Birch bark or snakeskin backing? Hungarian bow.

[AngelDeVille]

I have a u-finish Hungarian  type bow on the way and I'm putting my ducks in a row to finish it, I have some minwax to seal it up and I'm looking to dress it up a little as well.

I'm planning to wrap and shellac either wool yarn or hemp or cotton twine on the sayas and on either side of the riser.

I know either birch bark or leather is the usual covering on the limbs, with birch bark being the nicer of the two in my opinion.

But has anyone tried a snakeskin on this type of bow?

Would contact cement work for either of these? I have heard of barge cement being used, but having never used it I'm not sure if it's the same.

If I use birch bark and have to use separate strips how do I keep gaps from forming in the edges?  I would like to keep the lines in the bark horizontal.

[AngelDeVille]

Has anyone done this?

[razorback]

I did a birch bark backing a few years ago and really liked the look of it. Tough to get it prepared right though. You have to get it real thin or the outer layers will come off as you are only gluing the first layer of bark to the bows back.

 

 

[AngelDeVille]

Thanks, Razor, I had read a little about that, but it's surprisingly hard to find a tutorial on it online.

I had also heard that you want it slightly damp before you apply it and to stretch it to fit.

What glue did you end up using and how did you finish it?

This is sort of what I want to end up with...

 

[razorback]

Angel, to tell the truth I was flying by the seat of my pants with both eyes closed. I just found a tree with clean bark, scored around the trunk and peeled a thin layer off. i then thinned it down so it was manageable and applied it with titebond 3. I believe  I wrapped it tightly with cloth strips and hoped for the best. It came out well and any problem areas I filled with small pieces. It held up well to 6 months of shooting and then the poor tiller bit me when I was stringing it. Broke about 8" from the bottom tip.

That is an awesome looking bow can't wait to see the finished pics.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Angel I talked to James Parker the other day on the phone and I asked him about this. He said he uses a contact cement to apply birch bark. He also said you better have everything right and ready because you only get on shot.

 He also said to use the best stuff you can find as far as the glue or it will cause you problems down the road.

 Hope this helps

[AngelDeVille]

Thanks, stiks, I kinda suspected contact cement would be a good choice.

If I need to use smaller pieces I plan on a 1-2mm overlap, and have them pre-cut and laid out in order.

The nice thing is the backing area isn't too large/long so i may be able to get it in one shot depending on the birch bark I can find.