Dye Under Rawhide Backing

[Honest Jon]

I’ve been staring at a couple hickory selfbows that I’ll complete soon and trying to come up with something unique to finish them off. Thinking about red or green annaline dye on the bow with rawhide over it as a backing. Will the color show through or just look like a mistake?
Honest Jon

[Pat B]

That will depend on the rawhide. Sometimes when using a finish like Tru-Oil the oil penetrates the rawhide and makes it translucent. You'll just have to test it to see how it takes the finish.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

There was a thing called clarified rawhide that would make it more clear. I thinks it’s smquite difficult to find but may be worth looking into how it’s made. But I would imagine you could get some color to show through the rawhide. There are times I can see the drying cracks and grain structure through the rawhide.

Kyle

[rainman]

You could also stain the rawhide or paint it.