Oil rub arrow finish?

[David Petersen]

#5917

Do any of you use oil rubs for wood arrow shafts rather than lacquer, poly, etc? I believe Kevin Forrester said he did, and the hardwood shafts of his that I saw were gorgeous. I’m fixing to build another dozen spruce arrows and would like to try using an oil rather than a hard finish, but what kind–tung oil?–and will fletching glue stick to it? And can a water-based stain be used under a rubbed oil finish? It’s a whole new experiment, for me. Your experienced advice would be appreciated. Dave

[gigglemonk]

#45997

I use tung and Danish oils a lot. The superglue I use holds fine and yes, a water based stain will work fine under the oil.

Show ’em off when they’re ready!

[David Petersen]

#46090

Thanks, Giggles. Which do you prefer and why, Danish or Tung. My ancestry is Danish … a mixed blessing and curse and nothing to do with the oils, I’m sure. If you don’t mind, please explain to me how you apply them–pain on and rub in with a soft cloth? I haven’t a clue, though maybe if I resorted to the Bowyer’s Bible arrow-making section there would be something on it there. Finally, I assume you are satisfied with the result or you wouldn’t use it? I have never liked shiny bows or arrows. Great to look at but like hunting with mirrors.

[jpcarlson]

#48251

Dave,

I will second the statement you can use water based dyes/stains under an oil. Just make sure your dye is dry before oiling. Sand to finish with some 200 gr or higher. I like to use cheep sponge brushes for the oil. Apply liberally and let it soak in. Lighter woods will absorb more oil, something to think about if you are trying to keep weight distribution even. I brush on my oils, let them sit a bit (depending on how warm it is where I am finishing, then wipe off the excess with a rag and let them dry. I like the Danish oils but they can get a little shiny. They have a drying agent in them. Tung oil is a great oil finish too. You can get buttery smooth matt finishes with it. Again just wipe on until you have the amount you want, then wipe off before it gets tacky and let air dry. Show us pics when you get them done!

Jans

[David Petersen]

#48392

Thanks for the clarifications, Jans. Think I’ll go with Tung for the softer finish. Just one coat? I hadn’t thought about the oil adding weight–though I’ve long used standard dip finished to even out the weight of shafts, by dipping lighter shafts more times to bring their weight up to equal heavier shafts in a batch. I’ll track it with the scale. These spruce shafts are supposed to run about 350, which, with a 300-grain head gives the magic 650 minimum, so I can easily afford to let them gain a bit of weight as my idea of the perfect weight is 700, though that cuts FOC. Yes, I’ll take pics and boast if they’re any good. Otherwise you’ll never hear about it again. 😛 Thanks.

[David Petersen]

#49210

I just bought a small can of Tung oil — my but they’re proud of that stuff! Can’t believe the cost, but I’m hoping it will go a long ways.

Meanwhile, has anyone ever finished arrows by rubbing with bee’s wax? I know some primitive bowyers use it on selfbows, but I’m thinking it might create too much friction for arrows? And what about shine?

After many years and countless dozens of arrows built, I’m just rather disappointed with the durability of all standard finishes, namely lacquer and poly, and they seems to have enough friction to pick up lots of foam when shot into foam targets. And with poly, the low-gloss finishes really wear off fast. While the high-gloss lasts much longer, it shines like a mirror. Thanks

[Ralph]

#49260

David, I’ve used tung oil and I liked it. I also took weight off a longbow and refinished it with tung oil. I love the deep sheen that it produces. I put it on with a soft cloth. Let it dry, used really fine steel wool then a 2nd coat. Was good.

[jpcarlson]

#49569

Dave,

As far as how many coats to apply? That depends on how durable of a finish you want, or how much weight you are trying to add or avoid. You can add quite a bit of weight to softer woods with oil, but you need to do it with the first 1 or 2 coats when the wood pores are open and able to absorb the oil. Tung oil also has some drying agent in it and once it is dry, it starts to seal the grain. It will absorb most through the end grain. If you want them heavy, I would put them in a dip tube filled with oil and let them sit for a day or two before pulling them out to dry. If you are going for a lighter shaft, just apply, let it sit a few minutes, then wipe it off. I would do this several times, a minimum of three but better with six. Any oil finish gains strength/thickness through multiple layers/coats. The process of wipe on, wipe off will keep it from getting shiny. If you have any kind of heat at home or in the shop, watch how long you let the shafts stay wet before wiping them off. Oil is real fickle if left to dry to the point of getting tacky. In heat, or a warm day, this will only take about 5-7 minutes. Tung oil is not cheap, but it is a good oil. I like the Lundstroms brand which comes in a gallon jug for about 20-30$ last I checked. I would think a dip tube would be a good way to put it on if doing a whole batch of shafts, but anything will work. Let us know if you play with adding weight to your shaft through the oil finish.

Hope this helps,

Jans

[David Petersen]

#50048

Thanks for the voice of experience, guys. I love it that after a long lifetime involved in trad archery there are seemingly always new things to learn, and learning is always fun. The shafts are in, so we’ll soon find out.

Jans, at the local hardware store I paid $16 for a pint!

[jpcarlson]

#50604

$16 per pint?!!!! That’s thievery!

Sometimes a guy can find it for a good price at a larger store. It shouldn’t cost as much as they were charging you, then again, supply and demand influenced by location is a crazy thing.

Jans

[Forresterwoods]

#52656

Dave,

I’ve had good luck with the TEAK oil. Unlike many oils which tend to gum up, the teak oil drys quickly to the touch. In 72 hrs urethane or cresting can be applied. (It soaks into the grain well). Also it can be buffed with wool later to slick up the surface again. Fun to use.

Kevin Forrester

[David Petersen]

#52699

Thanks, Kevin; I’ll look into it. Your arrows have a warm soft luster to them, but they are hardwood rather than spruce. Still, that’s what got me interested in oil as an arrow finish, and Teak is far cheaper than Tung! As I recall, those shafts were oiled with no other finish on top? I hope to be done with poly and lacquer, as both tend to run and eventually crack. Another fun experiment to undertake.

[Ralph]

#52727

Whah, so it’s the poly and not the rocks. Good to know. Thanks David 😆

I’m ordering some Surewood shafts tomorrow and I will try to find some teak oil.

[David Petersen]

#52759

Ralph, if the rocks down there in TX are as hard as the average Texan’s head … no wonder? :P:lol:

[Ralph]

#52761

Yep, we can butt heads all day long and feelings don’t get hurt 😀 Kinda hard on foreigners though.

[Forresterwoods]

#52989

That reminds me of centuries gone by where primitive people everywhere took care of their hunting equipment. On icy cold mornings, arrows, quivers, and bowd were held near a.fire to prevent the frozen equipment from breaking…or worse…scaring game with a bad shot. The best way to know your equipment, Is a hands on lifestyle. We may have exchanged bair grease

for teak oil but the activities are the same…to know your equipment, the land, then the game. Shoot straight but shoot often.

Kevin Forrester

[Ralph]

#55481

Teak oil work over a minwax stain?

[Forresterwoods]

#56250

R2 wrote: Teak oil work over a minwax stain?

On light colored woods I use a cherry stain then I rub the eccess off imediately then teak oil over the stain while it’s still wet. That will help to make a light stain colored oil finish. I don’t go for thick stains….or stains on darker woods. I find a light stain on certain woods brings.out the wood grains…and the oil brings out the luster.

Kevin Forrester

[Ben M.]

#57757

What brand tung oil does everyone prefer? I understand there’s a lot of variation from brand to brand. Out of the brands that are 100% tung oil, it seems some are processed differently than others and produce a different end result. (Hard finish/soft finish.) Also, from a little internet research, it appears most people prefer mixing 100% tung oil with either turpentine or mineral spirits before application. Anyone do that?

[Ben M.]

#14105

When I glue fletching on lacquer-sealed arrows I always clean the area with denatured alcohol first. Do you folks who use oil rub do the same? Does it affect the finish in any way?

I’m working on a batch of oil-rubbed arrows right now. I’ll post pics when they’re finished.

[David Petersen]

#14118

Ben, I just bought the brand the local hardware store sells. Being a newby to oil finishing I didn’t know there was a difference.

I want to second your question about fletching glue and oil finish. I have a dozen self-nocked spruce arrows finished with three coats of rubbed Tung oil, ready to go other than fletching, which I’m hold off on applying until I get a chance to bare-shaft the arrows to my inbound new selfbow. Frankly I never gave it a thought until you raised the question. I strongly suspect there’s no problem since Tung “oil” isn’t the least oily. But it’s still a good question, as well as preferred glues.

[Ben M.]

#14128

Well, I’ve finished hickory axe handles with Formby’s brand “Tung Oil Finish” but its name is misleading. Like most tung oil “finishes”, Formby’s is a mixture of tung oil and a solvent (like mineral spirits or turpentine). Thus, it is a varnish and not pure tung oil. On these arrows I used Hope brand 100% pure tung oil and didn’t thin it with any solvent. I’m five coats in on hickory shafts and so far it’s looking great. The oil appears to dry hard and leave no tacky residue.

[Ben M.]

#14132

Dave,

I meant to add that, like you said, the tung oil “finishes” I’ve used aren’t the least bit oily. This is the first time I’ve used 100% tung oil and the pure stuff is very oily. It smells something like peanut oil and is quite viscous. Much more viscous than boiled linseed oil.

[David Petersen]

#14170

Ben, thanks for the heads-up on Tung oil vs. finish. The learning process continues. Indeed I am using Minwax Tung oil finish, something like $16 for a pint! What did you pay for the real thing? I’m sure it would be cheaper to buy it pure and thin it yourself. I’m pleased with it so far, but the arrows haven’t yet been put into service so I have no idea how well it will hold up. But judging from the weight gain, the wood soaked it up pretty deeply so it should last a while, and be quite easy to touch up. I’m done with gasket lacquer and poly, for wood arrows as well as any wood bows I may build in future. The only “advantage” I see to the hard-surface dip finishes is shine, which I don’t need.

[Ben M.]

#14244

I tried hard but couldn’t find pure tung oil for sale in my area so I bought a quart on amazon.com for $19.05. In my experience, the tung oil finishes like Minwax and Formby’s are pretty easy to retouch. A little sanding, a few thin re-coats, a guy can hardly tell the difference.

One thing I’ve found about using pure oil: make each coat thin and don’t apply more coats than the wood can absorb. It’s a slow process that can’t be rushed. I once oiled an axe handle with many, many more coats of linseed oil than the (hickory) wood could absorb and it turned into a gummy mess. Wound up removing most of it with turpentine and re-finishing the handle. I’d expect 100% tung oil would do the same.

[parthur]

#19762

It’s been awhile, but I too have used Tung oil (Minwax I believe) and I was very happy with the results.

I stained with golden oak, applied 3 coats of tung oil with a light application of fine steel wool in between. The color was as close to Osage Orange as you could get!

I used Duco cement for the fletching and nocks and it stuck just fine.

Good luck!

[David Petersen]

#19777

Thanks for the glue info, parthur, and welcome to tradbow. Dave

[parthur]

#20425

Thanks David. It’s been 3 years now since I have visited this site. It is good to see that it is still the same friendly place that it’s always been.

Pete

[Ben M.]

#21391

Well, here’s my first attempt at oil-rubbed arrows.

These arrows were, originally, my first attempt with hickory shafts and I made a few mistakes. First, I cold-straightened the shafts, which quickly returned to their original shape. Second, in an attempt to highlight the grain, I stained the shafts with Minwax ‘natural’ stain before dipping them in Bohning gasket lacquer. The lacquer began flaking off even before the points were glued on. These arrows never flew true, and have been sitting around in the junk bucket for more than a year now. So I removed the points, stripped the fletching, and sanded the shafts. The alcohol-based red dye was impossible to remove so I wound up dying the entire shaft. After it dried, each shaft got 5 coats of Hope brand 100% pure tung oil. The fletching is a mix of some leftover True Flight and wild turkey.

Junker arrows.

Finished oil-rubbed arrows. The arrow second from top is an exceptionally straight shaft I’ve been saving for hunting. I left it uncrowned/crested to see how oil affects the raw wood. For comparison, the arrow at top is lacquered.

I was hoping these pictures would show the difference between the glossy lacquered arrow and the matte oiled arrows, but I’m a pretty lousy photographer. Use a little imagination…

[Forresterwoods]

#21654

Very nice looking arrows. Teak oil is best in my opinion. Easy to apply, handle, drys quick…I just wipe den. alcohol for fletching. Shows the grain well and polishes up nicely with a wool sock after use. Kevin Forrester

[David Petersen]

#21976

Kevin — I already have a jug of Tung oil finish, and really like the way it went on and looks on the spruce arrows I’m currently building. Yet to see how well it stands up to target wear, rain, etc. When that’s gone I will try teak next time around, as, if you recall, I asked about the finish on your shafts, it had such a lovely warm glow that I couldn’t tell for sure if it had a finish or they had just been carefully burnished. Then, last, I’ll try Danish and will have gone from knowing nothing about any oil finishes to having tried and compared them all. But that’s a few dozen arrows and a few wood bows down the line.

[grumpy]

#23760

Crankcase oil.

[Leo Carrisalez]

#29469

How long should I wait prior to fletching? Im off to a big box store to buy my Tung oil. I just purchased some Cedar shafts for my Daughter and want to surprise her with some spiffy new arrows for our Fall hunt.

[David Petersen]

#29532

Tex — I used three coats of Tung oil finish, a day apart. I would think it’s perfectly fine to glue on the feathers a day after the final coat. The stuff is thin and you have to wipe it off within about 5 minutes of applying or it gets tacky. Wipe it real good, then a final wipe the following day and it seems bone dry. I had something come up and it was a couple of days before I applied fletching, using Duco and it’s a really solid bond. Another great thing about oil vs. a hard finish is that when you get a scratch or small nick in the wood, just wipe over it with a bit of oil and the flaw becomes invisible and you’re ready to shoot again. Why the heck did it take me 50 years to learn about this? 🙄

[Leo Carrisalez]

#35483

ok guys I’ve already wiped down a dozen shafts and sanded them with wool 3 times. Now, what is the final step… do i end with sanding again and wiping with mineral spirits or do i end with another wiping of Tung oil and then sanding or just wiping. This sound crazy but im trying to follow the instructions of experience.. Help

thanks guys

BTW…they do look sharp

[David Petersen]

#37479

I’m as new at this as you are, Tex. I did no sanding between coats, but merely burnished the shafts before applying the oil. Rather than sanding I simply “polished” them real good between coats, and I’m fully happy. By now they’ve been in and out of a foam target dozens of times and so far, no sign of wear. That’s all I know …

[Leo Carrisalez]

#37573

Thanks Mr. Petersen. Ive been following every word here on this thread and my excitement for learning new ways to skin a cat grows with every post. I really do like using Tung Oil rather than having to lacquer. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge here.

[Author]

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