Bow spray finishing product

[silvertip73]

My father and I are just going to be finishing our first fiberglass laminate bows soon. What product do you spray on the bow when it is all sanded and ready for finishing? We want a matte final product for hunting, but have heard of people putting like 4 coats of gloss and a coat of matte? How many and what product works best for you all? Thank you for any information.

[Bow man]

With out Thunderbird Epoxy I typically apply 4 coats 2 gloss then 2 satin. the reason for the base coats on gloss a gloss finish is always a more durable finish and that is true in everything including house paint. I know most of our biggest customers use a a similar approach.   You can also look at using our filler sealer for grain filling before you spray  the epoxy.      https://tbirdarchery.com/

[Mad Max]

I like the VHT matte clear wheel paint, Awesome
spray a coat and wait 10 min. between coats, 6 coats total

[Noah70]

For years I used Watco clear lacquer, 4 coats gloss and 2 coat satin. It got harder to source that brand in the last few years, so I’ve switched to the automotive wheel finish, 4 coat gloss and 2 coat matte. It is truly a great product, but the secret - after applying all those coats in such a short time - is patience.  Give it a minimum of 4-5 days to fully cure, a week is better.

[Kirkll]

There are literally 100's of different kinds of finish you can use, and each one of them have their own personality as far as being user friendly, durability, and longevity. There is also a HUGE range in price on these materials.  If you have a spray booth set up and a spray rig, you can shoot high gloss material and still get a satin matte finish just by just turning up the pressure and shooting a fine mist on the last 2 coats from about 12'' away. This applies to any finish you use. It takes a bit of practice, but works well.

I prefer an auto clear coat myself, and only shoot high gloss.

If you want a cost effective rattle can finish that's user friendly,  I'd recommend Helmsman spar varnish. But...... I've never tried this newer wheel finish the guys are using. No help there.

Here is an example of the high gloss / Matte finish

Kirk

[silvertip73]

I sure appreciate everyone’s input and advice, thank you!

[bdsmith1]

Has anyone tried any UV cured finish. The idea of cutting cure time to minutes instead of days sounds too good to be true.

[Tim Finley]

Blacktail bows has a good finish they sell Ive used it on a good number of bows.
I have just recently started using a water based exterior poly its very easy to use easy clean up and seems to be flexible and tough with a quick drying time . Its cheaper than a clear coat and no odor !

[Kirkll]

Has anyone tried any UV cured finish. The idea of cutting cure time to minutes instead of days sounds too good to be true.

Is this the product you are referring to?   at $250 per gallon i think i'll give that a hard pass.

https://www.cureuv.com/products/uv-cure-premium-cear-topcoat-1-gallon

[Squeeze]

I have recently refinished three laminated longbows after a little massaging of the grips to my liking. I used ERA Paints Hi gloss 2K( Amazon). It is a two part automotive clear and is proving to be a very durable finish. Three coats 25min between each coat.

[Kirkll]

I have recently refinished three laminated longbows after a little massaging of the grips to my liking. I used ERA Paints Hi gloss 2K( Amazon). It is a two part automotive clear and is proving to be a very durable finish. Three coats 25min between each coat.

Is that the rattle can wheel coating for $69.00 for one can?

[Squeeze]

No sir, If I remember correctly,It was right around $20 and can easily spray 3 longbows with 3 coats each.

[Bryan Adolphe]

Just waiting on a new finish from Hentzen coatings coming for me ,in the mean time here is a 2K auto clear i picked up $38 Can. Matte finish, once activated 48hr pot life iam told it is tough I think it’s worth a try for those that want to use rattle cans, just didn’t have a lot of luck with that wheel finish ,

[Bryan Adolphe]

Sideways pics 

[Squeeze]

Spray Max is one of the brands on Amazon. I chose to go with ERA 2K only because it was much cheaper. Hope the Spray Max works for you. So far I have no complaints of the ERA.

[Crooked Stic]

I would say get yourself a cheap gun. And a gallon of Krystal for around $60.  Sprays a whole bunch of bows and thins well with regular lacquer thinner. Depending on pressure and distance can achieve different textures of finish.
Buy cheap gun I have a $35 grizzly for many years now. Just need to clean it wellbetween uses.

[Kirkll]

If you decide to go with a spray gun, harbor freight has HVLP sets that are reasonably priced. The only thing i would recommend is getting something with a 1.3 mm tip size. The detail guns using a 1.0 is too small, and requires too much reducer to shoot consistently without clogging up.

Now the 1.0 tips work well with a thin viscosity water base material. thats the only time i use my detail gun.

The nice part about using a spray gun vs a rattle can is that you can control the volume of material and the fan between gun adjustments and air pressure. I do a lot of spraying. At least once a week. And i keep my gun wet all the time and soaking in lacquer thinner. My last gun purchase was over 3 years ago and it's always been in lacquer thinner when not in use and never dried out.  You do need to tear it down and clean the whole thing well from time to time.

The biggest thing to remember is to instantly run lacquer thinner through the gun right after use and adjust the material flow and fan adjustment while doing it. If you are going to store it dry for long periods of time, spray it until its dry after cleaning.    food for thought.

[dbeaver]

I'd like to get into a bit of spraying, so funny learning all of these different crafts just to have a nice finished project.  Reminds me of my fishkeeping hobby where you get to be a biologist, plumber, electrician, veterinarian etc.   

Anyway.  My compressor has a minor leak and I guess I could troubleshoot that but in all fairness I got it for 30 bucks off some guy and have been happy enough with performance.  It will store 100 psi and it maybe leaks 1psi per minute.   Now I guess my question comes in like this. How perfect does your compressor have to be to get a bow sprayed down.  It doesn't take long to spray obviously but how much compressor inconsistency will result in serious differences spraying?

I checked the freight spray gun and it's the right price to give it a shot

[Kirkll]

For years I used smaller compressors for spraying. Not to say under powered, but not large volume tanks. What I did was hooked a second tank up to increase my air volume, and put an air regulator right at the gun. 

But the important thing is having a water trap/separator between the compressor and the gun. I use a short 10’ whip 1/4” air hose that hooks to the water trap/ pressure regulator inside my spray booth. Then plug my high pressure line to that….

This spraying clear coating is a trade all in itself and takes a lot of trial and error learning how to use your gun effectively with different volume and pressue settings.
The HVLP guns with 1.3 mm tip is the best I’ve found….. but everything changes with shooting different products. Viscosity is huge…. Learning the exact Tack time, and recoating without sanding is the way to go….   Have fun!  Be patient….