Working with beaver tail

[Overspined]

I was going to post how I prep a veg tanned beaver tail to make a bow handle wrap, but then I saw them for a really cheap price all ready to go on Three Rivers site....man for what it takes to prep em, way cheaper overall to buy it finished!

[ztontonz]

I think you should still share it. Nothing like doing it yourself

[Autumnarcher]

Yes definitely post it. I have about 6 beaver tails in the freezer right now, and want to use them for bows.

[Trenton G.]

Please do! My brother caught two this past weekend and asked if I wanted the tails. I'd love to put them on a bow but don't know how to prep them.

[Overspined]

Ok, but I don’t tan them myself, I’ve just bought them veg tanned. Basically to begin with, you have to know that the tails that you buy come just tanned, ready to work, but they are typically very fragile around the outside edges. So when you order them, keep that in mind for making sure it’ll finish the right size. You really only get one bow grip per tail. But, you’ll be able to get many arrow shelf rests from the left over. This stuff is very tough, makes great shelf material for any bow. Measure the circumference of your grip and buy a tail that is long enough & wide enough. You’ll want a buffer of about an inch around the outside of the tail to be able to make it uniform thickness.

[Overspined]

I’ve wrapped bows around with the tail width wise and length wise. I’ll post a picture of each you can see the grain. Wrapping the tail in the picture attached with the black grip seems to be the easiest to have a tail wide enough/long enough I’m sticking with that myself very few tail tails are wide enough to wrap around a handle of any depth.

[Overspined]

Here’s my skive tool and working the thickness down, the key is to go slow and not cut too deep. This does take a little feel which you can practice on scrap leather. I’d buy a piece of crappy scrap if you’ve never done it and work it down for experience.  Maybe running a sander and applying some even pressure would work too I’d go 36 grit to start. It’ll plug the paper though.

[Overspined]

As it gets to the “right” thickness you’ll notice it bends nicely and you can check the thickness

[Overspined]

So you can see at that point I’ve cut rough dimensions so I’m not wasting energy skiving the base of the tail, which is very thick and takes more effort to thin.

I skive a thin yet strong part of the tail really thin for the arrow shelf material and then I have a die cutter or scissors and cut your shelf plate the desired shape. I like some to tuck under the grip material.

Then I cut the shape to fit the grip, this stuff DOES NOT stretch so don’t cut too much off. If you want to use the soak and wrap method that’s fine too. But basically get it really close and then dye it.  I dye both sides.  Let it dry and you may have to rough up the back side a bit for better glue adherence. When stitching make sure you’re not pulling too tight as you can tear the beaver. You really want to have it align correctly. Trim a tiny bit as you need to. I use barge cement, follow directions, and place the grip, then I lace it up.

[Overspined]

If you use a really good dye, you don’t really need finish applied. However there are some finishes you can apply if desired. Just make sure you’re not getting finish on the glue side or making the grip slippery. I’ll have to look and see what kind of dye I use. It’s really great stuff. Penetrates well, doesn’t bleed once dry. Covers very uniformly. I’ve tries several dyes and this is the best I’ve found.

[monterey]

I warm them up with a hair dryer and rub sno seal in.   It leaves the leather with a sort of sticky grippy effect and also weatherizes it.

[BigJim]

You have to be very careful about tails advertised on line for size.. most places call tales 4"s wide XL and that is really a dink. They are generally very thick and stiff as well.

We sell tails already tanned and dyed for nearly half of what others sell them for. $25 for 4.5"s wide and wider and $18 for tails under that size.

I have done thousands of beaver tail installs and have never needed a tail bigger than 5"s and with most bows, 4" to 4.5"s works fine. This is for recurves, RD longbows or hill bows. Did 6 last night while watching the news.

You did a very nice job on your bow. An advantage in doing veg tanned and then dying it yourself is you can get a more custom color.
BigJim

[monterey]

I gotta clarify on my sno seal comment.  It's referring to veg tanned cow hide.  Not a beaver tail.

[Overspined]

Veg tanned beaver seems to react the same as veg tanned cow hide so I think you’d get the same result Monterrey

[Overspined]

You have to be very careful about tails advertised on line for size.. most places call tales 4"s wide XL and that is really a dink. They are generally very thick and stiff as well.

We sell tails already tanned and dyed for nearly half of what others sell them for. $25 for 4.5"s wide and wider and $18 for tails under that size.

I have done thousands of beaver tail installs and have never needed a tail bigger than 5"s and with most bows, 4" to 4.5"s works fine. This is for recurves, RD longbows or hill bows. Did 6 last night while watching the news.

You did a very nice job on your bow. An advantage in doing veg tanned and then dying it yourself is you can get a more custom color.

Thanks, Jim.  Man that’s a good deal on prices too Jim
BigJim