Done 'Skinning' my Pronghorn

[Wary Buck]

Well, I finally did something I've wanted to do for years...and that is put a snakeskin on my 'Green Machine' Pronghorn take-down longbow.  

I'm going to post my steps here NOT to provide a tutorial (as others have done this far better than I could, and I did NOT try to take quality photos during the process); instead I will just tell the steps I followed and explain what I found challenging, etc.

I believe I am at least the fourth guy to own this bow.  It was custom made by Herb Meland for James Nichols, and I bought it from John Turner in ID, and I believe Kelly Peterson (Arrows by Kelly) owned it sometime or another.  Anyway, I shoot this Pronghorn bow better than any other, but I always felt the limbs were a hair gaudier than I wanted.  They actually blend in great in the September and early October woods here in Nebraska, but the riser was darker and I envisioned something a little different.

I came close to asking Herb if he'd put a skin on it, and also considered asking others to do it.  But I am so glad I chose to do it myself.

I followed a tutorial from this site called 'Skinning a Wapiti.'  It was very helpful and while I did not follow it completely, the article gave me the confidence needed and the photos helped greatly.

In this picture, you can see I've used painters masking tape to tape off the sides and other side of the limb.  I've also used 60grit sandpaper to rough up one of the limbs at this point.

 

Then I painted the limbs with a little bit of black Krylon spray paint to have a darker background for the skins.  The riser has some dark, almost-black laminates in it.

 

I about crapped when the paint came out almost stippled.  Should definitely have tried the paint on another surface before but...  Anyway, while that initially worried me, it seemed to actually provide a good surface, which I then scarred up some also with the sandpaper.  

 

Then came the glue, Titebond III.  It was at this point I was a little nervous, not really knowing how long to let the glue set up while I was soaking the skin.

 

I soaked the skins in lukewarm water for a few minutes and tried to blot out most of the water before applying.  

 

I'd already cut them close to length but left them full width.  I should say that I had five skins to choose from, but as Shedrock advised, the smaller/younger snakes might have a narrower, bolder pattern which would complement longbow limbs better than a bigger one which might work best on a recurve.

 

As you can see, they hung over the edge pretty good, and now I've glue squeezing out the edges and I'm getting nervous.  I'm also worried that I'd already been too aggressive in removing a few scales (look in the upper right hand at part of the skin--it's obvious what I'm talking about).

So about here, I'm wondering what the heck I've gotten myself into.  Ha.  

Part II next.

[Wary Buck]

Part II...

At this point, I'm thinking I'd better trim off most of the excess width, but I have no idea if these things shrink or not.  The original tutorial said trim to within about 1/4" of the actual limb.  I probably left a hair more to be safe.

 

In these pictures, that area of 'concern' is especially visible.

 

 

I then did my best to really get the skin adhered to the bow, knowing it was squeezing some of the excess glue off the edges.  I used a small length of round pencil to act as a roller but also used finger pressure.  I left it a hair long on both ends and would trim that when it dried.  I also began removing the scales in earnest at this point and was becoming less freaked about the area where the scales were already gone, but becoming more concerned about the skin ending up way too light for what I'd envisioned.  While it was still wet I ran the dull side of a knife blade across the surface to get most of the scales, and then during the drying process I used masking tape to remove the rest (very carefully so as to not lift the skin off the surface).

Once it was dried, I think I left it 36 hours as the original tutorial advised (about as hard a wait as on a gutshot deer; man was I anxious to get going).  Then I began trimming, very carefully first.  Eventually I learned how I could hold my razor blade knife just so and run it along the edge and be almost perfect.  This part took a long time, but I wanted to get it right and not go do far.  I wanted a hard edge of solid color from the limb outlining the snake skin and that's what I ended up with.  I think it frames the snakeskin perfectly. This picture does not show it very well, but does show the before and after effect a little.  

 

That part was very tedious and I worried greatly that glue would bleed under the tape (very little had--I had really focused on pressing the tape down initially).  It was slow tedious work, but I don't usually mind that and with the aid of cheater glasses (2X I think) it was easy to see.  Side note:  geez, in the last five years suddenly focusing up close has become tough!  I'm sure no one else is dealing with that.    

Another before and after of this portion.

 

Then it was time for finish coats.  I did NOT follow the tutorial here about using AC Superglue.  I did use some super glue to glue down just a tiny handful of high edges but my glue job apparently had been done well.  Many had advised me this step (superglue the whole thing) was not necessary; some warned about compatibility or cracking issues.  So I just began coat after coat after coat of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil from a spray can.  I know I sprayed at least 12 coats (with a little 0000 steel wool in between) and really think I need more.  Perhaps I should've used the bottle instead of spray.  In any case, I love the end result.

One mistake to avoid is touching or trying to lightly sand any finish that is not completely dry.

Part III will have finished product photos.

[Wary Buck]

Okay, the finished product.  It is hard to get great photos of the whole bow in a photo frame at a level that you can actually see it.  So you'll have to settle for some close-ups of parts of the bow.  

 

 

 

 

And Part IV will have a few more.

[Wary Buck]

Part IV.

These photos show the bow against its blonde sister, another Pronghorn with Curly Ash lams, for comparison purposes.  They are both awesome bows and Herb makes some really special stuff.

 

 

 

There it is.  One mistake that I made that I did not foresee is that I wrapped my handle and covered the rest with the same normally-very-easy-to-remove painter's masking tape so I could be less careful when giving a few coats of Tru-Oil to the riser.  It was on there a couple days and it pulled off very difficult and left a residue.  I think it's due to oil in my hands impregnating into the leather grip and then reacting with the tape adhesive because it's not like I sprayed it down with the Tru-Oil.  I'm sure it'll work its way off eventually (light sanding, steel wool, and blunt edge of a knife are not really working).

The actual snakeskins I'm proud of.  The project came out great, the color is a deep green/olive/black which was what I wanted.  The upper limb is slightly lighter than the bottom (might just be differences in snakes) but you don't really notice it.  I did rough up the very edges of the snakesins a hair when scraping off scales but again you have to really look hard to see that.

All in all, I'm ecstatic that I finally did it, and want to thank the folks at TradGang for walking me through it.  I don't think I'll be tossing this bow onto lower limbs of cedar trees in the future (not that I ever really did that before).

[Mike Yancey]

Looks like it was made for those Prairie Rattlers! Good job.
Mike

[don s]

you did an awesome job and your bow looks fantastic. don

[BenBow]

Nice looking for sure.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Looks like it turned out real nice for ya, glad you did it yourself instead of taking the easy way out.

I almost cringed when you said you tried to remove scales before hand and then while the glue was still drying. I never try to remove any scales until it's 100% dry.
But it worked out ok and looks good on the bow.

I also use a fine tooth file to remove the excess skin from the edge of the limbs, but that's on an all wood bow so I don't know how that would work on fiberglass? Might marr up the edges too much?

Get yourself some of the wipe on Tru Oil and you'll get the finish results your after. It gets a better coverage than the spray on and a thicker coating with each layer.

[Ranger44]

I'd be happy to own either of those bows.  They both look great but especially a DIY skin project makes it all the better.  Congrats on a great job. Thanks for sharing!

[Butch L]

WOW, Nice job, great choice of skins.WOW

Butch L

[PEARL DRUMS]

Good job! First time spreading glue on your bow limb is a little nerve wracking hey? Its as easy as pie!

[wapiti792]

Man you got me thinking about a green handled bow and black glass limbs with prarie rattlers on the back...great job Bryce!

[Greg Szalewski]

Wow Bryce, that sure turned out nice. I can imagine you were a bit nervous a few times. You and that bow share a lot of memories. I expect we will see some pictures soon of an unfortunate whitetail that has been snake bit.

[jamesh76]

Looks really nice.

[Roy from Pa]

Very nice work.. ^5

[scottm]

Looks great!Nice job!

[KellyG]

I bet copper head skins would look good on the other bow. It turned out very nice, now I have glass long bow I may need to dress up.

[frank bullitt]

Cool job Bryce. Had no doubt you could make something up pretty, and sweet!

Will be waiting for the pics of that Fresh kill, with her!