With bow season winding down,I thought i'd put some copper head skins on a already turned dark Osage Widow PSRX.I done a couple others before but I thought I take some pics this time..Took the grip and rest material off and sanded the limbs with 220 grit paper.   then used tight bond wood glue and cover all the limbs    

While thats getting tacky,I had the skins soaking in some warm water   .I didn't want them dripping so I tried to Gently ring them out a little..after that I layed them on the limbs

Nows the time to get them straight and exactly where you want them,because you don't want to disrupt the adhesion.Take the spreader and start getting all the air bubbles out.  

This is where the patiences comes in.You only want to do 1 limb at a time and you want to keep doing this until the skin is almost dry,it will start to curl up on the sides ,ends and tips,I also trim the tip and bottom of the limb at this time,not too much because it's still shrinking a little, but I want to see my limb tip so I can start to get some of the glue cleaned up.

Okay,now that it's dry probably over night I can start the trimming,It's still a little delicate,so be careful .  

You don't wrap them?  Every other how to on this I've read, they wrap them with an Ace bandage or similar.   Interesting.   Going to watch this.  Thanks for sharing.

The fade outs are kinda difficult,you just have to decide how much fade out you want showing if any at all..I thought about taking the skins to the handle and butting them together there cause the beaver tail grip would cover the seem.In hind sight I should have.Once this is done I'll do the other limb.

Bill, that's something I've always wanted to try and just never did. Where did you get your skins?

Nope I never wrapped them and I never had any issues.I think the key is to keep using the spreader  or something smooth  like a credit card until their almost dry.I saw the same articles about wrapping them,But because they're so thin I thought the wrap would stick to it causing a lot of problems.

Barney thats a funny story,I got them from a guy who got them from his friend on the TV show "Snake salvation"

After letting them dry over night again,and the trimming is done,its time to start getting the scales off (down hill stretch).Copper heads don't have near the scales the rattlers have but they still have some..I alway use blue tape for this,a good many scales fall off when dried,but you really want to try to get them all.  

This is cool to see.  I may not be able to help myself and give it a whirl.

Decision time,What kind of finish do you want.I was fortunate to have some OLD 2 part thunderbird in gloss,I tried it on a wood arrow just to make sure it would harden..I've used Varethane before, it worked well on a long bow but it cracked on my recurve.I sprayed it on.  

I ended with 2 coats I would like maybe 1 more,which I'll use a brush next coat.And I hate gloss but Thats all I had,tried to dull it up with a pot scrubber.A couple mistake I made was them dang on fade outs on the riser maybe you can see them in the next Pic.  

Last two .  

Nice work. Try removing scales before soaking, they dry quicker when glued. As you stated, plan the length when ordered so it covers what you like. I agree with continuing to smooth the skins, keeps em good without wrapping. Finishing works as you described, or rubbing in bow finish a couple of times, then a spray coat.

Love it!

Yep ,didn't wrap mine with an ace bandage but did do some relief cuts perpendicular to the limb so when they curled they curled downward.

Instead of cutting the edges I used a sanding block with 220 at about a 45 deg angle so there is about 1/16"-1/32" of limb face there so the edge of the skin isn't out to the edge of the limb. One of the guys here that does it for a living told me that was real important otherwise the edge of the skin wants to lift.

Tape didnt get every scale for me [scales look dull, skin is shiny] so I used a butter knife to scrape it gently and get them all.  Then 6 light coats on Minwax Poly in satin, lightly steel wool the final to take off the shine and done.

Wow, couple of skipped steps there and not near enough coats of finish. Never used Thunderbird or any other spray on finish,  but to each his own. I cringed a bit when you said "2 coats" and "maybe I'll brush the next 2 on" eeeek!
I lay my finish on by hand and use only Tru Oil by Birchwood Casey, nothing less. Hope it holds out for ya, but if it doesn't contact me.
BTW- I never wrap anything. All my work turns out great.
~MO~



Bradfordbowwithskins001

Semo,they look great,I did skip a couple things,like beendare said,I usually take the back of a knife to get the majority of the scales off but I really didn't have to on Copper heads,on Rattlers I do but the scales are much bigger and courser.Thunderbird 2 part is very thick I actually had a hard time spraying it,had to play with the air pressure to get it right.I used Tru-oil once and although it did turn out,I think it took about 8-10 coats and a lot of drying time to get it where I couldn't feel the edges,but it never cracked on the curve.