I am going to be putting skins on my next bow. I have done one other one, and I was not happy with the results. My first experience I used diamondback skins I purchased from 3Rivers. The skins were Western diamondback and were about 36" a piece. I laid the skins out and used masking tape to pull off the scales. I soaked it a few minutes and then squeegied off the excess water with my fingers. I used Titebond 2 and carefully laid a piece of plastic wrap, then wrapped with an ace bandage. I had heard several people say to get a really smooth finish, to use thin superglue to basically fill in all the imperfections. I used a small brush to apply a thin coat of superglue. I finished the bow wipe-on Poly, but the snakeskin is still rough and textured, and doesn't feel like it even has any finish on it. However, the belly and handle of the bow has a nice luster like the Poly has done in the past.
I have seen pics of some bows here that have skins, and the finish looks like glass, even over the skin. How do you achieve this look?? What type of finish, technique, etc. do you use???
