Snake skins

[brent.westbrook]

what's the best way to apply snake skins to limb backs?

Best place to get them?

[stickerpatch59]

look at onestringer.com and then click on limbsations, they have a lot of snake patterns, i have plans to do one in copperhead...very cool looking

[Ol Man]

Brent,

Are you applying them to a glass backed bow? If so - rough up the glass with some emery paper... Make sure to wipe it good with alcohol several times to ensure that it is clean.
Material: Tite-Bond III
Skins
Ace Bandage (2)
Cheap Super Glue
Sharp Razor Knife

Soak your skins in warm water... I use Tite-Bond III for all my skins. Coat your limbs with the glue, now squeeze out the excess water form the one skin. Start at the riser and slowly apply the skin - make sure the pattern is moving away from the rise for a better look. Once placed on it's a matter of working out all the bubbles from under the skin. Once the skin is in place and all the air pushed out, slowly and carefully apply the ace bandage. Repeat for the opposite limb. when dry ( Leave 2-3 days) slowly and carefully remove ace bandages. Trim the excess skins from the bow. Here I take a file (Smooth - Mill cut) and I ever so slightly trap the front of the limbs. Take some tape (I use Duct tape) - put on the skins, once applied peel slowly to take off any excess scales. Repeat this process several times until no scales come off on the tape...Clean once again thoroughly...

Use nitro or latex gloves and apply several coats of super glue over top of the skins - make sure it transitions into the side of the limbs as well. Once dry - rough slightly with emery or fine steel wool then spray with your choice of finish.

Best place to get great skins is from Mike Yancey @ Pinehollow longbows.

Hope this helps.

[TxNurse]

I do it very carefully with contact cement. Carefully because as soon as it touches, it cannot be be repositioned. Start it straight at one end and smooth it down slowly to avoid wrinkles. Use dried skins not tanned. Trim carefully so you don't bugger up the sides of the bow. Finish with a good polyurethane, Tru-Oil or other good clear finish. I get mine off the road between my house and town. Dry the skins by tacking them on a board inside out and covering with lots of dry Boraxo. Otherwise look on e-Bay for dried skins.

[Ol Man]

No disrespect but, I don't advocate using contact cement - messy and you can not move or fix the skins once then have been placed. You are correct Air dried only... using Borax on a tanned skin may work but, sometimes they will not stay as a result of the oils left on them.

[TxNurse]

For a fiberglass bow the contact cement is actually cleaner because you can paint it right to the edge without even getting it on the sides of the bow. Where it is only on the skin, it will not stick to the sides of the bow because it has to be on both surfaces to stick. With wood glue and wraps, the glue gets all over the bow. I did leave out the removal of the scales with tape--sorry. As is often the case, there are different ways of doing things. I found many of the pros who skin bows use the contact cement with dry skins, but all you need is to get it on straight with a good bond whatever method you use. Another consideration is the removal of the skins. With contact cement, you can strip off the skin and roll up the cement or remove with a solvent without hurting the finish on the bow. Here is my Sauk Trails longbow with a single skin from a 4 1/2' diamondback I killed near our home. The ends near the riser are finished off with homemade rawhide strips applied wet with Titebond 3 so it would shrink to form to the bow.

[Ol Man]

Very nice work!

Never tried the C cement, have done many using tite-bond so it is what I am comfortable with. Getting old..it would be hard for me to get them laid on straight.

[txstrapassassin]

that's awesome looking!

[brent.westbrook]

thanks guys, now I just need to find some skins.. Im thinking copperhead for my bubinga bob lee recurve

[Ol Man]

Here's a couple of pics ..

[huntinpool]

Bob Morrison skins limbs. On his sight it says $200 for copperhead.
Morrison archery. He does the best I have ever seen

[Bjankowski]

thanks guys, now I just need to find some skins.. Im thinking copperhead for my bubinga bob lee recurve

If you can get by a Tandy Leather they have nice skins at a pretty good price, I'm not sure if they have an online store or not. I buy a lot of leather from them for my knife sheaths..

Good luck

My knife web site;

https://www.RobertJankowski.com

[Ol Man]

Bob Morrison skins limbs. On his sight it says $200 for copperhead.
Morrison archery. He does the best I have ever seen

Mr Morrison sure does an amazing job...

Tandy leathers skins have been tanned - not air dried, I believe!

[TxNurse]

Very nice work!

Never tried the C cement, have done many using tite-bond so it is what I am comfortable with. Getting old..it would be hard for me to get them laid on straight.

It works for me for snake, but for rawhide backing, i use your method almost to the letter.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

I believe Pine Hollow Longbows up in Arkansas sells them to the public..