I am finishing up an Ash board bow and have put snakeskin on the back of the bow. I am wondering what your thoughts are on using polyurethane on wood board bows or self bows.  Also, I wasn't sure what to use on the snakeskin either.

Thats all I use is Poly clear, kind of expensive because most of it ends up in thin air.  The water base drys real quick. I do not like sanding much doing a wipe on stain product will show up all my scratches.      

I have no experience here, but I've heard that tru-oil is the best thing to use on snake skins. It stays flexible and doesn't get brittle and crack.

I finish all my selfbows with Tru-Oil but add a spray of satin poly over that to cut the shine. I think poly by itself should be OK. Use it over the snake skins also.

Tru-Oil is really hard to beat, it makes for a tough, good looking finish, and you dont lose any into the air.

Ended up using wood oil and a couple coats of spray on poly.  I will get the Tru-Oil for the next one.

Dustin, there is a good chance your handle could pop off with those steep, abrupt fades and the thinness of the bow wood at the handle. If it bends at all near the handle there is a good chance the handle riser will pop off. Other than that, she looks good.

Thanks for the tip pat.  I will make the fades less abrupt on the next one.  I gave this one away to an 8 year old. Hope the handle doesn't pop off.

If I were going to use a poly it would be spar varnish.  It is durable as nails and is also fairly flexible.

It is a little soft, but the harder poly's will craze over time where flexing done.  That is why they use this stuff on wooden boat masts and booms, because they flex.