a learning curve to frostscraping once you figure out how to sharpen the scraper.

gotcha thanks Boco

I think those are wrinkles you're seeing in the skin before stretching posco.
There was a scar up by one cheek on that big bugger.

I thought that might be the case but wasn't sure. Thanks.

Do you have you any idea of the percentage of beaver hides you've fleshed that carried scars?

Now you are going to make old Boco think 🤔. It will be too hot to frost scrap tomorrow.

I'd say at least half of the biggest ones carry one or two good healed up scars,usually between the shoulder and neck.
I have caught a couple over the years with huge jagged scars that have healed up.These are no doubt the results of escaping a wolf or bear attack.
The biggest pelts dont often grade the best.
I find the best quality beaver fur and leather are the LG and XL beavers.
MED and LM have a nice fine coat in late fall/early winter.These are good sizes for the home tanner to tackle.

Wow these scraped beaver look amazing.

You bet BOCO ..Thought it would be easier to scrape without the leg holes

Boco’s beaver tanning

Glad you posted Boco's tanning link HT. Have a beaver drying now and I think I'll try to tan it.

A buddy of mine in Ontario uses ice auger blades for frost scraping. He has a jig welded to the end of a scraper handle that he could screw different blades to. Has a coffee can of used auger blades he swaps out and sharpen etc.

Here's my first try at frost scraping a smallish beaver. Tried an old sharpened paint scraper and was not having much luck. Switched to an ulu that I had messed up and scrapped years ago and it went well. Held it up by the handle and kept it at about 90 degrees to the hide. Given the shape of the ulu I did not have a very wide scraping surface. Had a couple of thick chunks of meat and fat on there but it was easy to skive them off with the ulu Got a little tough around the head but tomorrow I will try to clean it up a little more.

It was about -8 when I started and by the time it hit 0 the fat was starting to smear and roll instead of coming off easy. I did manage to put a cut into it when I pulled over an area that was not real tight but for a first time I think it went pretty well.

I am going to make up a scraper that will be easier to use. Have not made ulu for quite a while because my right wrist is messed up but I already have some blades cut that I can modify.

Moosetrot

Looks great,Moosetrot.
An Ulu with a hole drilled in the center for a handle would work well.

I use antique handsaw blades for the ulu blades. Some of the best high carbon ever made. They take and hold an edge like nothing else. I am going to make one with a wider scraping edge and one with a smaller one for around the nails and other tight spots.

Thanks for all the help, Boco!

Moosetrot

You're welcome moosetrot.

Beautiful morning this morning for frost scraping.
Minus 36c,did two large grisselback fall beaver in about 5 minutes.
I should have put out several more but am running out of drying space in the cold room.