Help staining my hickory bow

[Strongbow88]

I am now presently in the tillering stage and there are some things I am not sure of. The type of finish I am planing on using is deer fat. I want to stain  my bow darker for hunting and I am not sure what to use. I have read about using walnut oil but I dont know where to get any.
If you have any tips I would really appreciate your help. Thank you!   

[welch2]

Not sure if it's what you are talking about, but a dark black stain is made from crushed walnut husks .It has to wear off your hands.

Since you are using deer fat ,I guess you want to stay primitive? Berry juices , and wood shavings cooked down (like osage) make good dyes too.  Are you going to bone in the deer fat?

Ralph

[M-P]

Hi,  I don't have a lot of experience with hickory.  I tried using regular wood stain on two bows, but got almost no penetration and very light color.  One bow I stained with brown leather dye applied and lightly sanded.   It has a nice dark color and looks good under a Tung oil finish, but it does show scratches.  I saw a hickory bow today that had a heat treated back, which gave a nice mottled appearance.  If you're feeling artistic you could paint the back of your bow , as many west coast tribes did, or even try a camo effect. 
Hopefully others with more experience can give additional suggestions.   Ron

[Hillbilly]

Get some black walnut hulls (not the shell, but the husk part that's green right now), let them dry out until they turn black, then moisten and rub on the bow. Works great.

[bobnewboy]

Definitely wear gloves if you're going to use walnut extracts. DOnt ask me how I know.......

[cowboy]

Ifn ya don't mind treading off the primitive path a little, Rit dye from the grocery store works great (on the laundry isle). Goes on flat and dry, and dries fast - I tried store bought stain before, never again.

[adb]

Hi,
I've had good luck on hickory with leather dye. I know it's not primitive, but it sure works well. I dyed a hickory backing on a maple bellied Holmegaard bow recently. The customer wanted it "very dark brown", so I mixed dark brown and black, and it came out great.
It doesn't add any waterproofness, so you need to add oil or poly finish on top.

[Hillbilly]

Yep, rit works well, too. These are both stained with rit:

[Pat B]

One of my favorite primitive finishes for a hickory bow is ground charcoal dust mixed with bear grease and hand rubbed in. The grain, especially on the belly, looks cool and it eliminates the bright white on the back. Bear grease, and probably other animal fats, will give a good water proof finish, even though you will have to rub more in occasionally.    Pat

[Strongbow88]

Thank you all for the help.The charcoal dust mixed with bear grease sounds perfect, will it be ok to use deer fat thats all I have.
                                       
                                                     Thank you again

[Pat B]

I've never used deer fat but I don't see why you couldn't.  You may want to render it out first so it is easier to apply.    Pat

[Strongbow88]

What do you mean render?   

[Hillbilly]

Rendering is basically just heating it up to extract the pure fat. You can put it in a bit of water so that it doesn't scorch-the fat will rise to the top. And Pat's right, the charcoal looks great on whitewood, I've done some arrows like that and like the way it looks.

[Strongbow88]

Thank you all thats just what I was looking for it sounds perfect.