Butchering Setup

Here are a couple pictures of my butchering setup to give you a better idea where I was working and how I had things set. On the left is my butchering "table" built from two saw-horses, a wire shelf, a closed cell foam pad, two cutting boards, and a half sheet pan. There are also three coolers under the table (one on each side and one in the middle.)

On the right is a strop that JRE Industries is putting out now. This thing was being used frequently during the days of butchering. I would steel the knife, strop the knife, and sharpen the knife (reverse order as the edge would get slightly dull.) I've got mine clipped to the wire rack with a carabiner but you could just hang the loop over a nail or any other small diameter item. Keeping the strop slightly loose allows me to use a feather light touch with it to prevent rolling my sharp edge and the black compound really got the edges screaming.

I have since used it with great effect with a couple of Tramontina machetes.

This setup was not ideal but it was a good learning experience. I now know that I've got to raise the height of the tables by several inches. I also need to get some anti-fatigue floor mats. It'd also be nice to have some music out there since I'm spending so much time butchering.

Believe it or not, I'm still not quite done. The discomfort I've experienced from working on a table that's too short while standing on the concrete floor for hours at a time has been too much. After a couple of days off I'm back at it though.

Thanks for reading,


B