What wood finish for longbow

[sambow]

A couple of years ago I bought my lad a cheap junior longbow of ebay. It was american white ash but being a junior bow it only had a max draw length of 22". He loved it and used it regularly until he grew.

Recently I decided to do the same again and bought another longbow of ebay with a draw length of 27". The first time we took it out to shoot it started raining lightly three targets from the end. We were in woods and not getting particularly wet so we carried on with the shoot and returned to the "clubhouse".

When I went to dry the bow I noticed that it had gone all blotchy the finish appeared to be coming off where raindrops had landed and on the inner edge of the limbs the wood was starting to have a rough "hairy" finish.

The original bow was shot in all weathers without problems.

When I compare the two bows the original had a hard high shine finish which I imaging was a varnish of some type. The new bow had a sticky / waxy finish.

When I contacted the seller he said it had been finished with beeswax and I needed to regularly wax and this would build up its protection. Alternatively he suggested varnishing it.

What finish should a longbow have (NB I am more interested in practicalities rather than tradition)?

If I wanted to varnish it, will it be possible to get all the beeswax off becuase I imaging if there is any residual in the grain of the wood this will cause adhesion problems?

[jb.68]

Firstly take some 0000 grade wire wool and with some white spirit rub it in the direction of the grain, this will remove the old beeswax and probably most of any varnish that may have been below it. Leave it to sit for a day for the white spirit to completely evaporate form the wood and then lightly rub down with something like 325 grade paper. Remove all dust and give 2 coats of Rustins plastic coating Rustins products for the professional and home handyman. (giving a light rub between coats with the 0000 wire wool or the flour paper)

Then after shooting it a few times, the coating will form minor cracks in the surface (as no coatings are designed to flex in the way a bow does). Now is the time to start waxing is regularly to give it the extra protection around these areas.

Hope that helps

[djthompson]

beeswax does react to water differently to varnish or oil - sounds like the finish has gone; but if the grain's coming up; then your bow's definately not sealed.

As an alternative you could rub down with a fine sand paper (careful as exessive sanding will take draw weight away); then 0000 wirewool. then apply 3 - 4 coats of exterior danish oil (leave 24hrs between coats minimum. Give it a rub down after 3 coats with wire wool, then put one last coat on. You can put it on with a brush or rag. the final coat can be rubbed with a lint free cloth for a lovely satin finish.

An application or two of beeswax on top will allow any water to bead on the surface of the wood - which you can easily wipe off.

Cheers, D

[alanesq]

I use a water based varnish on my bows (Wilko's home brand in fact)
I used this simply because it dries VERY quickly and you can wash the brush in water, but I have been very impressed with it
it takes a good few coats to get a good finish but each coat dries in around 1hr

I tend to leave my bows in wet grass between ends (even dropping them in rivers is not unknown;-) and it has never shown any sign of failing

[wingate_52]

A couple of coats of sanding sealer before the Danish Oil.

[sambow]

Thanks for all the replies.

At our local bargain shop that sells liquidated things I came across some cuprinnol wax remover with lemon oil. which is said to "quickly and effectively dissolves wax, laquer and shellac". Would this be suitable for removing the beeswax? and would it be possible to danish oil over the top of this?