Bear Grease

[Justin Snyder]

I never used bear grease but have used bacon grease on bows and arrows. Excellent waterproofer. Jawge

Best part about using bacon grease is it also works as a lure while hunting bears.  They smell the grease and come for dinner.  Justin

[Coo-wah-chobee]

 Like Justin said. PLUS ifn ya get hungry ya can EAT yer bow. Just ask Ralph Welch ! .....bob

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Ok Pat lets see. Formaldehyde is a colorless odorless gas that is the byproduct of various things. From what I can remember from basic chemistry a LONG time ago its chemical designation is HCHO, me thinks. Please keep in mind that chemistry is not my field and I prefer ta stay non-scientific. Iam a primitive archer. Well, some foks would say just plain primitive !   Most would be familiar with wood smoke, it has the formaldehyde compound in it. Its a resin and binder. Interestin, could it help bind the resins an polymers in wood ? It can produce irritation to the eyes, mucous membranes, upper respiratory system etc. Over exposure can cause serious health problems. The medical field used it extensively in past years but not so much today.  Hmm........... vapor barrier ! I would prefer ta call it vapor retarder. Water (vapor ) moves in an out of all porous products as we know. Wood is one of those. Most smoke a hide after ya brain tan it. A byproduct of this process among others, is that the formaldehyde in the smoke waterproofs (somewhat ), softens and has excellent bug retardent properties. When I was a lad the elders that taught me ta make bows said ta always build a smudge fire and smoke the wood after ya grease it an bone it hard. Not everytime but once in a while especially in wet weather. The smudge fire had ta be of the wood the bow was so "the spirit of the wood can reenter " Since cultural dictates say ya never question an elder I just accepted it. I always wondered about this and years later bein' a growed up Indian I asked my Grandfather about it. He said " Not good enuf explanation fer ya huh ? " Oops ! "Yes Grandfather good enuf ! "   I know that I have built bows from wood that was not smoked and they had more string follow than those that were smoked. I believe that the formaldahyde helps harden the resins and helps cure the wood. Then the bear grease er hawg grease waterproofs it.  One thing I dont like about the various varnishes and urethanes is they stay on the surface . I prefer a penetrant . As the water leaves the wood my impression is that the grease enters and takes the place of the water so the cells dont collapse. Btw formaldehyde is a natural byproduct of human cell activity. The more grease in wood the less water vapor transpiration. As I said Iam not scientific but it appears as I have said in my longtime experience. As far as "spirit of the wood reentering " I will leave ya all ta make that decision fer yerselves as to its veracity or not . .....bob

[DanaM]

Dang bob thats the most I've seen ya say since I joined this site
Formeldahyde was also used to preserve them baby pigs ya dissected in high school

So bob will good old unsalted Oscar Meyer lard work as a vapor retardant? I don't have a bear handy at the moment
I got a bow from jamie in the x-mas trade and he said he used deer grease, its hickory and I want to keep her greased.

[Coo-wah-chobee]

   Yeah ........Dont know where that came from (loose lips .) Crisco will work fine bone it inta bow. Steal from wifes kitchen cupboard ifn ya feel lucky er daring ! Never heard of Oscar Meyer's lard before..........bob

[DanaM]

She uses the butter flavor crisco Oscar Meyer lard is just rendered pig fat I do believe nice and pure.
The lumberjacks up here used to eat lard sandwiches in the winter, it gave them energy and kept them warm

[jamie]

exactly what bob said. i have built and rebuilt the same longhouse and wigwams for our local museum. we rebuild because the bark rots out. natural process yes but my buddies wigwam hasnt been rebuilt since it was built 10 yrs ago. why? because we use his and we have fires going in it alot. the smoke helps to preserve the bark as well as kill off mold that forms in the damp bark. the houses at the museum dont get fires in em unless i do it and im not there often enough. we decided to use that decking sealer to see if it helps. bark sheathing had to be replacedafter 1 1/2years just like it always does. smoke and fat work great. peace

[Electricfrontporch]

cool stuff guys. I have never used bear grease but ive always preferred oil finishes as opposed to polyeurathane and other modern types. They seem to keep the wood more stable in my opinion.  Is any animal fat usable. We raise goats and they get plenty fat. Anyone have any insight on the rendering process?

[El Destructo]

Goat Fat will do just fine....I have used Antelope...same difference....Chop the fat into at least 1" cubes.....smaller is better.... taking any meat chunks off in the process..... Some folks put it through a meat grinder..... anyway you want small pieces... otherwise you won't get as much fat out.

Heat your oven to 225°F.... I use my cast iron dutch oven to render lard in.... Put about a quarter-inch of water at the bottom of the pot.... this keeps the fat from browning too much at the beginning, the water will burn off in time.... Add your chopped fat.... Put it in the oven for at least a couple of hours.... stirring now and then. Eventually the chunks will look the same after an hour as they did before....this is the Time to chuck the Chunks...and put all of the Lard in a Can to cool......damn thats the longest post I have made yet....what a rant!!!

[Electricfrontporch]

thanks for the info yankee. ill give it a shot the next time we butcher one

[Pat B]

Bob, thanks for the formaldehyde tutorial. Very interesting. I guess the wood shavings from your bow would work well for a smudge fire to smoke it.
   Dana, my favorite finish for a primitive hickory bow is grease and ground charcoal. The grain soaks up the charcoal and gives a nice look and you already know about the grease.      Pat

[welch2]

Great thread guys.
I just keep a mason jar by the stove ,well my wife does . But I steal ,,,uh take. bacon grease from the jar for my bows. It will separate on it's own in the jar into oil on top and grease on the bottom of the jar.  I always put oil on the first couple of coats and finish up with grease. And bone it in, like Bob says.

And I ain't admittin' to eating a bow ,But they sure smell good for a bit. 

Ralph

[Justin Snyder]

I have a friend that saves all the bacon grease like that. He smears it on his bread like butter and eats it.  I can feel my arteries turning to rock every time I see it. I don't think Greg is even that hungry.  Justin

[jamie]

i just felt my heart flutter readin that