Favorite sealers.

b.glass · August 18, 2008, 01:02:00 AM

I like Tru Oil and parafin. The current bow I'm working on is going to be backed with snake therefore I will use Tru Oil. I have'nt worked enough with a parafin finish to know how it would do on snake skin backings. Can anyone give me an opinion?

**DONOTDELETE** · August 18, 2008, 08:17:00 AM

what about a spray on poly or a wipe on poly. I know lots of ppl use parafin on air backed bows.

Pat B · August 18, 2008, 08:53:00 AM

Tru-Oil is the finish I use mostly. I haven't used paraffin but I think for self bows, where it will sink in, it makes a good, easy and cheap finish. With snake skin I don't think it would sink in and would eventually crack as the bow bends. Just a guess on my part. Pat

Dano · August 18, 2008, 09:24:00 AM

You have to heat the bow slightly for paraffin to work well, I don't think I'd do that to a snake backed bow. I used to use Thunderbird 2 part epoxy, but here lately I'm learning to love Tru Oil, it's so much easier to use, bar none.

NightHawk · August 18, 2008, 12:30:00 PM

profin is a very good sealer. Some of the big arrow makers use it to seal thier shafts

JEFF B · August 18, 2008, 05:41:00 PM

tru oil is awesome i used it on a bow a mate made me to seal the grip after i worked on it some to get it fitting my hand right.

Steve Kendrot · August 18, 2008, 08:57:00 PM

A carpenter friend of mine suggested a 1:1:1 ratio of Mineral spirits, tung oil and spar varnish, increasing the ratio of spar varnish with successive coats. He's recommending applying a coat to soak in, wiping off excess after 5-10 minutes and waiting 24 hours to apply the next coat. Light sanding with superfine grit between coats. Anyone foresee any problems with this on a BBO?

Steve

Chad Sivertsen · August 19, 2008, 12:29:00 PM

I would use parafin on unbacked bows.

As noted here Tung oil is popular. I use Minwax Spar Urethane on most of my bows and arrows. I wipe on 2-4 thin coats allowing an hour or two between coats depending on temp and humidity. I use the gloss and it is flashy for show bows, it can be buffed and polished to a mirror finish. For hunting I buff with 0000 steel wool and then use a hard wax.

Steve has both covered with his mixture. That should work fine as long as there are no chemical or curing conflicts. It should penetrate the wood well. Let us know the results.