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Authentic middle age finish on bows

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lostarrow:
Not sure but I think he's referring to an era a few hundred years prior to that ,  Robbie.  A lot changed in that many years.

adb:

--- Quote from: Robby101 on September 11, 2013, 01:04:33 pm ---This may help you a bit.
http://www.newportrestoration.org/sup/files/paint_18th_century_newport.pdf
Robby

--- End quote ---

Warbows where long gone by the 18th century.

mikekeswick:
The Turkish were using highly refined varnishes by this time. Rmember these people weren't numb nuts! They would certainly have had a very durable finish on the bows ....there is no way they would have put up with losing 20 yds distance due to humidity on the battlefield.
Try making your own varnish from pine tree resin as a start.

Robby101:
This was just a quick search on my part. I am sure similar finish was used in the long bow era and even before. Many of these recipe's were discovered lost and rediscovered many times over. long before the Mary Rose set sail. Those folks were no less intelligent than modern day man, and as usual people tend to equate intelligence with technological development, not the same.

Robby101:
Mikekeswick, I am not sure a varnish was made from pine resin, but turpentine was for sure and was mixed with boiled linseed oil as a drying agent. It was definitely a component of early varnishes.
As far as the long bow being long gone by the eighteenth century, perhaps not as long, and gone as you might think. No less than the genius of Benjamin Franklin pondered and wrote about the use of the long bow in our struggle for independence!
Robby

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