Bow finish

[rockkiller]

I'm a very amateur bowyer. I built a bow every few years so it doesn't pay for me to get the expensive finishes.
I am wondering what rattle can finish is being used?
I did my last bow with several coats of Dupi-Color wheel matte clearcoat and then a couple of coats of Krylon colormax flat crystal clear and it has cracks on the belly side after shooting just a couple of times.
So any suggestions????
Thanks

[kennym]

Did you test to see if the two finishes are compatible?

I use the duplicolor auto clear coat and then a couple coats of the wheel finish to matte it

The wheel finish doesn’t seal up well imo so it is only to kill the shine for me

[Kirkll]

The problem with a rattle can finish is you can easily get too much material on it in one coat. You are much better using multiple light coatings.  You can have issues much the same using a spray gun with too big of tip.

I'd recommend trying Helmsman spar varnish. It's user friendly and holds up pretty well. Staying with one type of finish will help too...

When i spray my finishes i use a high build gloss material that lays down nicely, and on my final coats i turn up the pressure, adjust the fan to a fine mist, and hold the gun back about 12" when spraying.  This gives you a fine matte finish that is a non reflective with a satin look .

It's definately worth going to an air gun if you want a professional finish.    Kirk

[rockkiller]

I did try them out on .a piece of scrap and it looked good and they are all acrylic .It only cracked on the belly side after shooting maybe a couple dozen arrows.
I will take it back down and try your combo.

Thank you

[kennym]

Loved Helmsman til I sprayed a bocote riser with it.  Too much oil and dries too slow I guess. Turned to gummy mess and I scraped it all off...

[rockkiller]

This is bocote..You may even know the guy I got it from😀

[Kirkll]

Loved Helmsman til I sprayed a bocote riser with it.  Too much oil and dries too slow I guess. Turned to gummy mess and I scraped it all off...

Have you played with the water base Helmsman finish yet?  I haven’t used it on bows because I prefer auto clear coating myself. But I sprayed some outdoor chairs and tables with the water base stuff and was seriously impressed with the longevity.  It’s been 2 years now with full UV exposure in summer and still looks pretty decent.     

[kennym]

Nope, I'm staying with the auto clearcoat rattlecan with the matte wheel finish over it to dull it.

I don't build enough bows to have a spray booth , or the room...

[Roy from Pa]

That the VHT, Kenny?

[kennym]

Actually the Duplicolor from O'reillys  but someone bought both and said looked identical on properties. Oreillys is 12 miles and advanced is 45

[Roy from Pa]

VHT is good paint. I bought new wheels for the utility trailer and sprayed them with VHT. 3 years later they still look new..

[Jon Lipovac]

For the guy that doesn't build many bows, I'm a fan of ML Campbells Krystal. That's all I've used on every bow I've ever done.
It's fairly inexpensive and a cheap Harbor Freight sprayer with a cheap 20 gallon air compressor is all you need. I use three build coats of Satin. Let dry over night, sand with 220/320 and the use Matte with one medium coat followed by several coats of high air, very low volumn. Just trying to dust it witout creating a sand or pebble type of texture.

The Swap Bow that Kenny just received was done in all Satin, as I ran out of Matte, with this method and turned out decent.

I've also been known to buff them down while not completely dry with a paper towel or VERY lightly with a green Scotchbrite sanding pad if needed. You just have to be careful with Scotchbrite that it doesn't look like you sanded it.

[kennym]

And Jon put an awesome finish on that one!!

[Kirkll]

Hey Jon… scotch Brite makes an extra fine pad in a gray color that works extremely well for between coats and knocking the shine off for a hand rubbed polished finish. Much better than the green pads….   Kirk