The scraping tool consisted of a wooden handle (just long enough to fit the hand comfortably) with a round shallow bowl shaped piece of metal on each end. One end was maybe 3 or 4 inches in diameter and the other was about one and a half inches. The small end was used more on the head and such places where there were crevices to deal with.

The last stage of the scraping process was a nice close shave. Water was poured over the now mostly hairless hogs and a sharp butcher knife was used to shave off any hair that escape scraping. After shaving, a cut about 3 or 4 inches long was made in the back of the lower leg just above the foot. The purpose of this cut was to expose the tendon that attached to the foot. Once exposed, a gambrel could be inserted behind the tendon to allow suspension of the hog from the gutting pole.

Revised 2/14/2006, 10/13/2011.