What type of knife do you use.

[Roundman]

After my first attempt at skinning (With me only doing about 10% of the work) I have been wondering what type of knives you guys use to do the hides. I thought my knife was fairly sharp but after ten seconds you could have rode to town on it. I have seen some of the knives that have replaceable blades and custom type knives for "coyote only"   
What do you guys that skin a lot use?

[frshwtr]

i mainly use a chicago cutlery drop point pareing knif and keep it sharp with a very fine grit sand paper. there is a tool for knife sharpening that i'v bought at walley worlf that works great (get them in the sporting good s dept. but i cant think of their name. i do know they are yellow in color and your hand fits inside the handle. you place the knife on a solid serface and pull the sharpner down the blade about 6 times and its sharp. by the way when useing this typr of tool clean the blade good before sharpening or you will clog up the sharpner. when i was trapping with a partner we caught a decent amount of fur and i did the skinning. i liked to have about a dozen knives sharp and ready to go, as they got dull i just dropped them into a pan of soapy water and as i had to sharpen knives i washed them or at the end of the night ran them thru the dish washer.

[FinsnFur]

I dont skin em

[OKTrap]

I use a Cutco hunter with Double D edge.

[vvarmitr]

GINSU!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE .........................     

[Hawks Feather]

Sinsu!

It slices, it dices, it cuts before the blade even gets there.   :shck:

I do like knives and have a few.  But when it comes to skinning fur I just drop it at the fur buyer's door and let him do it.  I have a Dozier that I really like for deer, or at least starting them - also have an older Buck zipper that works about as well as the Cold Steel model.  When I get the hide off, I have three or four Chicago Cutlery boning knives that I use when cutting up the deer.  They are older models that I got on eBay.  They don't hold an edge as well as the Dozier but they are cheap enough that you can have several and not break the bank.  I have one of the Chicago Cutlery butcher knives that I was not impressed with the way the blade worked, so a little time on the grinder followed by sharpening and it is a thick bladed boning knife.  The Chicago Cutlery knives are also real easy to sharpen.

Jerry

[securpro]

I hear the new Browning .50 BMG works very well for skinning ,guttin ,and deboning it's also extremely quick 

[frshwtr]

the brand of sharpner i was talking about is CAM-NU, works great. i also looked in the shed at my skinning knives; there are all kinds. they have one thing in common, blades not over three inches long,flat sides on the handles and blades that are fairly thin.

[keekee]

I skin with a scalpel or I have one of the new utility knifes that the blade changes out on. Take to much time away from skinning to me to haft to stop and sharpen knifes. And replacement blades are cheap.

On the Beaver I do use a beaver knife, I have had it so long though I have no idea what name brand it is, and I have a couple that my grandfather built for me years ago. Also a set of three that a guy here at work built for beaver knives.

Brent

[Brad H]

I've used cheapos and some higher dollar ones, but my super Leatherman held the best edge for me.
I've learned I wasn't born to be a knife sharpener, but I do have a Cabelas field sharpener that gets the job done. An impressive tool for the price BTW. Otherwise, I'll be exploiting Brent's methods next year to save myself the time and trouble.

When I'm retired, I'll take on securpro's deboning system.

Hey, isn't Ginsu a dietary supplement?

Brad

[Hawks Feather]

Here is the "real" knife ad (for those of you too young to remember).



The herb is ginseng.

Jerry

Edited:  Sorry for the link that was there,      don't know how it got there,  but thanks to V.V. for the head's up. 

[Jimmie in Ky]

 The knife I was using that day was on trial so to speak. Looked good and felt good in the hand but did not stand up to skinning a coyote either. I do know that it would be a fine knife for deer and other critters though. Why a coyote is so hard on knives is beyond me.

I have a Kershaw skinner that will skin 3 deer in succescion without stopping, yet it won't rug out a yote . It will case skin a pair and it's done. It will tune back up quickly with just a hard arkansas stone and strop. The Kershaws are the best I have used so far . I have somewhere in the neighborhood of forty diferent knives of various makers, design and type. I plan to have a custom knife built for field use, like I really need another knife, right .


Sharpening is a skill that must be learned th hard way. Get good instruction and practice regularly. And with all the equipment I have for th job nothing beats good stones out of all the methods and systems I have tried. You would be surprised at the number of professionals in th field of game handling or taxidermy that cannot sharpen knives. Jimmie

[keekee]

Sharpening is a skill

Your right! And Im not real good at it. By the time I stop, and sharpen a knife. I can have another coon just about skinned! And if I am useing the puller, I can have it done. Its all about time for me. Fast means more money!

Beaver on the other hand, I do take the time to keep my knifes sharp. I get in no hurry and make sure I get a good clean skin. The time saved here brings back four times over on fleashing. I get three to four knifes ready before each Beaver I skin. And the only time I use a razor on them is to make the first cut down the center and ring the legs.



Brent

[Jimmie in Ky]

Kee, you tried those jap water stones yet? I am thinking on breaking down and buying a pair. I watched a woodworking show the other night and he used them after th arkansas stones to put one heck of an edge on some chisles.

You should also look up th Van Dykes taxidermy catologue for their sharpening system. Sounds like you could use it with those beaver. A taxidermist I knew used it and had the best edge on her knives I ever saw done by machine. And it was fast !!! Jimmie

[fuzz624]

       I have done alote of skinning for taxidermy work.If you want a good skinning knife,just make sure you pick one with a slim slender blade.I normally carry a 3 blade Buck stockman.It works pretty well for an all around skinner.The next thing you need to look at is the steel.440 stainless is a decent steel that sharpens easily and comes in alote of lower priced knives.My favorite is 420 stainless.It holds an edge extreamly well but is a little harder to sharpen.I have also used scalpels and they work very well and when it dulls out you just replace the blade.There is really no right or wrong answer other than dont use a Bowie knife.As for the rest it is all just prefrence.

Fuzz

[studabaka]

Some good tidbits here that seem to line up well with what I have experienced. I agree with Jimmie on there being something about them yotes that takes an edge off a knife quicker than other critters...... and while I do a fair amount of skinning, I don't really have a good level of knowledge on metal types or the best way to sharpen..... Maybe some of the guys here could do us all a big favor and start a tutorial thread on this. I for one could learn a lot 

I have used/tried a lot of [inexpensive] knifes. Mostly these days I am using a short and thin blade Victorinox with a hooked tip and a scalpel with replaceable blades. And I always have one of those inexpensive sharpeners mentioned as well.... by the way they sharpen the replaceable scalpel blades too. A couple swipes on the sharpener before I start and another couple of swipes before I start on the detail work around the head and I'm generally good to go.

[Jimmie in Ky]

What'ya mean don't use a bowie Fuzz  Your bad mouthin my favorite deer hunting knife. Made way back when even the el cheapo's had some half way decent steel in them. It's a sabre bowie that came out after either the crockette series of movies or the John Wayne flick of the alamo. Instead of the plastic handle too small for the hand itr now boast's a set of walnut slabs that fit. I promise it will stay sharper longer than a Gerber 

Stu, get yourself apiece of latigo leather. Glue it to a board about th same width and about a foot long. Go to the hardware store and ask for white rouge or jewelers comound.If youcan't find that go to your nearest Lowes and get the metal polishing compound. Rub the compound into the leather really well. You want the rough side up so it will take a load of compound real well. Now you have a strop that will keep those scalpels sharper much longer. Just rub the blade on it with light pressure somewhere close to teh same angle as the bevel of the blade. Stroke it backwards which is the oposite of stroking them on a stone.

The strop isn't a bad idea for the rest of you either. It is used for the final polish of the edge and removes the burr. It works better than the butchers steel for truing the edge and is handy to have around as you work.Any time the knife seems to be working harder just take a few strokes on the strop. Makes the edge last a lot longer between sharpenings.

I have very little knowledge of the types of steel used today. But I am thinking along the same lines as Fuzz and Stu for blade type. I am thinking a blade about 4 1/2 inches long semi drop point style. About a half inch deep and a 1/16 to an 1/8 inch thick. Slightly smaller than the average sheath knife and similar to some of the trapper style blades you see on some folders. At least I think that is where its' going. I am still tinkering with the design. Doing it in wood so the maker will have a pattern that I want to try and actually fits my hand. This fellow makes trapper and long hunter style knives for reinactments. Jimmie

[keekee]

Kee, you tried those jap water stones yet?

Not yet. I got a set of stones from the machine shop that they use on the carbide bits that work real well. I bought one of them fancy high speed grinders to sharpen my lathe tools and drill bits. It does a good job on them.

I got a split drum for my standard grinder to sharpen knives. I think I got a roll of 220 grit cloth back that I use on it, not sure will haft to look and see. The other side has a cotton wheel and gets bar polish to break the burs off. Does a heck of a job, but man you got to be careful. It will jerk it right out of your hand and stick the knife were ever it lands before you can blink!



Brent

[Jimmie in Ky]

The Van Dykes system is a pair of paper wheels you have to glue two types of emery too before use. They are much finer grits than 220 and not to prone to grabbing th blade. tried to buy that one when health problems caused her to quit the bussiness, she just looked at me funny.

There are also several newer systems developed by wood carvers for thier tools and knives. They are expensive but would be worht it for someone long lining and in a hurry all th time. Wood craft and woodcarver supply have most of them listed in thier catologues. no one complaining about them grabbing the tools either.

I would guess that the stones you got from the shop at work are india stones. They work really well on hard steels and will sharpen mild steels while you blink. Really good rocks. I would like to find a slipstone model myself.

A little trick to clean and resurface all your stones is to lay a piece of 80 grit paper on a flat surface. Rub the bad side of your stone face down on it . How long it will take depends on how bad they are worn. Jimmie

[fuzz624]

       Stu,I dont know a whole lot about steel tipes other than 440 stainless is softer than 420.I would assume it would follow this trend.The lower the number the harder the steel.440 stainless is a cheap steel but works very well for the price.Frost Cutlery uses alot of 440 and is a very inexpensive knife.Buck and Case are both 420 i believe.420 is my favorite steel but i have a bunch of 440 knives as well.I like the good old fashoned 3 blade pocket knives.I usually carry a 3 blade stockman in my backpack and a 2 blade frost copperhead in my pocket.Hope this helps.

PS Jimmie i would love to see you try to skin a muskrat with a Bowie

Fuzz