War Bow Finish

[Pat B]

Is there a typical finish for a war bow. I use Tru-Oil on all the bows I make and have linseed oil and tung oil also.   Pat

[Kviljo]

Check out the "a wet spring"-thread. Lloyd quotes Ascham on the use of beeswax:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,2324.0.html

[markinengland]

Linseed oil followed by beeswax, followed by linseed oil, followed by beeswax etc etc etc will build up a nice shine and was traditionally used on many wooden items from furniture to floors to bows.
I like Danish Oil as it is faster, is failry waterproof and is also compatible with wax and other oils.
Mark in England

[stevesjem]

Pig Fat and Goose grease mix is also pretty good and doesn't soak in to the wood too much.

Steve

[Yeomanbowman]

Sir John Symth, writing in the late 16th C, mentions tallow, beeswax and rosin as a proofing agent for bow.  I've tried it and it seems to go off OK with no sticky residue (or meaty smell).  However, I put a bit of  real turps' in to help dissolve the mix and aid penetration.  Also make sure you use boiled linseed oil as it cures and raw linseedoil does not.
Jeremy

[Loki]

Tallow!dont you have to boil bones and hooves to get that stuff?

[Pat B]

Tallow is animal fat.  The leather teratment I use on my boots is Montana Pitch Blend...bees wax, mink oil and pine pitch.    I also have bear grease that I have used on Native American style bows.
  I like Mark's idea of linseed oil alternated with bees wax. I'll look back at the "wet spring" post also.   Thanks,   Pat

[Loki]

Nice,how many coats would you normaly apply?

[D. Tiller]

Nah! Its just boiled down fat. Collect the oil from the surface of the liquid. Thats all tallow is. You can use it for candles, cooking, soap, and to grease wagon wheels. That sorta thing!

[Yeomanbowman]

Only a little off topic... I've heared that oil/fat etc.  Slow down a bow?  I use it, although.    Carol Edwards, in 'The Glade' is always going on about this.  She also mentions that it makes a bow harder to repair, which seems fair.
I have 3 theories as to how this myth/reality came about.
1. They are not as effective as modern varnishes and let moisture it-thus slowing the cast
2. Raw linseed was used and it doesn't cure- and scenario number1 happen, but to a greater extent.
3. There is some sort of internal dampening happening that slows the limbs return, rather like a suspension unit's oil.
or
4. It doesn't slow the cast at all, of course.
What do you think?

[Rod]

I like it when I hear something new  I can rag Carol about. next time I see her I'll shoot one of my beeswax finished bows and ask her what she thinks of my slow bow... lol
Rod.

[Yeomanbowman]

I like it when I hear something new  I can rag Carol about. next time I see her I'll shoot one of my beeswax finished bows and ask her what she thinks of my slow bow... lol
Rod.

Yes please do, I'm genuinely very interested why she believes this is so and how it works.  It must be backed up with some science if true.  By the way, I don't think she has a problem with beeswax.
Cheers,
Jeremy

[markinengland]

I have heard it said that using linseed oil on a lemonwood bow will make it go weakl and floppy. I can only guess that this is because it isn't waterproof on its own and bows would have absorbed moisture if left in a damp room.
Now the problem with lemonwood bows is that they dry out in central heated homes. the bows I have seen break look like they are bone dry.
I can see no way that a surface-film oil finish which truly does just stay on the outer couple of hundredths of an inch can seep deep enough into a bow to affect the wood cells in the way they say it does. Moisture and set slows bows, not a finish! IMHO.
Mark in England

[Pat B]

I remember reading some of the American old timers saying that an oil finish was bad for a bow(I'm guessing osage and yew). Made a bow sluggish! Like Mark, I'd bet it was moisture and not the oil. Most of the finishes I've used, both straight boiled linseed and tung oil and Tru-Oil are surface treatments. Even when using dry heat, and oil to prevent scorching, the oil doesn't penetrate very much. Usually a few scrapes and you have eliminated the oil. I would guess that a wax or oil with shellac finish would give better moisture protection if it were maintained.   Pat

[Rod]

Check the table on p.208 of Hoadley's "Understanding Wood". Tung oil (which is the basis of Danish Oil) does not perform well beyond 1 day of immersion.
Shellac and paraffin wax on the other hand perform far better over a longer period of immersion.
I think bowyers like Danish oil for it's finish and speed of application and drying, but I have not found it to be very useful as a sealant if out all day in the pouring rain.
And believe me, in the NFAS this is not unknown.
And on a yew bow, a more modern coating that seal well but forms a hard surface layer is not much use, since you cannot burnish out a ding without the varnish layer flaking off.
Rod.