# Copperhead hat band



## Deerslayer13 (Nov 14, 2018)

I’ve always wanted to make a hat band out of a copperhead. What is the best way to go about de-scaling, cleaning, and tying on a hat. Any information or steps on how to make a hat band out of a copperhead skin would be greatly appreciated.


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## Mr Bya Lungshot (Nov 14, 2018)

Don’t scale it. Skin it and tan it by tacking tight to a board scales down. Use borax and salt. Nic know’s better than I.
Just don’t scale it at all. Not one.


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## Nicodemus (Nov 14, 2018)

Since a hatband doesn`t flex like a belt will, just skin the snake, tack it meat side up on a piece of cardboard, cover it good with 20 Mule team Borax, rub it in good, and put it out of the weather and out of reach of varmints for a few days. When it`s dry, brush the borax off, measure and cut it two inches longer than the diameter of the hat. fold the skin along the belly scales on both sides, and fold each end over and sew it together. A good width would be an inch to inch and a half for the actual band. Slide the skin down over the hat with the lap at the back, or, use a small section of the tail end of the skin to make a decorative cover over the lap. In that case, put the lap on the side of the hat, about where you would attach a feather, if you desire one. 

Ever once in a while, give the skin a wipedown  with Armorall like you use on the dash of your truck. I`ve got a diamondback rattlesnake hatband that still looks as good as the day I made it, over 40 years ago.


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## KentuckyHeadhunter (Nov 15, 2018)

I use a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and glycerin and let it soak for a couple weeks in a half gallon mason jar, shaking it up every day.  I like the method of rolling the skin onto a large diameter stick after pulling it out and let it dry that way.  Lotta videos online about this too.


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## Deerslayer13 (Nov 15, 2018)

Nicodemus said:


> Since a hatband doesn`t flex like a belt will, just skin the snake, tack it meat side up on a piece of cardboard, cover it good with 20 Mule team Borax, rub it in good, and put it out of the weather and out of reach of varmints for a few days. When it`s dry, brush the borax off, measure and cut it two inches longer than the diameter of the hat. fold the skin along the belly scales on both sides, and fold each end over and sew it together. A good width would be an inch to inch and a half for the actual band. Slide the skin down over the hat with the lap at the back, or, use a small section of the tail end of the skin to make a decorative cover over the lap. In that case, put the lap on the side of the hat, about where you would attach a feather, if you desire one.
> 
> Ever once in a while, give the skin a wipedown  with Armorall like you use on the dash of your truck. I`ve got a diamondback rattlesnake hatband that still looks as good as the day I made it, over 40 years ago.



Thanks for the info, now all I have to do is find a copperhead and I’m all set.


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## Tugboat1 (Nov 15, 2018)

Is there an adhesive suitable to fold the snake skin with instead of sewing?


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## tad1 (Nov 16, 2018)

Last year I came across a car hit copperhead and only the head was flattened, a perfect specimen for skinning!  I brought it home and using small scissors carefully trimmed right down the middle belly scutes all the way down the snake and peeled the skin right off.  This is easily accomplished although some care should be taken not to tear the skin.  The next step was to remove any flesh or fatty tissue from the skin prior to preserving or tanning.  This isn't very difficult either, I used a dull butter knife and it went pretty quickly. Most of the fat seems to be right along the belly scales so scraping diagonally toward the edge of the skin will scrape this right off.  Again be careful not to damage or tear the skin.  With the help of the internet I decided on using a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and glycerin both available at walmart or drug stores in the beauty section.  I loosely rolled and completely submerged the skin in this solution for several days, I think I left it in the solution for maybe 4-7 days and did give the jar a gentle shake once a day just to ensure good even contact.  The next step was to remove from the solution, let most of the excess solution drain off, and then find a round dowel, tree limb, or broom stick that you can wrap the skin around.  You want to start wrapping the skin around the stick while stretching the skin as you go.  This step will remove any  wrinkles and result in a nice uniform and workable skin.  Leave the skin in an area with good airflow out of any direct sunlight and let it dry out some.  Then you can unroll the skin and remove the scales if you choose.  I found that with this tanning method, the scales become loose with many falling off so I gently scraped off all the scales as I didn't want them falling off on my finished work.  You can wipe a bit more glycerin on the tanned skin if you choose to but now you should have a beautifully preserved supple and workable skin. For the hatband I found some vegetable tanned cowhide strips, trimmed the skin to size, and used barge contact cement to adhere the skin to the leather.  I used wax paper as my work surface to keep the adhesive and skin from sticking to everything.  

Now the skin was hat ready so I used a concho to connect the hatband ends and topped it off with a nice gobbler feather.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Nov 16, 2018)

Excellent job and a fine tutorial.  I've got a couple copperhead skins cured in the same way and bagged waiting a a worthy project.  I skinned a big one last year and I've got it displayed under glass on my office desk.


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## tad1 (Nov 16, 2018)

Here is another I just finished up for my summer hat.  A canebrake that my buddy hit plowing food plots.  I'm waiting on a good sized snake to use for a belt.  I've also seen skin used for pen turning projects and to back traditional bows with.  All cool project ideas.


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## Anvil Head (Nov 19, 2018)

Deerslayer13 said:


> I’ve always wanted to make a hat band out of a copperhead. What is the best way to go about de-scaling, cleaning, and tying on a hat. Any information or steps on how to make a hat band out of a copperhead skin would be greatly appreciated.


pm sent


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## NCHillbilly (Nov 19, 2018)

Nice work! I love snakeskin.


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