Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Lee Lobbestael on January 25, 2015, 10:18:40 am
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I went ice fishing yesterday and decided to try to back a bow with some northern pike skin. I skinned and fleshed it and then scrubbed it with soap and water to remove oil. Where do I go from here? I have never backed a bow with fish skin and i'm not sure how to prepare it. Has anyone on here tried pike skin before? I hope it look good
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Do it just like a snake skin or rawhide.
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Lee,
You should be aware that pike skin is going to dry in shades of grey. It will not even remotely look like the beautiful iridescent green/gold of the fresh fish. That's how come the taxidermy folks have to completely paint over fish mounts.
Cant say how many times I tried to avoid the grey thing. I believe it would be very beautiful, but trying to paint the beauty back in wont ever be quite the same. Hey but it just one old mans opinion.
rich
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I wonder if a good soak in glycerin will maintain the color, i tan snakeskins in it and it really brings out the color
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Tack the skins to a board and let them dry. Tack them nice and straight
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Huh yeah I kinda thought in the back of my head that they would lose their color. Oh well I'll dry em and see what happens. Maybe they will still look cool
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I tried a dozen times last summer but it seems much of the color is in the scales themselves.
The best one was just a dull drab olive.
Too bad really, those green and gold colors would look great on a bow.
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Dye the back of the bow green first, It should at least make it look a bit better.
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Had a student try this one time. He rinsed the Pike skins with Aesetone (scaled) and then tacked out on a board to dry. When dry, He put them on a Osage stave - just like You would a snake skin. Don't remember what He used for a finish, but the colors came out pretty close to the natural hue. He named the Bow the "Fish Stick" ;). Bob