Sorry, but I scre*ed up with the name of the fur specified in the previous title of this thread. I originally titled this question with the fur ‘Sable’. As I re-read what I wrote and the responses I realized I listed the wrong animal. The fur I meant to identify was ‘chinchilla’.
Have any of you used it and what is your opinion?
Deezel
Never heard of it, Googled it and still came up with nothing??
Sable is mink. I think.
Sable is related to mink and marten. Different species (Martes zibellina), but still in the weasel family, sable occurs primarily in northern Asia. I suspect that the dubbing (underfur) would be like most mustelids, very fine if it is winter fur, and sable is, I understand, dark brown to almost black in color. Personally, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get any, since mink would undoubtedly be easier to acquire and function similarly.
Please note: Name of fur and title corrected.
Deezel
uh, Deez, if you want I could loan you a couple books on mammal identification.
Chinchilla should work fine, soft and silky if I recall correctly, prolly tie like beaver or muskrat/rabbit minus the guard hairs. No oils to make it float, I think.
SABLE is the White, Winter color phase of a weasel, Particularly in the FAR North,
where they get VERY white.
A CHINCHILLA is a small rodent, similar to a Pika (Conibear), and about the same size—Similar in size to a softball.
They are raised for their luxurious fur.
I THINK they are native to the Himalaya’s or maybe Peru-Chili.
I do know that they usually live at, or near, or above 10,000 ft. elevation.
I’ve never used it for dubbing, but I worked one summer vacation for a Chinchilla Farmer, and can tell you that the fur is ULTRA soft, but the strands aren’t very long… ? to 1 inch.approx.
Muley
Don’t know much about it, but I was tole a 10" pelt is about $125 so it’s expensive for sure.
Thanks guys. I picked up a piece (about 2 inches sq.) and it just seemed soooo soft that I figured it had to make some nice dubbing. The fur at the base is light gray and then becomes white. Should make a nice light bodied Adams.
Deezel
Don’t know much about the fur…I’d just popped in to give a welcome to Mr. Conner…don’t know if you’ve been a lurker for a while or not…But this is the first I’ve seen you post on the site… And a welcome is surely in order!..
Glad to see you here…I’m bgill001 on a few other sites that I’ve seen your post’s and tutoral’s posted on…Alway’s enjoy reading and taking in the info!.
Hope to see more post’s in the future!.
Sorry, I am just sitting at Mike?s computer! I clicked on this site and it logged in so I pointed the poster to the info on chinchilla. Mike is giving me some lessons. Hope he does not mind me being nosy! I will tell him you replied when he comes back in.
Chinchillas are (small) rabbit-sized, crepuscular rodents native to the Andes mountains in South America. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they belong to the family Chinchillidae.
Check out the following; it even has pictures:
[u]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchilla[/u]
Muley
chinchilla ties nicely as dubbing. like rabbit.
Muley, perhaps you are thinking of ermine when you speak of the white winter color phase. Short tailed and long tailed weasels in North America can turn white in winter (we have them here), but I do not think sable does that (nor do the larger North American species like mink, pine marten, fisher…)
They sell chinchillas in pet stores… :whistle:
Deezle,
Chinchila makes a very nice dubbing… applies very easily and looks great on an Adams as you suggest.
Z
OK, DZ’s correct about the SABLE, here is what WIKIPEDIA says about them:
The sable (Martes zibellina) is a small mammal, closely akin to the marten, living in southern Russia near the Ural Mountains through Siberia and Mongolia to Hokkaid? in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia. It has achieved fame for its fur, which is integrated into various clothes fashions (for example the shtreimel). Sables range in color from tan to black, black being the most prized. The top grade of black sable fur is called “black diamond”.
However, I’m rght on about about the CHinchilla. Somebody says you can buy them in pet shops?
OK, but be careful, and get a FEMALE if you want a pet. The males are pretty onery, and their main defence mechanisim is to rear up and urinate at the threat, aiming for the eyes. They can get you from about 2 ft. away.
Muley
All that has been said about the animal called a “Chinchilla” is true. However, having raised and judged show rabbits, I may have a suggestion that might be a cheaper alternative. In show rabbits the “chinchilla” is a description of a particular coloration of fur. There are probably 15 or more breeds that have that color. All state fairs and most county fairs have rabbit shows. Contact the entry department and most will supply you with the names of local breeders and you can contact them. Tell the breeder what you want and you might be able to get some fur/pelts when the breeder slaughters some meat rabbits.
If you have a furrier in your town contact him to see if he has any scraps
Tom
Chinchilla is very, very soft. I believe that I once read that this fur is unique in the number of hairs that arise form each follical - I believe there can be more than 50/follical. This makes for the thick, fine, soft, luzurious coat.
The only tyer that I know who regularly utilizes chinchilla is Don Ordes, i.e. Fantisy Fly Company: http://fantasyflies.com/
If you’ve never met Don, he’s great - a little off! but a great guy. He is a wonderful tyer who ties some truely “off beat” stuff!
Check out his site.
Bowfin47