Author Topic: How to sturgeon back a bow (Read 7335 times)

aaron · « **on:** May 08, 2019, 04:00:37 pm »

This post may take me a while to create- stay tuned.
Sturgeon backing is very similar to rawhide backing, but the skin is very oily, so you have to get those oils out.
The Sturgeon I am using is the Green Sturgeon from the Columbia River.
Sturgeon have a row of scutes (sharp, bony plates) along the spine and smaller ones along the lateral line. Typically you get 2 skins from each fish each having a row of small scutes down the middle.

aaron · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2019, 04:10:07 pm »

First the skins are washed in soapy water to remove some of the slime. Next they are scraped of the flesh. I use a wooden tanners beam like what you would use to scrape a deer hide. A dull draw knife does most of the work, and a smaller, more curved dull blade can get the stubborn bits. A scraper can be made from a modified drywall knife. The skin is quite tough, but extra care is taken when scraping over the scutes. One tanning beam I have has a groove for the scutes to sit down in. There are "strings" like sinew attached to the flesh side which are hard to scrape off- I cut them with a razor.

Weylin · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2019, 04:20:25 pm »

Looking forward to following this!

aaron · « **Reply #3 on:** May 08, 2019, 04:20:41 pm »

The skins are washed and rinsed multiple times in cold water and dish soap. You can add boraxo or other things to help degrease. Fish skins rot quickly, so keep them cool and don't take too long. Next, the skins are tacked out to dry. They will weep oil as they dry- dab with paper towel. Once they're dry, a small curved blade can scrape off any remaining flesh. I use one with a sharp square edge. Then, I wipe them down with acetone to remove more oil.

aaron · « **Reply #4 on:** May 08, 2019, 04:30:02 pm »

They can be stored dry indefinitely. When you're ready to back the bow, you have to choose your layout. Each skin is dark grey on one half and light grey on the other. You can cut the skin lengthwise and use one half or the other OR you can use the center section of each skin with the scutes down the middle. Most skins are about 40 inches long and taper from about 5 inches at the head to 2.5 inches at the tail. This drawing shows all possible combinations of layouts. For this How-To, I'm choosing layout "e" because the whole bow can be backed with just one skin. I'm going to experiment by staining the outer limbs black to see how this affects the final look of the skin. (Spoiler- the stain shows through the lighter half of the skin making it look almost as dark as the dark half.)

aaron · « **Reply #5 on:** May 08, 2019, 04:46:13 pm »

The skins are once again wiped down with acetone to degrease. . Scrape them one last time if there's still some flesh. sand the flesh side with 80 grit to remove a layer of "membrane" that looks like fine criss-crossed lines. Then, soak them for a few hours to rehydrate. Rinse them in soapy water off and on during this processRinse again and drip dry for 15 min. Roll them up in a towel to dry. Leave them rolled up in the towel for a while until they're dry enough but not too dry. they should be flexible and slightly stretchy. At minimum, they should be rolled up a couple hours. Now they're ready to apply. First pic shows flesh side after sanding. In the back ground, a small scraper with a curved edge that is square and sharp like a card scraper before burnishing.

aaron · « **Reply #6 on:** May 08, 2019, 05:00:22 pm »

Before you do the sanding mentioned above, cut the skins roughly to size- removing irregular edges and excess length. After the towel drying, carefully cut them again to about 1/2 inch wider than the bow. Prepare the bow back for glueing by at least giving it a light sand. I sometimes wash the bow with soapy water and rinse.

aaron · « **Reply #7 on:** May 08, 2019, 05:11:12 pm »

Have a pot of warm water nearby so you can clean your hands often. Next, apply glue to the skin and bow at the handle. Just do a 3 inch section at first. Titebond sets up pretty quick, so hurry. Avoid excess glue. secure the glued end with painters tape.

aaron · « **Reply #8 on:** May 08, 2019, 05:21:42 pm »

Glue a 6 inch section and begin wrapping. Don't try to glue down the whole piece, do it in 6 inch sections or else the glue will set up. I use a type of gauze wrap that's stretchy. Be careful to keep the skin centered on the limb, covering the entire back and sides of the bow. Skin on the sides will be removed later (or you can leave it on if you do a really careful job cutting and gluing). As you wrap it, smooth out the skin and press it down with clean fingers to avoid globs of glue stuck under the skin. Try not to get too much glue on the belly or the gauze. If you wrap it too tight, you may leave indentations on the skin. Once you get to the tip, secure the wrap with tape. Not too much tape- it hinders drying. Let it dry overnight.

aaron · « **Reply #9 on:** May 08, 2019, 05:29:33 pm »

Unwrap carefully being careful not to pull up the skin edges. Bits of gauze will be stuck to the bow. Let the bow dry if the skin is still soft. Use a coarse file or rasp to remove the skin from the sides of the bow. With the skin side facing you, rasp away from yourself to avoid having the rasp peel up the skin edges. Sand smooth. You can see in the bottom photo the effect of staining the limb black. This whole limb is covered in the lighter colored skin, but only the outer limb is stained. The inner limb looks lighter and is translucent like rawhide. Repeat the process for the other limb.