Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: stuckinthemud on March 12, 2021, 07:23:23 am
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I have been offered some shed snake-skin. Just wondering if there is any use for them, and if they can be used would they need to be processed in any way before they could be used? I was thinking of maybe staining the back of a bow and then gluing the shed over this?
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I've seen a bow that Kyle Roberts made with sheds...he will likely post when he sees this thread...but it can be done.
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I usually stick an arrow thru them and hang em. Had a bunch in AZ, they loved my rock piles. If this works I'd love to try it. John
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There have been a few bows backed with shed snake skins here on PA. Not much prep work but they are fragile so caution is needed when applying.
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I tried an experiment with a set of rat snake sheds over stained wood. The snake pattern didn’t show up well through the sheds and the overall look just didn’t meet my expectations. With that said, I have seen some Python sheds that show the pattern well and look really good on a bow. I will have to give the sheds another go with a different snake species and see how it goes.
-Taylor
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I am just guessing but if you painted the back of the bow a light color, white even,, the pattern would show up better,
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With shed skins you will only get a subtle design from the outline of the scales. Even without color or a pattern it can be attractive but subtle.
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I’ve done it with my python sheds and have recently learned how to make them durable after being glued down. Prep work is pretty minimal. Using scissors I cut off the head and tail then cut up the belly so it’ll lay flat. Then I dampen some paper towels, lay the skin on t he paper towel and fold it up. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so to rehydrate. Once it’s rehydrated you can dye the shed to make the colors pop if you’d like. I attached a picture of a few different colors I experimented with on one shed. I tested the colors diluted with alcohol and water. The alcohol worked best. The full sized skin is from a large banded patterned ball python. It is just draped over a black locust bow. I glue them down with TB3. I spread out a layer of glue, lay the skin on the glue, then dampen my fingers with water and roll the excess glue out from under the skin, next I spread a layer over the top of the skin and wash off the excess with a wet paper towel. This step seems to soak the glue into t he skin and garden it up well. T. Last two bows I did like this turned out well. The last pictures is a persimmon bow with python sheds. The pattern definitely shows better on a lighter colored background.
Kyle
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Those look awesome Kyle 👍🏻
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They do look great, not sure I fully understand though. Do you just wash the whole shed in one colour?
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Yup. Those pictures are just one color. I make the dye by squirting as much alcohol as I think I need into a bowl then I add a few drops of dip pen until I’m happy with the color and dunk the shed in. Once hydrated you can wad up the skin into the bowl to get it to fit without hurting it. Then I lay it into a damp paper towel and it’ll soak up the extra dye that’ll leach off. While also keeping it hydrated enough to use. The patterns you see are what the snake already had. This is the girl that shed came from.
Kyle
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That's awesome, which colour did you find the most effective?
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Out of the handful of colors I have. Green and yellow both seemed to do pretty decent. Better than the brown and black
Kyle
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Definitely going to give this a go. Thankyou.