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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: stykbow67 on March 01, 2009, 09:48:00 AM
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I have a question about laminating bows. I have been building my own longbows and this time I used Indian Rose Wood with an accent stripe of Osage in the riser. When I was ready to put a finish on I used Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane. I've used this on my other bows with no problems. This time the the riser wood is not drying but everything else is dry. The riser is still slightly tacky after 16 hours of drying. Is this normal? Does it have something to do with the Indian Rose wood? If it doesn't dry completely can it be removed from the riser without damage? Looking forward to your help and ideas. Thanks Steve
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Some tropical wood react adversely with modern finishes. I believe that some folks will seal certain woods first(with super glue {?} ) before adding their finish. You will probably have to remove the tacky finish with a solvent first.
I don't know any of this from first hand knowledge but read it here and on other sites.
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Do as Pat said, youcan also seal with shellac on oily woods. If youlook up super glue finish there are several threads on how to do it.
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Super glue is the way to go. Seal the whole riser with it and sand it back down with high grit paper. I use about 400 grit. Add a second coat it needed. If not then you can use your normal finish and it should be fine. I've had the same problems with cocobolo, bocote, and wenge.
Adam
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Urethanes dont like to dry on super glue too- well either. It may take a few days to dry on top of the super glue but it will dry eventually.
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I just superglued some wenge to fill the pores,the Minwax spar worked fine on it. Pau Ferro is another I've had trouble with.
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i learn this the hard way also.mine was Bacote.I found that the water based polyurethane hardens quicker without as much fuss.i thought the Helmsmen would work better for outdoor bow use.
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with some woods this is caused by oils in the wood.
wiping the wood down with plenty of acetone will remove them in that case
over some stains, such as one color or other of minwax's polyshades, i've had spar urethane fail to dry completely in moderate munidity and low temperatures because the stain wasn't as dry as i'd thought. my solution was to rub the limbs dry with suede, and re-spray in a drier environment. the 3" mailing tubes i use make a good drying tube. i point a hair drier into one end, and seal the seam with a towel, being sure not to cover the drier's intake, and put it on a low setting. this blows dry air across it untill all the volatiles are gone. if that dosen't work, you can be pretty sure [assuming i'm right here] that it's oils.
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I have also had problems with any kind of urathane finises on oily woods. Bocote in particular. I use one finish now pretty much on all my bows. You can get it at Sherrin Williams. It is called Water White conversion varnish. It is a catalized varnish requiring 3% catalist added to the product. Comes in bright, satin and dull rubbed . It is a great finish but is available only in gallons (about $40) and the catalist in quarts (about $18).. Thats a bit of cash but will finish many many bows.
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i should look into that. i've noticed in some of my short limbed bows a tendency for the spar urethane to crack under compression, as on the bellies of the limbs of the bend gets too deep. now these are bows who's limits i'm pushing in the first place, but i would like to find an alternative that might offset this problem anyway.
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Thanks for all the suggestions guy's,the superglue trick worked like a charm soon as I get it done I'll try to post some pics