stuckinthemud
Established Member
I am about to complete a crossbow stock built from pretty knotty mulberry. How would you finish it? I am not set up for spraying, so brushed or rubbed finishes please.
Crossbow finish
- Thread starter stuckinthemud
- Start date
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MikeG.
Established Member
stuckinthemud":2eiahrxo said:
Smeared with the blood of heathens is traditional, isn't it?
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
TruOil.
Phil Pascoe":jiybqkru said:
TruOil is great stuff for this sort of thing. I've done a couple of rifle stocks with it and they look great several years later having spent hour outside in both baking sun and torrential rain.
Is it a full strength "shoot through 6 men in armour in a line" type of crossbow?
Make sure none of your pretty knots go all the way from top to bottom or you might get a very nasty snap back if it fails under load. Straight solid timber is best.
Of course if its a wall hanger, none of that applies. 8)
Make sure none of your pretty knots go all the way from top to bottom or you might get a very nasty snap back if it fails under load. Straight solid timber is best.
Of course if its a wall hanger, none of that applies. 8)
stuckinthemud
Established Member
Nope, 45lb pull, mostly destined to be a man-cave wall hanging. Didn't know tru-oil was available in the UK
profchris
Established Member
I've used Tru-Oil a lot for musical instruments. Easily available online, usually via eBay.
I recommend the smallest possible bottle, unless you are planning to build more in the near future. After a few months open it thickens and tends not to cure properly.
I recommend the smallest possible bottle, unless you are planning to build more in the near future. After a few months open it thickens and tends not to cure properly.
AJB Temple
Finely figured
We need a picture of this crossbow!
Do you mean 45 lb pull? That is barely anything for a crossbow surely? My limited knowledge of seeing them on display is that Medieval lightweight hunting bows had about 45 lbs pull (or a bit more) and war bows over 1000lb.
Do you mean 45 lb pull? That is barely anything for a crossbow surely? My limited knowledge of seeing them on display is that Medieval lightweight hunting bows had about 45 lbs pull (or a bit more) and war bows over 1000lb.
stuckinthemud
Established Member
Your not wrong, it is about the same as a kids archery bow, but I based it on the limit for re-enactment, and on something manageable for plinking fun without a spanning device. You can't put a figure on medieval draw weights as there are 3 or 4 materials (composite, steel, yew and yew/sinew) and numerous classes of crossbow, but they ranged from 150lb (early yew hunting lightweight) to 1200lb (late medieval military) . A figure of 500lb is probably a good ballpark for a light bow in the late medieval period
A tip I saw on here to counter this. Use a pin to make a hole in the foil, its plenty big enough. Then store the bottles upside down in a small tupperware tub.profchris":1l72eus9 said:
The sealer/grain filler is worth using too. A little of either goes a long way and if it's a sunny day you can apply lots of thin oil coats relatively quickly.
