@Rose - I'm just on here trying to learn like everyone else. My biggest hindrance right now is no roosters to operate on to evaluate the instruments. I have made a few of the snares and sent them out to a couple of posters on this page who have surgeries in the near future to get their feedback. I would eventually like to put together individual instruments and a kit as well as a detailed guide in the form of a wall chart with clear instructions, good photos and drawings to ease the learning curve.
Right now, if you search this thread for "chinese" you should find info on where people are getting the Chinese tools that include a retractor and a removal tool. I've not seen them up close so I can't really give you anymore information.
If you want to put together a kit like mine, you can order the scalpel and either a small Weitlaner or Heiss retractor from ebay. You can get the pick on ebay as well or at Harbor Freight. A snare can be made with lots of different materials from straws and coffee stirrers to metal tubes from Hobby Lobby for the tube and fishing line or wire for the loop. I believe the Chinese tool doesn't use a tube but just a string attached to the end of an elevator-like instrument.
The cheap Heiss retractor I pictured in my first post worked o.k. but the skin tends to slip up over the top of the instrument. I modified mine earlier this week to add projecting pads to the jaws as shown in these photos. The ideas is that the smooth jaws go between the ribs and the skin is trapped below the serrated jaws. This was a quick fix to see how it works. Eventually I hope to find an off the shelf unit that works well or I'll make custom jaws and remove the original jaws entirely and replace them. Sorry about the photo quality. I just snapped these with my phone since I happened to have the tool in my briefcase.
Once I get feedback on the snares from some "power" users, I may offer some for sale in the classifieds section. It's hard to tell if there is really enough interest in the subject to put together a professional kit and instructions versus just sharing info and helping people build their own.
If you would like to talk about a custom solution or other off topic info feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can do to help.
**Edited to replace photos with tighter crops and address to right poster!
Right now, if you search this thread for "chinese" you should find info on where people are getting the Chinese tools that include a retractor and a removal tool. I've not seen them up close so I can't really give you anymore information.
If you want to put together a kit like mine, you can order the scalpel and either a small Weitlaner or Heiss retractor from ebay. You can get the pick on ebay as well or at Harbor Freight. A snare can be made with lots of different materials from straws and coffee stirrers to metal tubes from Hobby Lobby for the tube and fishing line or wire for the loop. I believe the Chinese tool doesn't use a tube but just a string attached to the end of an elevator-like instrument.
The cheap Heiss retractor I pictured in my first post worked o.k. but the skin tends to slip up over the top of the instrument. I modified mine earlier this week to add projecting pads to the jaws as shown in these photos. The ideas is that the smooth jaws go between the ribs and the skin is trapped below the serrated jaws. This was a quick fix to see how it works. Eventually I hope to find an off the shelf unit that works well or I'll make custom jaws and remove the original jaws entirely and replace them. Sorry about the photo quality. I just snapped these with my phone since I happened to have the tool in my briefcase.
Once I get feedback on the snares from some "power" users, I may offer some for sale in the classifieds section. It's hard to tell if there is really enough interest in the subject to put together a professional kit and instructions versus just sharing info and helping people build their own.
If you would like to talk about a custom solution or other off topic info feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can do to help.
**Edited to replace photos with tighter crops and address to right poster!
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