Osage stave bow

[Don Armstrong]

I have made 2 osage stave bows. They came out fairly good except for the finish. I have used poly,spray Deft, and wipe on Deft with good results on several hickory and one oak bows. I tried poly, wiped on and it took two days to dry on the first coat. Steel wooled and put the second coat on. After two days drying, I tried to steel wool but it loaded the wool and I had to sand it all off. I wiped the osage down with denatured alchol and put a coat of wipe on Deft. It took two days to dry without being sticky. I am thinking about some tounge oil, as recommended by the nice guy that gave me the staves. I don't have tounge oil but do have some linseed oil. Would this be an option or would I need to use tounge oil or something different. Thanks, Don

[Pat B]

Linseed oil will work fine. I used some today after staining the bow. What I prefer is Tru-Oil a gun stock finish. It is actually a linseed oil product with dryers and other additives. Once the linseed oil dries I will finish the bow with the Tru-Oil.

[4runr]

If you use the Tru-Oil and want less shiny finish, you can use 3 or 4 ought steel wool as your applicator for the last several coats. My brother does gunstock re-finishing and showed me this tecnique when I re-finished my 62' Kodiak Magnum. I wasn't thrilled with how shiney the Tru-Oil was so using the steel wool to apply the last 2 coats worked great.

[Shaun]

I really like Tru Oil finish. You can pick up a small squared plastic bottle at most W Marts in the gun cleaning supplies area of sporting goods for about $5. I believe it is a mixture of linseed and tung oil with dryers added. Several light coats put on with a rag or even my finger makes a good seal and is easy to repair if scratched up hunting.

[Don Armstrong]

Thanks guys, I have used tru-oil in the past on gun stocks. I think I will do a coat of linseed oil and see if I like it. I will then go with a few more coats of linseed oil or do the tru-oil. Thanks again, Don

[Pat B]

Be sure the linseed oil is cured before you put Tru-Oil on. It could make it take a few days to dry.
  What I do to get rid of the Tru-Oil shine is add a quick spray of satin poly over the bow. I used to do the steel wool trick(I still do after each coat) but after a while the shine would come back as the bow brushed against my cloths. The spray poly adds another layer of protection and cuts the shine, permanently.

[reddogge]

In order of water protection to wood from most to least of the items mentioned are:

Tru-oil best
Tung oil next best
Boiled linseed oil (almost no protection at all but looks and smells great).

Tru-oil actually has varnish and dryers in it so it will give the best protection.  To dull the shine rub the final coat with a 0000 steel wool pad dipped in the Tru-oil.

[Roy Steele]

I agrea TRU-OIL is the best.And dip 0000 steel wool into the  TRU-OIL.But after it's done.Hang it up a couple weeks to dry and then I melt bees wax into it with a hair dryer.It melts right into the pours.Wipe off whats not needed.On this once or twice a year and your is complete'ly water proof.

[George Tsoukalas]

Spar urethane is an outdoor finish and works well. Jawge