Snake skin ** Too much finish?

[Little John]

I put a beautiful set of copperheads on the limbs on my take down. Well the riser finally arrived yesterday and I took it out to play. I noticed when I was done shooting that there were 3 places that the skins cracked across the limbs. I'm thinking I may have put to much finish on the skins?? I put the skins on and put several coats of finish on to smooth out the skins. I sanded down to the skin with 220 until they were flat and couldn't feel any rough from where the scales were. Then I drifted a coat over top of that to make them dull. Well, like I said they cracked. I have felt skins on other bows and you can feel the skin, I guess that may be why. My buddy has a set that Bob Morrison put on for him. They aren't flat and smooth either. Anyone know for sure that this is the reason, or did I put them on wrong?? I put them on with titebond II. JOHN

[wingnut]

John,

Did you sand the skins before you applied the finish?  Sometimes the finish will not adhear to the skins.

Mike

[bbassi]

I've done several where I put on enough finish that it looks like the skins are under the glass. I have not had a problem yet (knock on wood). What type of finish did you use and how long did you wait between final coat and stringing/shooting the bow? I use spar urethane and usually wait at least a week (prefer 2 weeks) before flexing the bow. It may be unnecessary but that's what I do.

[Orion]

Did you take the scales off the skins before you varnished?  If not, the scales are likely to move when the bow is drawn causing breaks in the finish.  Normally, 2-4 light coats of spray urathane, or a half-dozen hand rubbed coats of Birchwood Casey would not crack.

[dorris]

did you use skins that were tanned that will make them mess up .

[Little John]

The skins were not tanned, and I did take the scales off. I waited a week after putting the skins on to put the finish on and I did sand lightly before putting Sherwin Williams Water White conversion Varnish on the limbs. The finish was pretty thick on the skins. The limbs sat for almost 6 weeks before the riser arrived. I really messed up now, I tried to sand down to the skins and sanded right through. What a mess! I had to take the skins totally off. Now I'm looking for my second set of copperhead skins. Anyone out there have any? This time it will be a different finish that don't get so hard. I have finished several bows with the SW finish and had no problems. ML Campbell conversion varnish is lots more pliable. JOHN

[wingnut]

"Sherwin Williams Water White conversion Varnish"

We quit using this product because it just would not stick to snakes.

Mike

[Bob Morrison]

Too much of the wrong finish. It has to stretch and flex. maybe your next set will turn out better.

[longbowguy]

I also used spray urethane spar varnish with good results. Several coats. - lbg

[Little John]

OK, How about the ML Campbell?