I am in the process of making some more wooden arrows. With this set I used 3 coats of Danish Oil as the finish. After a week it was still 'tacky', so what to do? I went on the 'net' and psoted the problem about the sticky finish. The solution posted was rub it down with olive oil and buff to a gloss finish. Guess what - it worked. Maybe this tip might be useful to other 'woodie' makers.
Danish Oil Finish
- Thread starter albatross
- Start date
I use 18mm central heating or water pipe....... stopped-up at the bottom, with the top part of a 0.5 / 1L / 2L drinks bottle stuffed on the top of the pipe to act as an expansion tank, as you dip your full-length bare-shafts into either 40:60 or 50:50 Yacht Varnish : Turps (DON'T use 'White Spirit substitute'). A plastic wine-bottle 'cork' acts as a good stopper to prevent your varnish mix going-off until you next need to dip.
Allow to drip-drain for a few seconds then prop them up somewhere dust-free (I use sprung-loaded wooden clothes-pegs to grip the top, and then hang them for a few hours. On subsequent dippings, I then invert the bare-shaft and dip and hang from the other end; repeat for (say) 4 or 6 coats depending on your varnish dilution ~ less viscous mix will give thinner coats).
The first dip will put some solvent into the wood grain and soften the spine slightly, but subsequent coats of varnish (when dried) will stiffen them back up again (which is why I dip the full length shafts and not pre-spined cut-down ones...... you risk changing the spine rating if you cut them before dipping!). Dipped arrows have a much more even coating than hand applied varnish and look and feel much nicer. Technically, they probably fly a little bit faster through a Chrono too?
When fully dried (4~6 coats over 2 days or so) I then sharpen both ends to take an arrow pile; place one piled end of the arrow on a piece of hard wood (or a small shallow countersunk depression in a plate of metal or hard plastic), and with the arrow vertical, I press gently on the other end (with a similar plate) to see which way the shaft wishes to bend naturally. Rotate the arrow shaft slightly and repeat, to ensure it continues to flex to the same side of the arrow: that side then becomes my cock-fletch side [mark it with a spirit-based pen, which you can then wipe off later once you've completed bare-shaft spine checking / shortening, and adding your fletchings].
A varnish coat looks quite snazzy and serves three purposes :
When it comes to nocks, choose a plastic that has good UV fluorescence (the lime green ones are excellent and seem to glow even in daylight when the visible light begins to fade at dusk, or on a cloudy day. They are easy to find in the grass if you have a UV torch with you.
I drill a tiny c.0.5mm hole through the throat of my nocks using a dremel type PCB drill-bit; this allows air and excess hot-melt glue to escape, giving good nock-to-wood contact and prevents a pressurised air bubble being trapped under the nock tip. If you hit one it just pings apart and any remainder can be easily pulled-off by placing the busted nock in the steam of a kettle spout or cup of hot water. I NEVER use superglues on my arrow nocks, and if I ever buy commercially made arrows, I remove their nocks and replace them. Commercially glued nocks always cause the arrow shaft to split when they are Robin-Hooded, because they are more or less welded to the arrow shaft.
Allow to drip-drain for a few seconds then prop them up somewhere dust-free (I use sprung-loaded wooden clothes-pegs to grip the top, and then hang them for a few hours. On subsequent dippings, I then invert the bare-shaft and dip and hang from the other end; repeat for (say) 4 or 6 coats depending on your varnish dilution ~ less viscous mix will give thinner coats).
The first dip will put some solvent into the wood grain and soften the spine slightly, but subsequent coats of varnish (when dried) will stiffen them back up again (which is why I dip the full length shafts and not pre-spined cut-down ones...... you risk changing the spine rating if you cut them before dipping!). Dipped arrows have a much more even coating than hand applied varnish and look and feel much nicer. Technically, they probably fly a little bit faster through a Chrono too?
When fully dried (4~6 coats over 2 days or so) I then sharpen both ends to take an arrow pile; place one piled end of the arrow on a piece of hard wood (or a small shallow countersunk depression in a plate of metal or hard plastic), and with the arrow vertical, I press gently on the other end (with a similar plate) to see which way the shaft wishes to bend naturally. Rotate the arrow shaft slightly and repeat, to ensure it continues to flex to the same side of the arrow: that side then becomes my cock-fletch side [mark it with a spirit-based pen, which you can then wipe off later once you've completed bare-shaft spine checking / shortening, and adding your fletchings].
A varnish coat looks quite snazzy and serves three purposes :
1) if your arrows are lost in the wet undergrowth or the ground for a few hours, they won't turn into bananas (which oiled shafts still seem to do, in my experience).
2) if you score any flat greens and your fletchings are obscured, then a walk-back into the sun will often give you a glint off the varnish to help locate them visually.
3) the varnish gives a good contact for fletching tape, and also makes it easier to re-fletch when yer' feathers become worn (cue kettle spout steam to soften the tape adhesive before removal). I hate using superglues on feather fletchings!
I also put a tiny blob of PVA wood glue on the leading edge of each fletch. Don't worry if that appears to be too much... it will shrink down and clarify as it dries and you won't even know it's there.... very useful for eliminating feather cuts if your bowstring nocking point is too low, and your arrows are hitting your hand.
When it comes to nocks, choose a plastic that has good UV fluorescence (the lime green ones are excellent and seem to glow even in daylight when the visible light begins to fade at dusk, or on a cloudy day. They are easy to find in the grass if you have a UV torch with you.
I drill a tiny c.0.5mm hole through the throat of my nocks using a dremel type PCB drill-bit; this allows air and excess hot-melt glue to escape, giving good nock-to-wood contact and prevents a pressurised air bubble being trapped under the nock tip. If you hit one it just pings apart and any remainder can be easily pulled-off by placing the busted nock in the steam of a kettle spout or cup of hot water. I NEVER use superglues on my arrow nocks, and if I ever buy commercially made arrows, I remove their nocks and replace them. Commercially glued nocks always cause the arrow shaft to split when they are Robin-Hooded, because they are more or less welded to the arrow shaft.
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I use Danish oil to finish, applied with a brush then, buff of excess with a lint free cloth. Perhaps when you first applied the oil the coat was too thick for the wood to absorb before becoming too thick.
I'm guessing the olive oil then buff worked because it loosened the thickened Danish oil and the buffing removed the excess. It's a good trick to know though.
I'm guessing the olive oil then buff worked because it loosened the thickened Danish oil and the buffing removed the excess. It's a good trick to know though.
