Self Bow Finishes and Darkening White Wood

[Brumbies Country]

Thought it was a good time to get some ideas about self bow finish materials. With the hickory Elb I made I used several applications of cabinet makers wax, followed three weeks later by some linseed oil. The latter turned it from white to a mildly golden colour and bought back memories perhaps most won't relate to, of oiling willow cricket bats.

Just wondered if you make a white self wood bow and you wan't to darken it, maybe for hunting, what you reckon is the best way to go about it. The big thing is to keep moisture out but in a dry climate like ours round here it seems you want to retain a bit of moisture as well.

Simon

[longbow steve]

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Hi Simon, I personally like the white woods but you could try stains to whatever colour you wish or natural Ochres would be a nice feature anbd talking point. Another idea would be to wrap the bow with fabric randomly then apply a stain/dye and see what you end up with. If you want an elegant unique look how about Black Japan( bitumous based stain) then an oil finish over the top.
For natural staves you can leave some cambium layer on the back of the bow.

[Brumbies Country]

Steve, I really like the look of that. Is that an ochre?

Simon

[longbow steve]

Hi Simon, That is the Cambium layer of the bark. The timber is Pecan. Steve

[Graeme K]

Hi Simon
I like "Wattyl craftsman stains" they are spirit based and wipe on easily to give an even finish. For a top coat I like Wipe on Polly from "Mini Wax"available from Bunnings. It sounds hi tech but it is really just like danish oil with a catalyzing hardener that makes it more stable.

Graeme

[Brumbies Country]

Hi Simon, That is the Cambium layer of the bark. The timber is Pecan. Steve

Showed my ignorance there Steve . Wouldn't be able to use it in AA longbow competition but gee, it looks good.

Simon

[Brumbies Country]

Hi Simon
I like "Wattyl craftsman stains" they are spirit based and wipe on easily to give an even finish. For a top coat I like Wipe on Polly from "Mini Wax"available from Bunnings. It sounds hi tech but it is really just like danish oil with a catalyzing hardener that makes it more stable.

Graeme

Thanks Graeme

That's great information. I can't recall seeing alot on selfbow finishes on the forum but very likely there has been before I got into making them. I'm not a hi-tech person and this looks fine to me.

Simon

[stringnstik]

thats a gorgeous stick steve

[alaninoz]

Simon:

Don't know how the the oil over wax would go - I'd go the other way, use oil first and then wax. Putting the wax on first may stop the oil from penetrating.

You're not the only one who remembers oiling cricket bats! Seemed to take forever!

[ichiban]

well if your keen you could make a spirit vanish, or a combo of leather dyes, oil, wax and resins or rub mud on it hehe

[Brumbies Country]

Simon:

Don't know how the the oil over wax would go - I'd go the other way, use oil first and then wax. Putting the wax on first may stop the oil from penetrating.

You're not the only one who remembers oiling cricket bats! Seemed to take forever!

Hi Al

With my hickory Elb I used wax early but noticed it was getting a bit dry after Mildura, plus it had a good admixture of Mallee red dirt. Linseed seemed to penetrate quite well then, with a small amount of meths added. Tried to get gun oil but the two local gun shops didn't have any. One of them recommended linseed with meths added.

Re cricket bats, glad somebody else remembers . Still associate the smell with red marks on the bat, which I'd like to say were all in the middle, but in truth more than a few round the edges .

Simon

[Brumbies Country]

well if your keen you could make a spirit vanish, or a combo of leather dyes, oil, wax and resins or rub mud on it hehe

As related to Alan, I've already done the mud bit Dave .

[dawallace45]

There is a process wood workers use called ebonizing , depending on the amount of tannin in the timber you are using you can get a dull grey to a rich dark black , It's been a few years since I used it last but it worked great with some timbers , to make the ebonizing fluid all you do is get some steel wool and put it in a glass jar and cover completely in white vinegar and cap loosely , [ depending on the steel wool you may have to boil it in water with a little detergent to get the oil off it , some steel wool seems to have a thin film of oil on it to stop it rusting , rinse in fresh water and allow to dry before putting in the vinegar ] ,

After a few days pour off the vinegar into a clean glass jar while filtering through clean cloth , don't squeeze off the steel wool as you will end up with some small steel fragments in the mix and believe me it looks like crap later on , just apply to the timber , you can do several coats and it will get darker each time , the fluid has a chemical reaction with the tannin in the timber and the more tannin the darker it becomes

David

[Brumbies Country]

That sounds a very interesting process David and thanks for alerting me to it. It looks to me that you could apply oils/waxes after this process.

Simon

[dawallace45]

Simon

When I used to use it for woodturning I just used to cover it in bees wax or furniture wax and sometimes Danish oil but have seen it covered in varnish

But remember unless the timber has a lot of tannin it just looks discoloured , best to test it on scrap

David

[Brumbies Country]

Thanks again David

I appreciate the advice re testing it on scrap timber. I'll be thinking about it for the hickory Meare Heath type of flatbow I'm currently involved in. This is being made from a plank and I've no idea of the tannin content. However I do have scrap bits to try it on. The one after that will be a return to elm and I'd suspect the tannin content would be higher. Plenty of elm offcuts to try it on.

Simon