I put a beautiful set of copperheads on the limbs on my take down. Well the riser finally arrived yesterday and I took it out to play. I noticed when I was done shooting that there were 3 places that the skins cracked across the limbs. I'm thinking I may have put to much finish on the skins?? I put the skins on and put several coats of finish on to smooth out the skins. I sanded down to the skin with 220 until they were flat and couldn't feel any rough from where the scales were. Then I drifted a coat over top of that to make them dull. Well, like I said they cracked. I have felt skins on other bows and you can feel the skin, I guess that may be why. My buddy has a set that Bob Morrison put on for him. They aren't flat and smooth either. Anyone know for sure that this is the reason, or did I put them on wrong?? I put them on with titebond II. JOHN

John,

Did you sand the skins before you applied the finish?  Sometimes the finish will not adhear to the skins.

Mike

I've done several where I put on enough finish that it looks like the skins are under the glass. I have not had a problem yet (knock on wood). What type of finish did you use and how long did you wait between final coat and stringing/shooting the bow? I use spar urethane and usually wait at least a week (prefer 2 weeks) before flexing the bow. It may be unnecessary but that's what I do.

Did you take the scales off the skins before you varnished?  If not, the scales are likely to move when the bow is drawn causing breaks in the finish.  Normally, 2-4 light coats of spray urathane, or a half-dozen hand rubbed coats of Birchwood Casey would not crack.

did you use skins that were tanned that will make them mess up .

The skins were not tanned, and I did take the scales off. I waited a week after putting the skins on to put the finish on and I did sand lightly before putting Sherwin Williams Water White conversion Varnish on the limbs. The finish was pretty thick on the skins. The limbs sat for almost 6 weeks before the riser arrived. I really messed up now, I tried to sand down to the skins and sanded right through. What a mess! I had to take the skins totally off. Now I'm looking for my second set of copperhead skins. Anyone out there have any? This time it will be a different finish that don't get so hard. I have finished several bows with the SW finish and had no problems. ML Campbell conversion varnish is lots more pliable. JOHN

"Sherwin Williams Water White conversion Varnish"

We quit using this product because it just would not stick to snakes.

Mike

Too much of the wrong finish. It has to stretch and flex. maybe your next set will turn out better.

I also used spray urethane spar varnish with good results. Several coats. - lbg

OK, How about the ML Campbell?