Finishing over cloth??

[mutt]

In this case, a fake snake skin.
It was put on over rawhide with Titebond 3 and then tite bond 3 rubbed into it and the excess wiped off.
after it dried i put a liberal coat of tru oil and then a spray on satin poly.
Its very rough to the touch compared to wood and i would like to go over it with some 0000 steel wool but im about half afraid that it will dig into the cloth and ruin the snake pattern.
How do you all handle finishing over cloth?

[Hrothgar]

I've never worked with snake skin - real or artificial- but have used 000 and 0000 steel wool when refinishing furniture. All brands of polyurethane recommend a light sanding with 000 between coats. I also use it to clean paint splatters off glass window ( it doesn't scratch the glass). If you go easy and assess as you work it might be ok. You will need to add another coat or two of poly though.

[Pat B]

With cloth or real snake skins the surface will be rougher than a finish just over wood. You can build up the Tru-Oil(even the TBIII) with multi layers to get it smoother or just live with it. With the cloth saturated with TBIII, over and under and the Tru-Oil and poly over that your bow should be well protected.

[bradsmith2010]

I think if you put poly, sand lightly and repeat until what you want

[George Tsoukalas]

I always gave it a thin coat of T2 or 3 and then water soluble poly or spar urethane. Jawge