What Finish Gives that Shine?

[Roy]

You know me Keenan

[toomanyknots]

I like the shine too. I burnish the entire bow, and then buff with pure beeswax. Sometimes before the beeswax, I will add a coat of pure tung oil. I find oil finishes can really add alot of weight to the bow. So most of the time I will do just a light coat of beeswax, (without the hair dryer) and end up getting exceptable protection, a nice looking finish, and all without adding too much extra weight as an oil finish sometimes will. I've never used poly on a bow before, I hate the smell of it. You have to buff the shine up alot on a beeswaxed bow though.

[swimbill]

My favorite finish for both bows and furniture I make - equal parts high gloss poly (it is clear) boiled linseed oil, solvent ( I like turpentine)  apply with cloth in thin coats.  Buff with steel wool to reduce any shine

[dragonman]

one part tung oil...one part natural turpentine and one part poly varnish......apply with rag and polish down with 'brasso' after one week....east to aplly ,good finnish with some shine but not too much

[DavidV]

I'm gonna have to try the oil and poly mixture. I got boiled linseed oil for the first time and was amzed at the drying time... thin coats from now on.  I checked out a gunstock finishing book from the 1940's and it has great information about the old finishes.

[Slackbunny]

Tru oil seems to be the general consensus. I'll give that a try first. As always thanks for the quick and informed answers, this site is second to none.

[missilemaster]

you cant get a smooth gloss finnish if you dont sand your bow with progressively finer grit all the way up to 800. For a gloss finish, I use 10+ coats of tung oil. I like tung oil because its thin and will penetrate easier.

[Bryce]

Tru oil is a combination of natural oils. All you guys out there mixing up your own oil finishes are just making Tru oil

[twilightandmist]

for a smooth, shiny finish, i sand my bows to 400 grit, then glass them and apply a Boiled Linseed Oil finish. but most of my bows i dont go past 200 or 250 grit before i glass them and oil them, so they shimmer, but they dont shine and attract attention.

[Roy]

If you guys want a shiny bow, just make a glass bow...

[Ifrit617]

I achieve that finish with about 5 to 6 coats of tru-oil. I personally like a glossy bow for show and use nylon camo limb sleeves to hunt.

Jon

[Bryce]

If you guys want a shiny bow, just make a glass bow...

You watch your mouth!!! Lol 
Maybe with a chromed bow you can get that 'deer in the headlights' effect? Haha
Would that be considered spot lighting? Haha

[Roy]

LOL Scott:)