Found a good hard finish

[BenBow]

As a hobby builder of maybe a couple of bows a year I've never been able to justify the cost of equipment and epoxy finishes. I've tried many different types but had settled on Helmsman's satin poly in a rattle can. But I've never been happy with the durability. Then Kenny mentioned using clear matte wheel finish so I thought I'd give it a try. I picked up a can of VHT high temp matte clear wheel paint at AutoZone for $8. I had a couple of bows sprayed with camo paint that would be good test subjects So I lightly sanded them to rough the finish. The can said to recoat in 10 minutes so I gave each bow 4 coats and let them set over night. The finish is so hard and slick you can't write on it with a pen or pencil. It has more of a satin finish than matte so I tried 0000 steelwool on it and couldn't tell I'd touched it so I tried 00 which scratched it some. I finaly wet sanded it with 800 grit sandpaper and then sprayed it with rustoleum dead flat durable topcoat. I hit that with 0000 and feel it's dull enough. I'll be hunting deer in a couple of weeks and will have a better idea on how well it holds up once I drop them from the tree stand.

Good to know...  I did my first bows with Helmsman...  Liked it except for the yellowing...

[DoubleLung]

Do you coat your limbs with this also? Wondering how it holds up with the limbs bending?

Thanks,
Tim

[BenBow]

Yes Tim and so far its held up fine and I'll update this after more shooting and my hunting trip to get a better idea of durability.  Maybe I'll drop one of my bows in the rocks today and see what happens.

[BenBow]

Well I dropped one of my bows on crushed rock which scraped the flat finish but didn't faze the wheel finish and dropping the other side of the bow on 1" to 3" river rock didn't do anything. Looking good so far. So I'll see how it holds up to limb flexing.

[Longtoke]

very interested, thanks for keeping us updated!

[jess stuart]

Galen did you drop them on purpose?  If so you are committed to testing this finish very well.  Thanks for the heads I will pick up a can and give it a try.

[BenBow]

Yeah Jess sometimes I do things with out really thinking them through.      But it's my bow and my bows are always in prototype testing mode.
But I did find out it is tough stuff. It just has more shine than I like and the matte finish I sprayed over it isn't as durable. It got scratched when I dropped the bow on crushed rock with it's sharp edges but the wheel finish didn't show any damage.

[bow loving man]

Pm sent

[EwokArcher]

They didn't have vht high heat in wheel finish, they had vht high heat clear for headers. I ended up going with duplicolor clear matte wheel finish. I'll let yall know how it turns out. Gonna have to find some good river rocks for testing now...

[Longtoke]

How did it gow Ewok?

[EwokArcher]

I did not extensive rock testing... but I can tell you I tried scratching it with my nail and it didn't budge. I'll use this as my go to. Especially for only 9$ per can, that's like 2$ more than the heilsman I was using and I'll probably be able to get several bows worth out of this can. Thanks  for the suggestion sir.

[monterey]

Would be interesting to know exactly what it is.  There might be a more economical way of purchasing it.  Even so, $4.50 per bow is not unreasonable.  I need to do a refinish and will give this a try.

[BenBow]

I just returned from a week of deer hunting where I pushed it trough thick cedars, pushed it through sand while I belly crawled, and pretty much beat it up. It came through with no chips or sctatches.

[scrub-buster]

I bought a can of the clear matte finish.  I put 3 coats on a 24" test bow this afternoon.  I'm going to give it a rough test run tomorrow and see how it works.  I like it so far.

[BenBow]

Scrub it gets tougher with a few days cure time.

[bow loving man]

I used the Matte on two bows and was amazed at how smooth the finish was when dry!  Has anyone used the high gloss version of this?  Just wondering if it finished out as smooth and nice as the Matte?

[scrub-buster]

I liked how it looked on my little test bow.  I flexed it a lot and it didn't crack or wrinkle.  I was impressed.  I finished a knife with osage burl scales today and used it for the finish.

[kennym]

My bow has a nick in it, but it fell out of the stand somehow....  :p

[Crooked Stic]

Can it be bought in quarts for using in a spray gun?