Hey Gang,

Dick from Seattle built me a beauty of a D shape Bow which was high lighted in this forum.  She is a shooting dream and I already have a plan with a sharp stick and a deer for her immediate future.  Heres the rub, as much as I love the bow the black glass and finish on the back of the bow is a bit shiny. I purchased a diamondback rattlesnake hide to skin the back of the bow with and now I need to know the what and how of that process.  

I am looking for input on what the best glue is for skinning the bow.  I know it needs to be a flexible glue when dry to stand up to repeated draw and firing cycles.  I was also wondering if anyone knows of a good tutorial on this process.  I really want to do Dick and the bow right and make the snake skin an enhancement to an already great bow.

Thanks again Dick.  By the way are you looking for another knife?  I may have lost Le Chausseur Noir to the wife.  She fired her best group ever last weekend.  It was the second group she shot with the bow.  She looked me square in the eye and said this one is mine!  I have your knife forged close to final shape and have the handle roughed out.

Titebond will work fine.  Moisten the skin and let it relax for a few monutes.  Dab it dry.  Spread Titebond on the bow and lay the skin on it.  Work gently from the handle to the tip and the center to the edge with your moistened fingers to make sure the skin is positioned where you want and all the air bubbles are out.  By the time you work to the end, it should be setting up pretty well.  I trim the sides with a brand new and very sharp razor blade.  Then I like to wrap lightly (so you don't move the skins) with a gauze bandage.  Let it dry overnight and then work the sides with a file from the back to the belly to get a nice clean line.  Don't damge the finish doing this.  Work slowly and carefully.

Something that John didn't mention is that you will need to remove the scales once the skins are dry and before you apply any finish over the skins.  This can be done by rubbing with steel wool in the direction of the scales or you can put masking tape on the skins and pull them off.

It seems a bit intimidating at first, but it's pretty easy.  I did my first a couple months ago on a bow I built for a buddy.  It turned out better than I expected.

Good luck.

these guys got it pretty much covered. skins are definitly a nice touch to add to a bow. i use tung oil on mine, a scotchbrite pad between coats and it gets so smooth its like glass.also i like to seal the edges with superglue, adds a little insurance and helps blend them into the limb.best advice for someone doing their first set i can give is not to stretch the skin as you lay it down, this causes gaps in between the scales.

there is a tutorial in the how to section. I think it's titled skinning a wapiti.

I was talking to Ed Scott at Cloverdale about his finish over snake skins.  He said that he uses 2 parts TB to 1 part water.  He applies several coats over the skins and sands with 350 grit paper.  His bows were not glossy, but they were very smooth.  You couldn't even feel the scales.  I am going to try that on my next one.

TB ?  What does that acronym stand for?  I am looking for more of a matte finish look for the skins.  This is a hunting bow so the matte finish look will be perfect.

TB stands for titebond. It is a glue.

You could not put anything on the skins.  That would keep a non shiney look. The skins seemed to keep the snake dry, I've had them in all kinds of weather without anything on the skins and the skins lasted for years.