after snake skins are glued on

[Tajue17]

I got my skins glued to my bow,, I'm sure I made a few mistakes.   1st question is when you get two skins do they sometimes not match after glued on? one limb seems much brighter than the other, like one was sprayed with gloss and one sprayed with flat.

another thing is now that the skins are glued on and I coated them twice with spray on varythane the backs of the limbs don't feel smooth they feel prickly, do you guys do a final sanding to smooth the backs,,, is this normal?

this is a 1st time experiment for me so if I messed up fine I'm sure the bow will still shoot and its an old work horse that had a old worn finish on the back anyway..

[Dan Landis]

Were the scales removed from both skins, if not one would look duller than the other.  I usually use Tru oil for a finish, two or three coats then a light sanding to remove the high spots, then a few more coats of tru oil followed by a light spraying of a satin poly.

[Tajue17]

yes the 1st set the one that doesn't seem as bright I soaked for maybe 20 minutes, the 2nd set I soaked for over a 1/2 hr.   both sets seemed to be giving up the scales but they seemed to be coming out of the second set a lot more or should I say a lot more at a time when I scraped an area.

someone locally said they would of let them soak for an hour in warm water but Paul Brunners instructions didn't say warm water and never mention a soaking time frame only till they softened up.

Im still happy I got it done and can't wait to try it on one of my selfbows but before I mess with my selfbows I want to be sure I'm doing everything correctly.

[Pat B]

The scales need to come off. I've had my best luck removing them with the skins are dry by lightly scraping or using duct tape like a lint remover, blotting along the skin. The dried scales will stick to the tape. The pattern of the skins is in the scale scars and not the scales themselves. Also, you'll never get the back smooth when snake skins are added. The texture of the skins won't allow it but you can get a nice finish on them. I do like Dan suggested with Tru-Oil and a final spray of satin poly to cut the shine.

[Bob at Work]

you can lightly sand with very fine sand paper or even fine steel wool, but follow the scales when doing it.  Afterwards another coat of finish will help.  I usually don't bother and kind of like the natural feel.

[Bowjunkie]

I know what you're talking about. I had a few skins do that. Like the very tip of the 'scales' curled straight up when the finish dried. Not much, just the tiniest bit, but enough to feel very rough/prickly. There's only so much you can do. Some skins do it and some don't. You can sand a little, but be super careful because it's easy to screw them up. Smooth it just a wee bit, then spray another coat, and live with it.

[ranger 3]

If you keep putting heavy coats on, letting each of them dry it will smooth them pretty good.

[Tajue17]

thanks again for the tips