If making a new fleshing beam, what wood would you choose?

I did what Shroeder of FHA did...Pine. Easy to shape.

I tried shaping my oak mink board once. No thanks.

I'd be just the opposite and use a hard wood because any time you sand soft woods they become wavy and uneven-the more you sand, the more uneven- as a long time trim carpenter I find oak and maple much easier to get a good shape on. Soft woods are easier to get a rough shape on, but easy to damage also. Look at the supply houses and they are most often white oak.

But, the board I would use would be what ever is in the scrap pile that is about the right size. I don't think that average use it would matter too much, I've seen several fur dealers use sawmill slabs that were chainsawed to to shape and finish hundreds of pelts a year, year after year, on them. My own beam is plastic pipe.

True story, only a place about 3" wide and 18" long ever gets used on any fleshing beam, the rest is just to make it look like a fleshing beam looks.

In addition, to Oak many are made from Ash and Maple.

I need to build a new one too my old one is pine but its coming apart were its attached I'll be during white oak built the last one with chain saw it's true only need about a foot and a half!
Colt

what size of a board do you use? 2x8?

2x6 and in oak I've used 1x6 but 2x is better!
Colt

I’ve got a piece of white walnut that I was thinking of using .

mine is a scrap red pine 2 x 6

black oak rough sawn 1x10 which is 2x10

What ever you choose just make sure the wood grain is ran the right way. if you use a hand plane to shape the beam you will get what I'm talking about.

My first one years ago I use a jack pine for a small one and then I made another one later in years out of a 2x8 that is of lumber that I take down one of the build ens in the yard and use a coon board for a pattern to shape the board. So that is my main one and the old one for small animals.it works for me.

Oak.

Mine was made out of a scrap of Pine 2x6. It's over 20 years old and still in the same condition as it was when I made it.

hard maple

both mine are ash

A good closed grain hardwood like hard maple.

I have made 3. 2 are round, one is made of aspen and the other is oak. The other is flat made of oak, edges rounded.

8",heavy PVC pipe for me but if I were going to build it of wood,it would be oak.If you have trouble shaping it,you need bigger and more aggressive tools.The PVC,of course,requires no shaping.

This is what I use now. The wood beam (pine) I use for coon and smaller animals. It is a stand up beam (European style?). I learned to flesh like that but only really like it for rats and such now. The PVC beam I use for large coon and larger animals. I made the pine board first and made it for every critter (that's the reason for the long "nose"). The PVC board works, but has some wobble and hurts my stomach after a while. I want to make a new wood beam, harder than pine, to replace the PVC.