For a lid for the latest rifle case, mesquite was selected. Love that stuff but, it can be challenging. All my mesquite of the required length and width is milled at a full 8/4. Nice for tables and such but not for box lids. So, it was resaw time. My Shopsmith band saw is limited to 6" of resaw capacity and the lid needs to be 6.75" ( I ripped it to 7.5") so, I used the table saw and got most of it cut. Had about 1.5" left in the middle. No problem. It's only 48" long. Whipped out the Disston and went to work. At about the sawblade's depth, internal stresses grabbed it and everything stopped. Finally got it freed and tried a Ryoba 9 tpi. 4 or 5 strokes and it got stuck. Took two wedges and a mallet ( No, not any of those, Lew) to get it loose.

Time to skin the cat. 

After 4 cups of coffee...Coffee makes pondering easier...I concluded a trip to town was in order. Came home with a Skil recip saw and a 10" blade. 

In five minutes the job was done. That saw brooks no nonsense. And, now reasonably wide resaws are no longer a problem. And, Gene's got another new tool. A real cat skinner.

My philosophy- every new projects requires a new tool 

Edited December 2, 20178 yr by lew

While I've never skinned a cat, I HAVE skinned a variety of of other creatures, but cordless reciprocating saws weren't around in the 60's, and electricity is a rare commodity in the bush. Might have come in handy a time or two! As for the coffee up there, it would have just gummed up the works! Glad to hear you got a new toy.

John

1 minute ago, lew said:

My philosophy- every new projects requires a new tool 

You, me and Norm must'a took the the same philosophy class.

My Grandpap always referred to new items as "The Cat's Meow".

 

So therefore Gene:  That new saw is The Cat's Meow.

50 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

My Grandpap always referred to new items as "The Cat's Meow".

 

So therefore Gene:  That new saw is The Cat's Meow.

Yep, at skinning the cat, it's definitely the Cat's Meow. 

31 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Yep, at skinning the cat,

 

wear ear plugs and gauntlets....

5 hours ago, Stick486 said:

 

wear ear plugs and gauntlets....

 

make that to include full body armor and head/face gear...

John, I actually have skinned a cat....once. A bobcat. Was going to make a hat. Laid the skin over an exposed wood bottom chord in a metal clad garage to dry. Checked it about a week later and it was full of maggots. Scratched the hat idea.

I was a dumb kid. We butchered a lot of cattle and hogs but never tried to dry the skins. 

Gotta scrape all the gunk off it, Stretch it over a hoop and place where you get lots of air circulation.

save the brain to tan it...

7 hours ago, Kelso Chris said:

Gotta scrape all the gunk off it, Stretch it over a hoop and place where you get lots of air circulation.

Did the scraping. But, the garage was pretty tight. This was in AZ in the late summer. I figured the heat would do the trick but, it was also monsoon season. Stretching it over a hoop woulda been better.

Buddy of mine cured rattler skins the same way with no problems. He just laid them out on the top plate. But, they're a good bit thinner. 

Edited December 5, 20178 yr by Gene Howe

On 12/2/2017 at 2:51 PM, lew said:

every new projects requires a new tool 

what he said

 

14 minutes ago, Cliff said:

what he said

 

Or quit trying stuff for which your not equipped. But, where's the fun in that?