Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Phillip K on June 30, 2008, 08:27:22 pm
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When Burnishing a bows back to help Tension which is better to use, hard wood, softwood or steel? Thanks,PK
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I don't like to mess with a bow back at all. Just clean it up and get to work on the belly. Justin
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Any kind of glass bottle or jar. My favorite is the tabasco sauce bottle. Also like the olive jar that is two or three times as long as it is wide. You get the idea. I think burnishing the back helps hold down splinters and just gives the back a good natural gloss, especially with an olily wood like Osage.
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Glass or bone.
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...im lost. ???
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Use hawgs tusks er bone like Hillbilly said.........bob
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for us hogless guys up north, we use some antler or cannon bone, er even a hardwood dowel piece. ;)
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It not what ya use there MBG its what ya grease it with as ya burnish ! ;).........bob
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i've only done it once, used glass on ipe, the ipe came out smoother and shinier than the shotglass that i was using.
tim
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Hey I forgot I got a piece of deer bone Dana M sent me for Christmas, it worked good for Mushin sinew and its nice and smooth.
I also got a glass guitar slide somewhere. Thanks for the tips,I never heard of burnishing A bow back before untill today.PK ::)
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I use a small wine bottle,any glass bottle will work just be sure they don't have a seam in them
that can mess up the back if you aren't careful. Also if you plan on staining it I would do that first,burnishing will make it hard to take the stain. :) I usuall do the back and edges but not the belly. :)
Pappy
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I use a piece of elk antler. Never tried glass....sounds interesting.
I always burnish before tillering, if it's not backed with sinew.
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8)
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I never burnish bow backs. Pat
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no consensus at all on this one
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I burnish the whole works, did a hickory today. without any finish at all it looked like it had 20 coats of poly on it!
Phil
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Radius, I think it helps to seal the bow from moisture but other than that I don't believe it does anything. JMO....
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I once read that you could use a smooth stone to burnish a bow, is that wrong?
Robb
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??? ??? ??? ??? ???
it not only helps compress the wood cells and makes them more flexible and resilient , it also gets down deep into the wood and "fills" some of the old dry pours where there used to be moisture, it works in fat so the bow is more waterproof,if most of the old lemonwood and Osage bows were burnished with fat, they would still be shooters today...instead of wallhangers , too brittle to shoot.
jmo.
mbg
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I do believe it helps,I don't do it to all my bows but I do to most I plan to hunt with,I know
it will help seal out moisture and if it dose nothing else that is enough for me ,no more trouble than it is to do. :)
Pappy
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I just finished a hickory that I burnished the whole thing. All I know is that it did not take stain worth a hoot.
I used a peace of sooth metal to burnish with. David
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im with you on the stain part. i just put 3 coats of dark walnut stain on and it still looks like just one! ::) oh well you live you learn. just takes a little while longer....
Phil
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You have to stain it first,I also learned that the hard way.I don't usually stain mine but if I do
and plan on burnishing it I stain first. :)
Pappy
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I burnished bows when I first started, but not anymore. I never noticed that it did anything one way or the other.
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I prefer to burnish the back only of my white wood bows but have done it with osage. I like to use the cannon bone like MBG. I've raised splinters on hickory and ash in the past without burnishing the back and just take the time to add a little insurance to the project. Now, I haven't had any problems like that since, but my tillering is better than it was and that may have more to do with splinters, not sure. I think it all lies within your personal preferences.
Tracy
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one problem i have found with burnishing is on the handle. When the handle is all shaped and contoured, it can be difficult to burnish every little spot, and then the appearance of the thing is flawed: Most of it is glossy and smooth, with a few spots in the hollows where it is dullish. That being said, i do like the feel of the burnished wood in hand.
I don't usually stain wood, but i have done so. My first really good bow was a 70 inch hickory flatbow pulliing 75# at 28"...I burnished the back and hit it with "puritan pine" stain, and the stain took evenly and looks great even now.
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I do it too most of my bows, i think it helps hold them together at least a bit. The fibers are compressed so they are closer together.
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If I might kick this thread up again, I just finished tillering a primitive choke cherry bow. With this thread on burnishing - I thought I might give it a try. The wood is light and dry, it sounds like it might be a good candidate. It may help maintain its life and longevity.
But I was hoping I could get some feedback first on what to do, what not to do.
Like...
Do you oil/grease it; before and/or as you're burnishing?
If so, what oil do you recommend?
Pappy mentioned that if we are to stain, to stain first - this makes sense
Seems to me, after burnishing, there's no need for a final finish (other than keeping it oiled over time), correct?
Thanks all.
Mike
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Yes you do need to stain it first,I do use oil but I know some that do.I burnish it and then
seal just like normal.If you used oil or grease I would say that would be all it would need except adding a little grease now and then. Let me know how it turns out. :) I do know it
will really slick the wood up.
Pappy
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Thanks Pappy - - what is it you use as oil/grease?
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I rub 2 or 3 coats of beef tallow or even hog lard into my bows real good, and then after all that has soaked in as much as its going to, I rub off the excess and then burnish. You don't need to oil as you burnish, the 2 or 3 oats will already be in the wood when you do it and be more than enough. After it is all slick and shiny, I sometimes add a light coating of lindseed oil as a final coating to add more durable protection against moistre.
Beef tallow highly preferred as a burnishing oil, but just rub into the wood before not during.
=Matt
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Beef tallow? Where do you get that?
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I get jugs for free because my dad raises cattle for market. But I imagine you'd have to go to a meet locker or beef slaughterhouse and you might get it pretty cheap, if not free. Don't even try at most supermarkets. They usually carry hog lard, which also works, but hardly ever carry beef tallow.
I started using it because a cow is obviously very similar to a buffalo and the buffalo hunter used buffalo fat for their bows. You will love the look it gives your dry wood, really makes it come to life. Make it the very first thing that goes on your bow. Apply directly to the dry wood and watch what happens.
-Matt
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I got a new mixture of Beef Fat charcoal and beez wax, I burnished my last bow back and belly looks Antique and has kept the feathering off the Belly.PK Good Day
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Thanks Matt -
I just did a little more reading and it appears that tallow is rendered fat. So my curiosity is piqued, why would your dad have jugs of it? Seems like there is a possibly laborious process involved in making tallow. I'm new to this tallow stuff... I could be very wrong.
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Yes, it is rendered fat, which is another way of saying lard, which is why hog lard, bear lard, and probably a host of other animal's lards would work. "Beef Tallow" is just a fancy way of saying "cow lard".
If you don't know--a meat locker butchers your livestock for you and you have to tell them what you want out of the animal and how, and you can either take it or you can let them keep it if you don't want it. When my dad takes cattle to be butchered for meat, each one has its own fat. My dad has the choice of asking for it to be returned to him, along with the meat, or he can tell the meat locker they can keep it if he has no use for it. I just ask him to keep a jug for me every now and then.
Clearer now :)
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I always keep some deer Tallow of the deer I take,it is that thick white layer over the red meat.
you can get pices off the hind 1/4 that are an inch thick on well feed deer.A little goes a long way.
I also use it on my broad heads to keep them from rusting. :)
Pappy