Right, I've forgot that root node . With the root node in place do I have to redo all the weighting again or can I preserve it somehow? And generally is it better to have the left and right arm respectively in one mesh item or both arms in the same mesh item? (I'm new to rigging) thx for your help
You probably want a root node that joins the two arms, rather than having two separate skeletons for the arms. Then bind the mesh to the whole skeleton.