# untanned copperhead skin



## ZanderPommo (Jan 13, 2010)

well I have dispelled the rumor of not being able to use untanned snakeskins folks!
just make sure they are thin! like paper thin, and that seems to work great
the rattler was tanned, the copperhead slim wasn't
enjoy












next to 2 sierra blanks


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## rjwolfe3 (Jan 13, 2010)

Very nice!


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## CSue (Jan 13, 2010)

Nice!  Very nice Copperhead pen.


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## maxman400 (Jan 13, 2010)

Both Look Great.


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## el_d (Jan 13, 2010)

Hopefully the skin doesnt start to decay. 

Was it from a snake you skined? I lose alot of color on my skins when I tan them, This may be promising if it holds up....


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 13, 2010)

they will not decay they were skinned, scraped and dried before i glued them up, the guy i got them from probably had them lying around for a year or more.
but man that would be  _gross_ lol


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 13, 2010)

i know plenty of guys who have these in abundance because they use them for backing bows(traditional/primitive archery)
the ones i cannot save for a bow (too small) get put on pens:biggrin:


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## just_call_me_dusty (Jan 13, 2010)

Nice job!! Thanks for sharing.  If you have some to spare, let me know what you need for them.


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 13, 2010)

sending PM


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## el_d (Jan 14, 2010)

Sha-weet!!!!

So all the guy did was skinned them? Did he salt them or a glycerin rub??

And here I've been tanning the dang things........ You know how hard it is to get the snake to put those little goggles on?:biggrin:

Would love to see those in a few months.......


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## johncrane (Jan 14, 2010)

Both pens look great! the copper head would look awesome on a bigger kit too.:biggrin:


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## Bree (Jan 14, 2010)

The pens look great and you did a really nice job casting.  Good work!
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## Stick Rounder (Jan 14, 2010)

Cool.  Very nice pens.


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## Daniel (Jan 14, 2010)

Nice job. For the general masses, Keep in mind that preserving a skin and "Tanning" (meaning to turn to leather) are not the same thing. You can stop the decay of a skin of any kind fairly easily. Tanning it is a long and messy process.


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 14, 2010)

yes Daniel is right
you know those rawhide bones your dog is always chewin on? its called raw-hide for a reason:biggrin:
not sure if he salted them, i don't think so...
its so very thin that when you scrape it clean its probably very fast to dry...

with thick skins (most rattler, cobra, whatever) should probably be tanned to become soft enough to easily manipulate.


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## jbostian (Jan 14, 2010)

Those look great.

Jamie


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## NewLondon88 (Jan 14, 2010)

Lupe, I'm just imagining you rubbing lotion on the little sucker..   HA!

Looks good, Zander.  Nice job.


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 14, 2010)

thanks Charlie


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## el_d (Jan 14, 2010)

Thanks Zander, and my wife thanks you too. Now I can get the frozen snakes out of the freezer.  I have made fiberglass recurves and think it would look cool with some coral skin on the limbs. Any info on the proccess of backing a bow with them?

Any info Daniel on preserving the skin????

And thanks Charlie for thinking about me.:wink:


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 14, 2010)

sorry I said traditional archer but i should have said primitive archer.
they're used to back wooden longbows, usually applied wet, with hide glue to tightbond (III works best)

mostly used on osage bows

ive seen some under fiberglass but no idea how you might do it. id thin just put it in your jig like you would any lam w/epoxy or Urac and fill your pressure hose?


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## Karin Voorhis (Jan 14, 2010)

WOW!!!! You are truly blowing my mind with your great talent and so fast you are catching on to all of this. Amazing great pens. I am sure that new lathe you want will be coming your way soon.


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 14, 2010)

yeah hopefully:biggrin:


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## Daniel (Jan 14, 2010)

el_d said:


> Any info Daniel on preserving the skin????



I stopped a deer skin from decaying once with a mixture of Borax and formaldahyde. keep in mind that was an extreme case since it had already started rotting.
You can just use salt for less urgent needs but make sure you get it really well coated. then let it set and do it again just to make sure. My favorite is to soak the skin in borax and water for several hours. the Borax is easy to get since they sell it at grocery stores.

I forget how much borax per gallon of water but if you search tanning leather on the net you will get several sites that have various methods and recipes. heck you can even soak the skin in water that has wood ashes added to it. Borax and water is sort of like preserving and washing it at the same time. the skin will dry hard as wood from this. you can soften it again by simply soaking it in water though if you ever get the unction to try and tan it.

I have been reading about making bows the last few days and really have the itch to give it a try. I prefer the look of the recurve but also take the warning that they are hard to make seriously.


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## ZanderPommo (Jan 14, 2010)

if you mean wood bows then yes try a longbow first.
if you skip to a recurve you could (probably will) fail as it is your first try and it will turn you off of the hobby (bad)
if you are serious and you want detailed instructions on building a wood bow for $5 that is hunting weight or target weight shoot me a PM and I'll send you a link:wink:


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## wdcav1952 (Jan 14, 2010)

el_d said:


> sha-weet!!!!
> 
> So all the guy did was skinned them? Did he salt them or a glycerin rub??
> 
> ...




omg!!! Rotflmao!!!!


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## el_d (Jan 15, 2010)

I appriciate your help fellow turning poeple


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## Ligget (Jan 15, 2010)

Awesome, I love Copperhead blanks!!


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