Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Shondy55 on June 13, 2013, 12:06:05 pm
-
Hey guys I've been searching the forum and found a lot of different approaches to preparing/applying snake skins to a bow...I have a few questions
1. I have a. Snake in the freezer just got it yesterday and was wondering what to do to preserve it after I skin it and remove and excess flesh?
2. Before or after the skins are applied is it necessary to remove the scales? And if so what is the best way to do that?
3. What is the best finish to apply once the skins are on the bow?
-
Just skin it,flesh it and stretch it out on a board and let it dry,I use thumb tacks but you couls staple it.Then when it is dry,won't take long cut it loose and roll it up.Thats it. You can take the scales off after it is on the bow and dry,at least that's the way I do it,then seal with Tru oil buff light between coats with 000 steel wood, from head to tail,keep coating it untill it is smooth,depending on the snake,some take a lot on some not so much. Alos I glue mine on with TB3.
Pappy
-
>:D Yep thats how i do it.
Katt
-
Thanks pappy, what is the best way to remove the scales? I heard that duct tape works pretty well
-
My mind is blown. I didn't know you could remove snake scales. I thought the scales were the skin. I kinda laughed when I saw the question and then felt dumb when I saw the answer.
-
Put some acetone or lacquer thinner on a rag, rub against the grain of the scales after the glue dries. They should come off.
-
Squirrelslinger, have you backed a bow with snake skins before? Is that how you removed the scales?
Painters or masking tape will easily remove snake scales.
-
Rub the skins lightly with coarse steel wood in the direction of the scales and they will come flying off. I then use my finger to remove any stragglers. I don't like using duct tape because it can rip the skin if you are not careful.
-
painters tape mailing tape boxing tape masking tapepretty much any type of tape sometimes you have to do it a few times to get them all and pick of the stragglers with a fingernail.....I don't know about acetone or lacquer thinner but I have used denatured alcohol to clean off any oil but not really needed from what I hear...any chemical has the potential for adverse effects on both the glue and the skin...imho ;)
-
A pencil eraser works great for getting the stragglers off.
-
Squirrelslinger, have you backed a bow with snake skins before? Is that how you removed the scales?
Painters or masking tape will easily remove snake scales.
I have removed scales from a snake skin using that method 6 times- never a bow though. I like it better than tape even though its more work cause I usually don't have tape(minus electrical tape).
-
A pencil eraser works great for getting the stragglers off
Hmm, I'll have to try that. Thanks!
-
I do it like Gordon, :) I have tried the tape thing but ripped a skin once so I don't do that ant more, and I never rub against the grain,I always rub head to tail even when sealing it if I am using rub on sealer. :)
Pappy
-
After I skin the hide I put it in enough 50/50 antifreeze to cover the whole skin for about three days. This will tan the hide instead of making snake rawhide,it becomes much more pliable and not as easy to rip. I use masking tape to remove the scales. I have used TB3 as well as Locite to glue the skins on. Good luck!
-
After I skin the hide I put it in enough 50/50 antifreeze to cover the whole skin for about three days. This will tan the hide instead of making snake rawhide,it becomes much more pliable and not as easy to rip. I use masking tape to remove the scales. I have used TB3 as well as Locite to glue the skins on. Good luck!
That is quite intersting. Would this work on other skins too?
-
DO NOT repeat DO NOT stretch the skin either...let it lay naturally to tack out and dry....am sure that is what Pappy meant just when I read it , I would of interpreted stretching it....I also use masking or painters tape to remove scales after I apply to bow..good luck..gut
-
Sidebar question here...
can you apply skins to a bamboo backed bow, and what procedure and/or glue is best to use...even with the cloth look-a-like ones?
-
Normal cloth(linen/cotton/nylon) can be applied with slightly thinned TB2 or 3, or pretty much any wood glue or even white glue. (used TB2, and white glue on a short oak, TBB says nylon can be applied with those).
I assume hide glue would work with snakeskin or cloth.
Never tried it though.
Never glued a snakeskin on a bow before... but have glued them onto other stuff using TB2.
-
I picked up two roadkill rat snakes today. I have another one in the freezer that I picked up at work. I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I get them all tacked down. I don't put anything on the skins. I just let them dry out. I soak them in water for a few minutes before I glue them down. That makes them soft and pliable.
As for the the best finish to put over them, I prefer tru-oil. It really makes them shine.
-
Scrape the back and get off all the meat,soak in 60% glycerin and 40% denatured alcohol for 3 to 4 days.Remove,wash,and stretch it on a plank.let dry.
-
Here is how I tack them down. I like to do them scales up. If they need scraped I'll do that before I tack them down.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Snapbucket/A9229744.jpg)
If the snake is fat enough I split them one scale to the side of the belly. When its dry I'll carefully cut down the other side. Then I can get two backings, the normal back pattern and the belly scales.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Snapbucket/5D645648.jpg)
-
Clint that looks like an awesome idea will have to try that next time I get my hands on a snake. My fiancé found one dead on the road this week but I couldn't convince her to pick it up for me any tips on that? :laugh:
-
Drop her off and go back and get it. That's how I got one of the smaller ones yesterday. It was hit on the road about a mile from the house.
-
I would have but I was an hour away tried to get her to put it in a bucket for me but it wasn't happening. Seems like she sees all the dead snakes on the road while I'm away.
-
I keep a bucket with a lid and my snake tongs in my car at all times. I got the one by my house right out the car window. Didn't even have to open the door.
-
My wife came running into the house out of breath and terror on her face a couple nights ago. She managed to be the words out, "big rat snake in chicken coop. I've been down in my back all week and was laying an ice pack on the couch in a t-shirt and boxers. I slid on my slippers and away to the coop I went.
There was a big guy all curled up on about 8 eggs in a nest. I sent Schuy to workshop for my snake catcher and grabbed the Bersa .22 from my office. My snake catcher, actually I made it for Schuy, is a 3/4" PVC 5 foot long with a string through it, a handle on one end of the string and braided wire loop on the other.
I slipped the loop over his head and pulled the handle. Now this guy was a tussle to remove from the nest. First he wrapped around an upright support pole, then around an electrical wire for the vent fan. I had to grab him by the tail to unwrap him. There was no way to just pull him out.
Normally, I would have dropped him in an old pillow case and relocated him a mile or so down the road. But there was no way I could tolerate a road trip with my back ache. And, Schuy sure wasn't going to do a relocation of him. So the Bersa ended his egg sucking habit.
Nice snake, about 5 1/2" long, 3+ inches dia. He'll have a place of honor on an osage bow.