A power hand belt sander is another tool that works well in shaping hide boards.
Later,
45/70,
RKBA!

(Edit: Typo -- Hal

I just finished making a second fleshing beam for the fur shed. The beam I used this year (MB on the left) was WAY too wide for our gray fox. I needed to get myself something smaller so the grays would fit.





I traced one of my gray fox stretchers onto a 2X6 and cut it out with a jib saw. I used a hand held belt sander to shape it to fit my Necker 600...which brings up my question...

Hal said:
"It's important for your knife to have a reasonable bearing surface, not too little and not too much."

As I found out this year with my MB which has too much curvature IMO, I understand why too little bearing surface is not ideal. It creates a lot of work. But wouldn't a curve that perfectly fits your fleshing knife be ideal? Would that be too much bearing surface?

MB - too much curvature:


Homemade - better fits the fleshing knife curve:

If the radius of your knife and beam is the same you will working on the total width of the beam at all times. When fleshing Grey fox on a 4" beam you could do it. Try that with Beaver, Otter or Coon on a 6-7" beam and it will be physically impossible for most and give a whole new meaning to pushing hard for those that can :~). There is also the issue of controlling the knife. The wider the area you are working on the harder you are pushing and the less control you have.

Okay, thanks, Ric. That makes sense. I am looking forward to trying multiple animals on my smaller, less curved beam to see which I prefer, and to see what changes I may still want to make.

Dated for search.