Removing Tru-oil

[bluegill68]

I have an osage bow that I hurridly finished for hunting season. Now I have more time and would like to remove the tru-oil so I can re-stain the bow. Is there an easy way to accomplish this? or do I just go slow with steel wool as I have when re-working spots?

Thanks Sean

[Pat B]

You can probably scrape it off with light scraping then sand it. Check with the dye after removing it to be sure you have removed it all or it will have a splotchy color instead of smooth coloration.  An acetone wipe after sanding might take care of that though.

[JW_Halverson]

To darken the bow without having to remove the Tru-Oil, just leave it where the sun will hit it.  Osage naturally becomes beautifully aged just by sunlight. 

[bluegill68]

Thanks Pat I'll slowly scrape it down and rework the stain job.

JW "Osage naturally becomes beautifully aged just by sunlight", truer words have never been written but I am trying tio re-do a stain jib that just does not do the bow justice. Ok so it i snot so bad just has some spotches in it that need correction.

Tell me friend where in the Black Hills do you reside? They are a favorite spot of mine.

Sean

[JW_Halverson]

I'm out on the edge of Rapid City, near the fish hatchery, where the bighorns graze in my yard and the mulies rack the living crap outa my cedars and the driveway is paved with turkey crap.  It's rough I tell ya.

[bluegill68]

JW,

We were neighbors at one time for a year and a half I worked at Cleghorn Hatchery and lived in the fast city.

Sean

[Pat B]

I met a guy down in GA that had a cool technique using Tru-Oil. Tru-Oil is linseed oil based and so are oil based stains...get my drift?  He would begin finishing his bows with a few coats to get a smooth surface. Once that was cured he would add another coat of Tru-Oil and let it get tacky. He had different parrerns so with some he would dip a brush in the stain and blot the excess off. Then in a cris-cross pattern swipe the bursh across the tacky Tru-Oil as you work out the limb. This will leave some of the stain to mix with the Tru-Oil in the cris-cross patern. Also a sponge dipped in the stain, blotted dry and blot the sponge down the back leaving it's pattern.
  A good buffing with 0000steelwool will prep the old Tru-Oil finish for whatever treatment you persue.  You might be able to stain the Tru-Oil finish with oil based stain. Do a test first before you try it on your bow.