Tumbling Fur/Hides

[pilotguy89]

Has anyone ever used one of the Vandykes tumblers or anything similar to this design?

http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Tum...ries-C444.aspx

I am thinking about building one similar to this design. I would also be interested in purchasing a used one if someone had one for a good price.

The wife must of fell and hit her head because she is really starting to enjoy taxidermy work.

Any tips or other design feedback from the guys with experience is obviously welcomed.

[Tfng]

I've seen some designs utilizing an old clothes dryer with the heating element removed.

[Marty S]

Oh, those are too small to do much of a job. Ideally the pelt will fall some distance in the process.

[TBark]

45 gal drum would be min size to do a good job. Bigger if possible.
I had one long ago, 2x6 baffel and tumbled deer capes in sawdust.
Worked well.

TBark

[pilotguy89]

That helps, I have a few larger plastic drums I was going to use for bear. Those might be the ticket. Makes sense if the fur doesn't fall enough you are defeating the purpose of tumbling. I guess the faster rotation on the drum may also have the same effect.(fur doesn't have time drop)

[TBark]

Gear ratio, there's lots of DC motors u can use, cheap project.
I had a sled belt backwards around the drum, gave me 10 rpm.

TBark

[jmparker]

Originally Posted by pilotguy89

Has anyone ever used one of the Vandykes tumblers or anything similar to this design?

http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Tum...ries-C444.aspx

I am thinking about building one similar to this design. I would also be interested in purchasing a used one if someone had one for a good price.

The wife must of fell and hit her head because she is really starting to enjoy taxidermy work.

Any tips or other design feedback from the guys with experience is obviously welcomed.

I could be wrong but I believe these tumblers are used for the tanning process to speed up the soak times (the agitation helps the tanning solutions work faster.) If you are after a soft dry tan you'll need to use a large tumbler to break the hide. i've tried the old clothes dryer too but it doesn't break the hide. you need a 6 foot drop minimum. 8 is better from what i've read.

[pilotguy89]

Originally Posted by jmparker

I could be wrong but I believe these tumblers are used for the tanning process to speed up the soak times (the agitation helps the tanning solutions work faster.) If you are after a soft dry tan you'll need to use a large tumbler to break the hide. i've tried the old clothes dryer too but it doesn't break the hide. you need a 6 foot drop minimum. 8 is better from what i've read.

Yes, I would be using this for wet tanning but I would also like to attempt to dry tumble with a separate barrel to see if it makes any difference. If it doesn't work at least I still have a wet tumbler lol

TBark: I was thinking that 10 rpm would be ideal, thanks for confirming.

[Big Grey Wolf]

NAFA run all the fur through tumbler, I would guess theirs are large commercial units to process the high volume of fur, thus quite pricey.

[bill9044]

Naga charges me and everyone to my knowledge a tumbling fee of 1$/yote hide.