Excellent topic, hope y'all don't mind the bump.
Some random thoughts on finishing:
A bow is a very difficult object to finish. Just finding a way to hold it while you apply a finish can be a challenge. There's nothing like a flat surface on it, everything is curved and there's no place where you do one side, let it dry, then flip it and do the other side; each coat has to be continuous. So any kind of thick finish that would work well on a tabletop will tend to sag, drip, and run on a bow. Also the finish will have to flex with the bow. So the best finishes are ones that can be applied in very thin coats and wiped on with a rag.
The easiest finish I have worked with was Watco Danish oil. This is basically boiled linseed oil with just a touch of varnish. It behaves pretty much like b.l.o., just rub on and rub off. It doesn't get sticky as fast as tru-oil (which to me just seems like wiping varnish...if I try to rub it in like oil it gets sticky and pulls loads of lint off the rag, and leaves marks. I had to wipe it on in smooth continuous strokes just like varnish). But it only has a touch of gloss, too, so that could be a downside. I got the best results rubbing it in with sandpaper up to 1500 grit. It's not exactly glossy, but has a very nice deep luster, and if you look at it from a low angle (like looking down the limbs from the tip) you get a mirror-like reflection. To me that is the ideal surface finish, its classy and understated, but catches the eye and feels like silk to the hand.
I usually don't like to stain wood. A lot of closed-pore woods like birch or maple are difficult to stain evenly, and a bow with all of its contours has lots of end grain showing in different places, and those areas like to stain darker. Stains often "muddy" the wood, especially fine grained ones. Plus having a stain makes my favorite technique of wetsanding with danish oil or b.l.o more difficult since its easy to sand through the stain (although I can get around that by mixing some oil based stain into my danish oil and doing it all in one step). Strongly open-grained woods like ash, oak, and hickory are the best candidates for staining, since it actually helps make the grain more dramatic.
I often use BLO to "stain" woods. On darker woods like ERC, Walnut, and even cherry, BLO brings out the colors very nicely, better than any stain could do. It gives a nice amber glow to white woods, too. It helps pop grain on figured pieces or burls. Most other finishes can be applied over BLO, just let it dry for a week.
If I want a super glossy finish, my favorite is shellac. It's easily marred by water and oils, and especially alcohol, but for a target bow that will be pampered it works well. It doesn't have the plasticky feel of varnish, and is harder than varnish so it will take a much better gloss. It dries to the touch in like two seconds, can be recoated within a couple hours, so you can get on all of your coats in a day or two. Since it dries so fast lint is not an issue, and I've never had a problem with runs and drips (I use a relatively thin 1 lb cut normally). The individual coats merge together into one, unlike varnish where you have a bunch of thin coats sitting on top of each other. That makes it more forgiving when you sand off imperfections, since you won't leave a white witness line where you have gone through a layer like with varnish. Best of all, since its solvent is alcohol, it doesn't have an overpowering smell, and what smell there is disappears quickly. You can finish in your bedroom, or in an apartment. That would be unpleasant with varnish.
Dewaxed shellac also makes an excellent sanding sealer for other finishes. I've read that it is one of the best barriers to water vapor. It certainly makes the wood fibers stiffer and lets you sand the wood smoother. I just put on one coat of 1/2 lb cut in between each grit after 150. It helps to even stain penetration, too.
Other tips:
-use good lighting when doing finishing work. You need light from multiple angles to see all of the little imperfections. Harsh fluorescent lights are very unflattering; if you can make it look good under one of those it will look fantastic under regular light.
-Don't underestimate the satin finish. A perfect glossy finish is so much work, from making the surfaces even and not wavy to getting on a perfect coat...in fact most glossy finishes I've seen were not perfect if you look close enough. A quick rubdown with 0000 steel wool lubed with wax will turn a so-so gloss finish into a perfect satin finish, since the lack of reflection hides most tiny imperfections. The beauty of a satin finish is more in the feel of it than in looking like its been dipped in glass. It's more fitting of a deadly weapon, too...makes it seem more serious somehow.
Well hopefully that helps someone. -Rob
