Anyone want a dogwood arrow build-along?

[Whitebeam]

I'll get the pine resin soaking in turps tomorrow (once I've taken the car for service, done some shopping, walked the dogs, painted the walls in daughter #1's bedroom, cooked lunch, tidied up (again) after all those females in my life have gone out for the afternoon ... hey, I'm glad I'm on a leave period and can take things easy!  .

No hunting here alas - unless you want to chance spending time in one of Her Majesty's high security luxury hotels. 

Peter

[iowabow]

Ok your in the UK...how is Phillip doing?

[Pat B]

Whitebeam, I like to start with hard brittle pitch and dissolve it in alcohol. I use it primarily to seal sinew wraps on arrows but have sealed the shafts on some too. If you start off with hard brittle pitch the resulting "varnish" will have a hard finish after the alcohol evaporates. If you use soft pitch the "varnish" will be soft and take a while to harden.
  Marc St Louis used spruce pitch and turpentine when he heat treats whitewood bows. After he heats the wood sufficently he paints on the mixture and the wood soaks it up. He suggests that the mixture is soaked into the cells and hardening them as it cools. I did this on a few bows and liked the results.

[Whitebeam]

Ok your in the UK...how is Phillip doing?

He seemed ok when I saw him at the Olympics, but I guess time is catching up with him as it does with us all.

Current news reports suggest that he is doing well.

Peter

[Whitebeam]

Whitebeam, I like to start with hard brittle pitch and dissolve it in alcohol. I use it primarily to seal sinew wraps on arrows but have sealed the shafts on some too. If you start off with hard brittle pitch the resulting "varnish" will have a hard finish after the alcohol evaporates. If you use soft pitch the "varnish" will be soft and take a while to harden.

Hard and brittle pine resin is what I have - I'll definitely give it another go. Alas the only alcohol I have is the nasty purple coloured stuff - I'll carry on trying with turps for now.

Marc St Louis used spruce pitch and turpentine when he heat treats whitewood bows. After he heats the wood sufficently he paints on the mixture and the wood soaks it up. He suggests that the mixture is soaked into the cells and hardening them as it cools. I did this on a few bows and liked the results.

I have tried this,  but didn't notice any difference from plain dry heat treating.

Peter

[BowEd]

A word about smoke and its waterproofing and pest proofing capabilities.Words are misconstrooed here.A white brain tanned hide I call a dressed hide,soft but suseptible to water and bugs.The white hide smoked I call cured.It does not make it waterproof as in a thompson water seal type of repellent.If smoked dark enough the first time it does not need to be resmoked but just scuffed around a bit to be softened after being wet.Smoke definitely repells pests good.That's why newly cut shafts bundled and hung up at the smoke flap will not have bug infestation.A natural waterproofing on shafts done by Pat B to me would be the right ticket here.Making your dye job a bit darker John and using those oxide dyes.See why the misconception of a male Indian not working as hard as a squaw is a farce.LOL.We are just novices trying to recreate authenticities here.The banter on this thread is great.The one fella I know about as an authority on all of this is the Prarie Wolf,and he has a series of books on these subjects.He has taken it to a tried and true level.

[iowabow]

I have never heard of anyone coating a shaft with an egg so this is a test. I simply coated the shaft with the yoke. I then placed it in the sun to flash dry. Remember this should take 6 months to dry all the way. The dye did mix with the egg. I had to smooth the paint out after appling. I feel like it would be good to add the dye to the egg. Anyway I had to clean the white off again. After working the shaft I mixed up the black. It was made from willow wood charcoal. This charcoal is fine because the particles have a large surface area and can be ground smooth. The large surface area is helpful because it gives the binder something to hold onto. The egg yoke is added to the charcoal  and mixed till smooth.

[iowabow]

The next one we will coat with resin and alcohol. Also going to try to make a white paint from some of the shell after I burn it.

[iowabow]

The egg yoke finished arrow feels very oily but the surface seems stable. This is good because the water is leaving the yoke covering by evaporation  and the oil that remains should harden over time... I hope. 

[iowabow]

Just finished the pine coat but added a pinch of wax to prevent the the paint from cracking. Read an article about tempera and the transition to oil. The idea was to mix egg, oil, wax, pigment, water and dryer. The wax prevented cracking and the oil helped spread the paint. I am going to mix egg, pine, wax, alcohol, and pigment. This should make an interesting paint
Below is pigment scrapped from a rock I cooked. The pictures should tell the story. Clean up was hard so rubber gloves and paint outdoors.

[JackCrafty]

Great information!  I really like the look of that charcoal & egg yolk paint.

The easiest way I found to clean up pine rosin based paint or glue is to use a heat gun to melt  the paint/glue and wipe with a clean dry cloth.  You can follow up by applying straight bleach with a Q-tip if there is a stain.  Doesn't work on cloth or leather, of course.   

[iowabow]

Great information!  I really like the look of that charcoal & egg yolk paint.

The easiest way I found to clean up pine rosin based paint or glue is to use a heat gun to melt  the paint/glue and wipe with a clean dry cloth.  You can follow up by applying straight bleach with a Q-tip if there is a stain.  Doesn't work on cloth or leather, of course.   

Thanks for the tip! I think the dye will change. I don't like the way the other arrow shaft that has dye only is reacting to humidity changes. It seem to want to attract water and get tacky.

Here are some thoughts;
1. The dye takes time to make and when egg is added it loossens -  a possible solution is to add the dye to the yoke and then apply like paint.

2. Mixing the  charcoal with the egg worked amazing in the past and is working great this time - I might lightly coat with a layer of pine and alcohol in a week.

3. Making the red iron paint was easy and the application was a walk in the park. The surface could be handled soon after application but was not cured yet. The reason the wax was added was because I added the pigment to the  varnish that Pat recommended. I thought the pigment might make the mixture thicker and more susceptible to cracking.

4. I like how difficult the cleanup was and very water proof the paint appears to be. I still want to see the effect of time in the durability of the paint before jumpping to conclusions

5. My plan is to carry all of these arrows this winter while hunting to see which one preforms best in the field. I don't hunt in the rain but all other weather will not be ruled out. I do hunt in a light rain but cover my gear with hats and under my coat while storms passes.

[iowabow]

Left to right. Remember the cresting is not done yet

1. Egg over dye
2. Tung over dye
3. Pine mixed red iron
4. Pine over dye

The best dye color is #2 so far.
The black tempera and red iron look great.

I have ideas for three other colors;
      a. Yellow
      b. White
      c. Burnt umber

[iowabow]

Here is yellow and black pine paint without the wax as crest on the red iron pine with wax. The area that was painted yellow was scrapped to the wood and painted thin to get a yellow glow .

[iowabow]

I am going to make one look like a snake all down the whole shaft