I use TBIII for snake skins to wood, but what about for fiberglass?
Got a pair of copperhead skins and holy cow they are delicate. Never seen a skin so thin.
Same thing just sand the limbs and clean.
Yep just like Howard said, but don't get too aggressive sanding the limbs, 100 grit paper will do.
Big, Sand the limbs lightly with 220 wet/dry,wipe down lightly with acetone.apply the Tite-bond to the bow and lay the skins down. You don't have to soak these skins for very long. If you wrap with Ace bandage,don't wrap too tight or leave it on for more then a half hour or the wrap will indent the skins leaving wrap lines. Hope this helps. Kendall
You shouldn't have top wrap the limbs after applying the skins with these thin skins. You will have better control of aligning the pattern if you don't wrap them.
Thanks all. I see some copperhead skins come out real nice and bright, and some on some fiberglass limbs come out real dark.
I know when TB3 gets globbed up, it turns dark brown. Will this make the pattern not as bright?
Copperheads are the hardest skins to get right. You can dye them with orange powdered dye and alcohol from the back side of the skin. I believe that Bob Morrison also puts down a white base coat on the limb before putting on the skins. I had a friend put them on black glass and had to have the skins painted by a taxidermist to be able to see the pattern on them.
Big, It's the color of the glass that makes them dark. Copperhead is almost transparent. The darker the glass or limbs the darker the skins will be.If your putting them over black or brown glass spray the limbs with a light coat of white primer,the skins will really pop out then.
I think the worst you can do is wrap skins with an ace bandage. The glue sets up pretty fast as your working the air bubbles out and lining up the pattern. I find I just have to watch the junction of the skin and the tip overlays and the center splice or overlays, to keep them in place, but that ain't too labor intensive. There is always a surprise when the bandage comes off, and that ain't good.
Here is a guava bow I made with a copperhead skin backing. The guava is light colored wood and the skins were glued down with TBIII. If I can find a better close up pic of this bow I will post it for you.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/bowsetfor09show010.jpg)
Big, I always wrap the skins but only after they are put down and in place. I remove the wrap after 30-45 minutes and then trim the sides and remove any glue on the sides with a damp sponge. I've never had any skins lift from the edges since I started wrapping and never had them shift under the wrap.The trick is not to wrap too tight. It's really helpful on thicker skins like Bullsnake and Eastern Diamondback. Here's acouple of Copperhead on Osage (http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t53/kendalltechau/CopyofNEWhomepagebows.jpg)
I wrap any thicker skins like timber and Eastern D-back to be sure they are well attached to the limb. On the thinner skins like copperhead, Western D-back and prairie rattlers I find the skins usually lay well without wrapping. I have never done a glass bow.
Apparently both methods work so you will have to decide what will work best for you.
Man, that looks nice. TBIII it its. I am finding TB only gets dark brown if it glumps up. At least thats the theory.