Hawthorn Bow (FINISHED, More pics)

[Jodocus]

If you can get walnut pods, the green stuff qround the actual nut, that makes for a sweet warm brown. You can use fresh, green pods or old pods that are rotting and have turned black. Just put in in water for a day or two. Keep the wood wet with the stuff for a while, you can drown it or use toilet paper that you put on and soak, for example. I've only tried smaller pieces of wood for testing yet, hazel and black locust took it very well.

[Zion]

Jodocus, i don't think i'll get walnuts very soon but i'll consider that if i have some for future bows.

As i sit here i was also thinking of Serviceberries. I think if they were ground up they would make an awesome stain! It would probably turn up mostly reddish with some blue. This spring i'm gonna try that.

So many options for natural finishes!

[Jim Davis]

And what exactly do u mean about the alkaline in wood ash doing bad things to wood?
 
Greg, i'll do that! Would the stain stay in better if i burnished (boned) it in?

Mere conjecture on my part. Only thing I do know about wood ash is it makes  wood rot faster in contact with the ground. You're not going to leave your bow lying around on the damp ground for weeks at a time, so probably it makes no difference. I would suggest trying the ash/water solution on a scrap of wood first. Doesn't seem like it would do much color changing.

Jim

[Zion]

Asharrow, i decided to use crushed up charcoal (from a burnt piece of hawthorn) mixed with Tung Oil to make a stain. It seems to have stuck, but i dunno if it is going to when i put the coats of oil on it. Maybe most of it'll be washed out, we'll see.

Some pics, sorry about the horrible quality, my camera doesn't do good with night lighting.

[ionicmuffin]

Looks good to me! i think using all natural materials is the best way to go 

[rossfactor]

The crushed charcoal looks nice. I like the bow. 

I agree with Jim about being cautious using wood ash. From woodworking.org "Be aware that lye solutions are caustic, and if they remain on wood for fairly long periods of time it will result in damage to the wood surface." Which, of course we don't want on the back of a a bow.

However, if you wanna use lye its ok, just wipe it with vinegar after a day or so, which will neutralize the strong base of Lye. Than rinse it off, dry, and seal. 

Gabe

[Zion]

Thanks for the heads up Ross. I put some Tung Oil on it this morning and it wiped most of it off anyway. Now it's a dull grey. If it doesn't look good with the oil, do u think i could get away with toasting the tips over a fire until they're dark, (but not charred) ? I did it on one bow before, my 2nd.

[dmenzies1950]

Hey Zion,  That's a great bow! You really do good work, and I love your enthusiasm for making bows! Just keep turning them out! As for stain, Believe it or not, I am making a vine maple, snake backed bow right now that I stained the fades and ends with black shoe polish I purchased at the "Dollar Tree". The middle of the belly I stained with brown shoe polish, also from the "Dollar tree". It's not natural I know, but it's cheap, and really looks good! Something to keep in mind.      Dale   

[Zion]

That's cool dale, i look forward to seeing it. Since the belly is so smooth on this bow, the stain just kinda wiped off once i applied some Tung Oil. So i heat-treated the belly, to a little outside the fades, and since it took a bit more set than i wanted it's clamped into some reflex. Hopefully the stronger belly will reduce set.

[Zion]

hey guys, i finished the bow up recently after shooting her in and narrowing the tips etc. I still will probably add a leather handle wrap, we'll see. There's only one light coat of Tung oil on her but ya get the idea.

The charcoal worked pretty good. If i had wanted it to be darker i would've just added more, but i think it turned out ok. Also, i didn't use any stains for the bow other than that, but i did heat-treat the limbs several times, hence the darker color.

somwhere close to 54" ntn.
70#@25"
Stave came from 1" branch
 I'll let the pics do all the other explaining lol 

[Zion]

Some more:

[Ifrit617]

Turned out really nice. I love the primitive look.

Jon

[Zion]

Thanks Jon, i guess it's one of my goals to make bows simple. I'm not really one for cosmetics lol.

[ionicmuffin]

nice! i really think that i had better try one of those sapling bows! i have a pear stave that's been drying for about 3 months. ill split it and try it out! But its nice anyway.

[Zion]

Muffin definitely give it a go. A small warning tho, if your 'sapling' is less than 3" i wouldn't try splitting it unless you know it has really straight grain. If it twists on you at that size a bow could be hard to squeeze out of it, not so much if it's >4". Sapling bows really teach you alot, and 3 months sounds like a good deal. If it takes set early on then just heat-treat it and clamp some reflex into it.