Thin reptile's skin for bow grip

[franciscus]

Recently, out of curiosity, I have bought one sea snake skin from Indonesian supplier. Very thin, (0.1 mm max) , very strong and extremely good looking. He offers the skins of the various reptiles for affordable prices and I asked him to tell me if he has the thicker skins for sale. He answered that the thickest skin in his assortment is the python's skin with the thickness of about 0.3 mm. I was told that the optimal thickness of the leather intended to be used as a bow grip is about 0.5 mm, so I would like to know if there is some method for use of really thin, good looking skin as a bow grip. As a cover of something, maybe? Of what? Thanks, cheers, Franc

[Dwight Brown]

Perhaps backing the thin stuff with some thin leather?  I know that customs is on the look out for reptile skins sort of like they are looking for ivory.

 

DLB

[franciscus]

11 minutes ago, Dwight Brown said:

Perhaps backing the thin stuff with some thin leather?  I know that customs is on the look out for reptile skins sort of like they are looking for ivory.

 

DLB

I thought about it - backing the skin with the other leather and glue that composite onto the bow or gluing the "other" leather onto the bow and covering it with the thin skin, maybe the second variant seems better (analogy with the repair of the bow's tip). Regarding the customs', I had not any problem - OK, the skin has been sent as an letter, maybe that kind of parcel pass under the horizon..

[Dwight Brown]

You could use the thin leather as part of the skiving for the grip.  As to the customs thing I am not sure but I know it has been a red flag.  I live on the border and can ask somebody.  Just sat on a federal grand jury this morning!

 

DLB

[franciscus]

1 hour ago, Dwight Brown said:

You could use the thin leather as part of the skiving for the grip.

Please, a few more words

[Violadamore]

Ummm.... anyone doing this sort of thing would be expected by leather suppliers to have leatherworking tools and the skill to use them.  They supply raw materials, not finished goods.  I'd apply the sea snake skin to a piece of thicker leather, like a wood veneer, and work from there.

Skiving is a basic skill to make leather thinner, or to shape the edges of a workpiece.  http://www.shoeschool.com/shoeschool/downloads/pdf/Skiving_Leather_by_Hand_ShoeSchool.pdf

In making bow wraps, you do this very precisely to leave the lapped edge joint the same thickness as the rest of the wrap, as well as to taper the ends.

I get exotic leathers for my various projects from Pan-American Leather in NYC.  Readily available on eBay, and good quality.. http://stores.ebay.com/aj-skins?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

[Conor Russell]

Lizard skin is very hard wearing  and looks good. If the skin is too thin you can build the  thickness with glued paper  and put a skin on top. 

I've never used  snake  skin, ( St. Patrick  threw them all out of Ireland  some time ago) but if it is very thin, you might  try going  around  twice with it. Just make the first  lap a whisper  narrower and skive the edges well.

[franciscus]

8 hours ago, Violadamore said:

Ummm.... anyone doing this sort of thing would be expected by leather suppliers to have leatherworking tools and the skill to use them.  They supply raw materials, not finished goods.  I'd apply the sea snake skin to a piece of thicker leather, like a wood veneer, and work from there.

Skiving is a basic skill to make leather thinner, or to shape the edges of a workpiece.  http://www.shoeschool.com/shoeschool/downloads/pdf/Skiving_Leather_by_Hand_ShoeSchool.pdf

In making bow wraps, you do this very precisely to leave the lapped edge joint the same thickness as the rest of the wrap, as well as to taper the ends.

VdA, I know what the skiving is, even have a tools and know how to do that  I have no problem with the leather I usually use - lamb skin or goat skin, but these skins are much thicker and softer. I saw a few bows with the very thin grip from some similar beast over the whalebone winding and the feeling was not very good - hard under the finger and one can see and feel the winding under the skin. Regarding the laminating, I already tried it, but with wrong glue: with neoprene contact cement, the structure delaminates rather easily. Intend to try PVAc. Do you have some proposal regarding the glue?

9 hours ago, Violadamore said:

I get exotic leathers for my various projects from Pan-American Leather in NYC.  Readily available on eBay, and good quality.. http://stores.ebay.com/aj-skins?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Seems that you purchased whole stock  That eBay store is empty.

[franciscus]

7 hours ago, Conor Russell said:

Lizard skin is very hard wearing  and looks good. If the skin is too thin you can build the  thickness with glued paper  and put a skin on top. 

I've never used  snake  skin, ( St. Patrick  threw them all out of Ireland  some time ago) but if it is very thin, you might  try going  around  twice with it. Just make the first  lap a whisper  narrower and skive the edges well.

Thanks a lot. The masking tape crossed my mind already - still thinking about it. Regarding the wrapping the skin twice, the skin I have is so thin that I can do that four or five times to reach some 0.5 mm of final thickness - think I should try. Cheers, Franc

[Conor Russell]

I'd  avoid  using masking  tape. It turns very soft and  sticky, especially if the player has sweaty  hands. 

You can use telephone book paper, wet with glued.  It will shrink  on to the bow as it dries. Cut the strip with a taper of a mm or two, so that when you wind it on to the stick, there's a little  taper on the  ends. 

Otherwise  you can use gummed butchers paper. It's much  quicker, as you don't have to  wait for the glue to dry. Again, cut a little taper, so that the foundation  is there for the shape of the  thumbleather. 

[Violadamore]

6 hours ago, franciscus said:

VdA, I know what the skiving is, even have a tools and know how to do that  I have no problem with the leather I usually use - lamb skin or goat skin, but these skins are much thicker and softer. I saw a few bows with the very thin grip from some similar beast over the whalebone winding and the feeling was not very good - hard under the finger and one can see and feel the winding under the skin. Regarding the laminating, I already tried it, but with wrong glue: with neoprene contact cement, the structure delaminates rather easily. Intend to try PVAc. Do you have some proposal regarding the glue?

Seems that you purchased whole stock  That eBay store is empty.

On glue- https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/tanners-bond-contact-cement

 

On the eBay store link, it works for me and pulls up 1658 items.  Try going to this item, and work back to the store http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anaconda-Skin-Matte-Grey-/311572455267

[franciscus]

Conor & VdA, thank you very much for the advice. I will try and post a few pictures, but only if it finishes well