Laquer finish on bow?

[Buckeyehunter]

I am a furniture maker by trade and recently began making bows.  I spray most of my furniture with laquer and just wondered if anyone has used it on bows.  I sprayed 1 bow with it about 2 months ago, and have shot it a lot.  Everything seems fine.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Dano]

I hope you have good luck with it as a finish but I just don't think it's flexible enough for a bow.

[shikari]

Bowyers in India used laquer to waterproof and finish their horn composite bows,you can still see the finish on the old bows in meuseums,Japp Koppedwryer of yumi bows uses Japanese laquer on his bows as well.

[OkKeith]

Hey Joe,

I have not used laquer myself. What cut are you using?

Dano brings up a good point about flexability, but I was wondering how it would do in the heat and cold. Would it get sticky and the finish turn cloudy on a hot day? Would it get brittle and crack on a cold day?

Then you have the concern of avoiding rings and always using a coaster when you set a cold beer down on it (that is a joke of course)!

If you made a bow and the finish is doing OK so far, go with it till it proves otherwise.

OkKeith

[Apex Predator]

I've used Minwax spray laquer on bunches of bows.  It works pretty well.  It's flexible enough, but not as durable as some others.  I found that is you let the final coat cure for 3-4 days before using/shooting the bow it is more durable.  I started using tru-oil, and am not sure which I like better.  Tru-oil is cheaper, but takes a bunch of time to apply.  The laquer costs more because it takes me about 1.5 cans to spray a bow with 5-6 coats.

[Dano]

Apex, I have a hard time figuring why tru oil takes more time to apply, you wipe it on with a finger, clean your finger wait a few hours and do it again, steel wool a few times between coats and your done. Course I'm not in any race to get a bow done.  :D

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I steel wool tru-oil when it doesn't feel tacky.. lightly buff, add a new coat of tru-oil & repeat

[OkKeith]

I use Tru-oil a lot as well. I was having trouble with the steel wool leaving stains and gunk in the grain of the wood. Instead of the steel wool I use a nifty sanding pad from Ace Hardware. They look kind of like the green scrubbies you would use on pots and pans, but they are purple. They actually have a finer grit than OOOO steel wool and don't leave streaks. I rinse them out and use them several times.

OkKeith

[Apex Predator]

Maybe it's my high humidity down here in SE Ga.  I can only apply a coat once ever 12 hours.  It takes me about 5-6 days to finish one after rubbing it out with stock sheen and polishing.  I've sprayed poly on for the last coat for a satin finish and it cuts the time somewhat, because I don't have to be as meticulous on my application of the tru-oil.

[Dano]

Deffinatly drier out here, that can do it. If I was going to build glass bows I'd use Thunderbird, it's so much more durable, well worth the extra labor, and only costs a little over $5.00 a bow.

[Buckeyehunter]

I am using magnamax laquer.  It is much more durable to heat, cold, and general abuse than polyurethane but I'm not sure about the flexibility.  But I must say, it seems to working great on the one bow I put it on, just not sure if I should press my luck.