I found the skins on ****, and still have one mor set. I got the skins fresh, frozen and overnight shipped. When the mail arrived, I took them out, stretched and stapled them to a piece of plywood and finished scraping any remaining flesh off and dried for a couple days. They dry pretty fast. Them trimmed the white underbelly skin off both sides. I then laid the skin flat and scraped the scales off with the edge of a knife. This was really easy to do, going from head to tail.
I sanded the limbs, until I got down to the clear glass under the finish so I wouldnt have any problems with glue not adhering to the bow. This was the part I was really nervous about. I took my time and then cleaned with denatured alcohol. Soaked the skins for 5-10 minutes in lukewarm water. I laid them out on paper towels and blotted all the excess water off, then laid them out on the bow to dry run the glue up. I cut them to length, leaving a little extra past the overlays, which I trimmed later.
I rolled the skin up so I could set it on the limb and unroll it onto the glue, so I didnt glue on the outer skin.
I smeared Titebond III on the limb, and unrolled the skin, getting it centered on the limg. I used a small spring clamp to hold one end in place While I stretched the skin on, and smoothed it out, then rolled it with a round stick of hot melt glue to push the skin into the glue. I worked the skin tight and flat, pushing out any air, but being careful not to push out all the glue. Removed the clamp, trimmed the ends tight to the overlays.
I forgot to mention I taped off the entire bow with that green Frogger painters tape.
Any squeeze out I wiped off with a wet rag. I let it set for about an hour to tack up good, and trimmed the edges, using a new razor knife blade. Its easier once the skin dries more. After everything was pretty dry, I trimed the edges again hold the blade about 45degrees angle to the limbs.
A couple others here mentioned in some older threads that sometimes superglue applied to the outside of the skin had problems getting a clody appearance, so I am not going to use super glue.
I will finish it with Tru-Oil, probably 5-6 coats with a light sandding between coats.
Like I mentioned before, I learned how to do this through a lot of others here on TradGang.
This was my first attempt, and so far so good. The hard part is done. Many thanks are due those who so freely share their knowlege.
This was a fun makeover of a great bow. This bow is one of two thundersticks of mine, and my go-to hunting bow. Its finish bears a few scars of hunting wild places, chasing deer and elk.
The skins give it new life, and I cannot wait until its done to shoot it again.
Thanks TradGangers for walking me through the transition.
Topic: Skinnned my First Bow (Read 945 times)
