When putting up Beaver, is it preferable to have them oval? I was going to use hoops, so it looks like round would be the general shape if put up on hoops. Or does a pelt put up on plywood in the oval shape bring more $$?

Or does it just depend on the buyer?

The 2 auction houses offer oval patterns to be used.

Using hoops doesn't mean they're round. Hoops will begin to develop an oval shape after you use them a couple times.

Oval. A beaver is not a perfect circle so if you stretch it so you stretch part of the hide to thin. I've been told you automatically lose 1/3 when you stretch round instead of oval.

There are tension bars made buy waynes company who produces the wire hoops designed to bring in the sides of the hoops to make the pelts oval shaped.

You definitely lose size when you stretch round. Make 'em oval.

i do not see how you lose size stretching round...its the total measurment for square inches...

if you stretch oval you have a longer head to tail and a shorter side to side...

if you stretch round you have the same(within reason) from both measurments....

so it dosent matter how you do it you would come up with the same amount of square inches in that pelt....

i think they look at uniformity...if you stretch them all 1 way or if they are all different shapes.....

So what is the technique to stretch OVAL using hoops. What do ya use it get em that shape? Could a piece of cord be tied to each side of the strecher and then cinched down to attain the correct shape?

In my opinion you won't get the maximum streach by using hoops. And the MAX amout of square Inches Is very Important In price when selling beaver.
I learned beaver put up from one of the best men In the trade and he tells me that you can't over streach a beaver hide. So It's hammer and vise grips for me.
Another reason I use wood Is that I can do two beaver on each board. Wood Is just so much eaiser to work with.

beav i will second everything you just said.....i have been told the same thing about not beighn able to over stretch a beaver...and also found out on hoops if you need a little bit of extra stretch to make the next size your not gonna get it if over 1/8 inch....good old plywood and nails for me......

Based on my experience with putting up beaver with hoops and plywood...smaller beaver will streatch round on a hoop while larger beaver will stretch to a oval pattern on the same hoop (bigger beaver are longer-thus the oval pattern), after I stretch with a hoop I nail to plywood with finish nails doing this I can get another inch or so and the pelt will remain flat while drying; now as far as ont over stretching a beaver pelt, if you can get more great, but I have had them rip as well so be careful...if you get a super blanket with a scar down the middle of his back and try too hard and you get a 9 inch split down the middle (this will happen while it's drying) you may be a tad frustrated... ...just my two cents..good luck..
Scott

Standard for all auction houses is oval. You can put all 7 sizes on one piece all plywood 32x48. Photobucket tells me that they have a problem, will try to post picture later

where can i get the patterns. and what do they cost?

exactly i try to get the max amount of srech as possible what sucks is when theres a 3'' hole in the pelt iv noticed you lose about onefourth of a inch

You can get them from Fur Harvesters. Here is a link to their web site -

http://www.furharvesters.com/

Look under the fur handling info or pelt grading and you should find some additional information.

I couldn't agree more Beav. I never could figure out why people would say you can over stretch a beaver. Even when maximum stretch is achieved, the pelt is still not drum tight, in fact quite loose in the middle where the most valuable part of the pelt is located. I have always been a stretch to the max guy, and I know for sure it has paid off for me bigtime. After I'm done fleshing, I measure the pelt. I have a chart as a guideline so I know what size each pelt will fit into. Some are borderline, of those, some make it into the bigger size, some don't. One size up can make you another $5 -$10, so it's worth it in my opinion to try to get them up a size. You can't stretch them on hoops like you can on boards.

this is the pattern i use.this is a real time saver.hightectrappers.com