NG with Birch Bark and snakeskin backing questions.

[AngelDeVille]

New guy here! I was reffered here from the TradGang forums, and have gotten into archery with my 9 year old son since November of last year.While I haven't gotten into building my own bow yet, I am a do-it-yerselfer and I have a few questions for the experts.

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 protect it 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, after applying the backing.

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.

Once backing the bow with either material I plan to then seal it with more shellac.

And just for fun, If I decide to used leather as a wrap for backing or belly, what is the procedure for this? and how is the leather cared for?

If I'm off on any of my steps I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

[AngelDeVille]

Any thoughts?

[JW_Halverson]

I bought a Kassai Magyar Sport bow at a pawn shop for $45 years back.  It had water stains on the red leather and a few scratches.  I told the guy that the water damage made the bow unshootable (I was dumb enough to think it might actually be horn and sinew, not effing-glass) so I got it for a song. 

Unless you are trying to historically re-create a period in time and/or a historical character, your choice in finishing out the bow is purely up to your imagination!  I think a set of snakewrappers would look incredible on the bow.  But then, so would sturgeon skin, turtle skin, carp skin, or even a bunch of bullfrog hides if you got the patience to blend them together. 

As for the yarn siyahs and the wrap....are you going to be wrapping the transitions from limb to siyah?  Is the wrap for aesthetics or is it functionally there to add strength?  If it is just for looks, I would strongly advise you wrap with the lightest material and use only enough glue to get the tag ends to stay put.  ANY nonfunctional weight added to a bow limb takes away from the performance and adds to hand shock on release. 

Since I don't know what the limbs are composed of, or what the final choice of limb covering might be, I really can't say what glue to use. 

[AngelDeVille]

It is a wood and glass bow, so the skins and wrapping will be mostly cosmetic but also for camouflage.

The bow will be filling the freezer as well as punching paper.

I'm not trying to emulate any time period but I do want an authentic Hunnish/Persian/Mongolian look.

I imagine the birchbark and skins have about and equal effect on the bow, and if I can find a piece of bark to cover each limb in one piece I would prefer it, over the snakeskin. Especially if I can get it for free. Did I mention I'm also a cheapskate?

I have this cotton butchers twine that is light and covers well, but it is a little boring. I may dye it a red or blue color and then use an amber shellac to mute the color. Or if I find a yarn I like I'll thin out the strands and shellac the same way. Neither way would add too much bulk to the bow.

[AngelDeVille]

This is the cotton twine in action on my longbow....



This is similar to what I'm picturing for my finished bow

[tom sawyer]

I used cotton thread and Titebond to wrap the siyahs on a bow I made.  It was a fairly heavy thread like one would use for sewing jeans.  Available at Walmart or any place with sewing stuff.  Plenty of colors to choose from.  Anything larger would just be adding unnecessary mass.

With just a little overlap I'm sure the birch bark wouldn't show gaps.  Its thin enough that the area wouldn't be significantly thicker.  If it is then just cut it straight and butt it together.  its not going to shrink on a glass backing so what you see when you glue is pretty much what you get.

[AngelDeVille]

I'll look for that thread, I do have some similar thread that says it's for sewing on buttons. it has a nice feel to it.

Titebond is a wood glue correct? Would it have enough flex to use on the limbs?

[tom sawyer]

Any thread will work, the slightly thicker stuff just takes less time to wrap. 

Yes Titebond is used all the time in bowyery in applications where flexing occurs.  I just used it to apply snakeskins to one bow and rawhide to another.

[AngelDeVille]

Thanks! we haven't gotten to the point of builing our own bows yet so I haven't researched the glues used yet.

I was also concerned with using the wrong type of glue and having a reaction with the finish.

[Marc St Louis]

This is a glass bow and I don't believe that TB will work.  You should go back to TradGang as they have people there that work with glass bows and they may be able to give you better advice.  PA deals strictly with wood

[JW_Halverson]

To maybe refine the point, we do talk f-glass.  Just not in the Bows section.  Maybe the thread should be moved to "Around the Campfire". 

Would a Moderator care to move this topic to a more appropriate category?

[AngelDeVille]

I still need to add the snakeskins that are on the way and leather wrap the handle, and wrap the sayas, but I really wanted to see it in action so I made a quick video..... I just love the look of a horsebow at full draw....

http://youtu.be/SuZH5w3Mum4

[AngelDeVille]

I do have snakeskins on the way, and still haven't found a source for birch bark locally (living in the desert has it's disadvantages).

In the mean time I have been shooting the bow a lot, and today I was going to make horn silencers/string bridge, but as I was shuffling through the garage I came across some leather that wanted to be put to use....

[AngelDeVille]

I still have a little shaping and smoothing to do but here she is strung....

[mullet]

I'ved covered a glass one like that with Eastern Diamond back skin. I used contact cement and then sprayed the skin with Polyurethane to seal it. I wrapped the ends with silk thread at the handle and siyahs and then soaked them in super glue.  Worked great.