Oily Osage????

[Easternarcher]

Well, I finished tillering and shooting in of my BBO. Now the finish.....
I sprayed a coat of Tru-Oil over the entire bow well over a week ago and after 3 days it hadn't dried yet, so I used 0000 steel woold and stripped the entire bow. I figured maybe it was too cool in my back room, or the Tru-Oil itself was cold from sitting on the floor.

I warmed the bow and the Tru-oil and tried again. It looked good, and after a few hours I moved it out to the main dining room and hung it from the ceiling with the ceiling fan running for circulation. Well that was Tuesday! here we are at Saturday nite, and the oil has dried on the boo and even over the Cocobolo riser!(Mind you I had put 2 coats of superglue over the Coco) >:(but the Osage belly is still just a wee bit tacky. Too tacky to buff out with steel wool and give another coat!

I had no idea that Osage was this oily, and that's the only answer I can come up with!It's almost as oily as Cocobolo!! I wish I had known that at first. I mayve would have used massey finish or de-greased it better with acetone.

Am I right about this??

[Dano]

I have never had a problem with osage being oily, with any finish. I haven't tried this Tru-oil spray. Does it come in a can? Maybe it wasn't mixed well enough.

[Justin Snyder]

Yes, Osage needs degreased, especially for gluing.  Justin

[Easternarcher]

I have never had a problem with osage being oily, with any finish. I haven't tried this Tru-oil spray. Does it come in a can? Maybe it wasn't mixed well enough.

Yup same as any spray varnish....it's all I can find up here in NEw Brunswick!
I shoke the can again to be sure it was stirred well too. I think with patience, it will dry soon. I didn't think Osage was like this, and this wood has been sitting for a year, before I tillered it out.

[Easternarcher]

Yes, Osage needs degreased, especially for gluing.  Justin

Justin, I tend to degrease everything when gluing, just to be sure. Guess I shoulda done it all before finishing huh?

[kayakfisher]

The very first bow that I built was a hickory and bamboo backed bow , I stained it all with a oil based walnut stain and the thing just wouldn't dry where talking four days later it was still tacky and down right sticky after a week . I finally talked to some Professionals on the matter ,I felt I got some bad stain, was told when you get a certain humidity level its hard for some finishes lacquers , oils  to set or dry I really dint think the Osage is that oily on mine I finally bought a can of minwax hellsmans spar urethane  clear satin and sprayed over the finish within a day the whole mess started setting up and finally dried, whats your humidity levels and do you have vapourisers, air condenser ,dryer vent or something like that going in work area or house

[El Destructo]

Tru Oil is Linseed Oil based....and it has to be able to soak into the Wood in order to dry....Osage is pretty dense...so if it is cool...or cold there....it may take a long time to soak in and dry...or maybe it wont....I have never used it on Osage before....anyone else??? I have always used Grease.....or if it is Snake Skinned....I use Urethane

[Easternarcher]

The very first bow that I built was a hickory and bamboo backed bow , I stained it all with a oil based walnut stain and the thing just wouldn't dry where talking four days later it was still tacky and down right sticky after a week . I finally talked to some Professionals on the matter ,I felt I got some bad stain, was told when you get a certain humidity level its hard for some finishes lacquers , oils  to set or dry I really dint think the Osage is that oily on mine I finally bought a can of minwax hellsmans spar urethane  clear satin and sprayed over the finish within a day the whole mess started setting up and finally dried, whats your humidity levels and do you have vapourisers, air condenser ,dryer vent or something like that going in work area or house

Fisher, no I don't have any of that in the area. actually have a de-humidifer going most of the time, and in the dining area, it is about the warmest rooms in the house with southg facing windows etc. I thought about spraying urethane over this, but I was afraid the undercoat would never dry. maybe I should give it a go. Will a wipe of acetone help or just make a royal mess at this point?

[ricktrojanowski]

I just tru oiled an osage bow that i've been working on.  It is the first time I used tru oil but it was a in a small bottle and I rubbed it on by hand .   It dried pretty quickly in my basement using a small heater and 200 watt lamp overhead.  Maybey the thinners in the spray are messed up.  I don't know about spraying urethane over it since they are quite diffferent products.  I would try cleaning it off if it still will not cure than using the bottle version of tru oil and putting it on by hand (like in Gordons hazelnut buildalong).  It is easy to control the amount you put on using this method so you can put on many really thin coats and hopefully it will dry.

[Sidewinder]

Eastern, sorry to hear about the finish problem. I had a similar problem with my minwax stain on hickory. It eventually hardened up but I still could'nt figure out why it took 2days to cure vs teh 4-6hrs they said on the can. I like the spar urathane as well but wait until your base is dry or you may not like the results. I have used tru oil in the bottle on my first osage bow that I bought and it seemed to cure out over night. I'll bet it is a combination of things. I acetoned my hickory before I stainded it and it was still tackey 2days later so I'm not sure thats the problem. I'm gonna guess and say its the mixture in the spray. Get the bottle kind and give it a go and see if you have the same results, then you can eliminate the variables and get it narrowed down.   Danny

[Hillbilly]

I had the same problem with Tru-oil on an ash bow once. I think it was a combination of old/bad Tru-oil and my putting the individual coats on too thick. It took five days for the finish to (apparantly) dry, and the finish(not the wood) wound up chrysalling after several shots. I have used Tru-oil a lot since then,, and haven't had any problems. Get a different can, and try using several veeerrrrrry thin individual coats.

[Easternarcher]

I had the same problem with Tru-oil on an ash bow once. I think it was a combination of old/bad Tru-oil and my putting the individual coats on too thick. It took five days for the finish to (apparantly) dry, and the finish(not the wood) wound up chrysalling after several shots. I have used Tru-oil a lot since then,, and haven't had any problems. Get a different can, and try using several veeerrrrrry thin individual coats.

It's possible that this was old stuff. I have 3 cans bought new last fall. I will switch cans. otherwise I may have to strip it all again and use spar urethane.

[Pat B]

If it is reacting to the oils in the wood, you could coat the bow with shellac(I like spray on). Shellac sticks to everything and everything sticks to shellac.     Pat

[El Destructo]

If you decide to strip it off and start over....Acetone will do you a double Header here....will strip off the Tru Oil and take the Oils off the Osage at the same time

[adb]

Tru oil makes a nice semi gloss finish, but it takes friggin' FOREVER!!