DIY Longbow

[Kindo]

You’ll want to seal the pauduck wood if not it’ll bleed and run. You can use bowyers cement (ca glue). I prefer sealing it with spray on shellac (bullseye). It dries in minutes and continues to soak in. I usually put on five to six coats. Then for finish I prefer Buffalo hide from big Jim or you can use Tbird they are the same. Only difference Jim is mixed with a little matte in it. I also like the way Buffalo hide goes on as well. I prefer to spray from farther away the last four to five coats to give it a speckled or textured finish. Bow looks awesome. Your correct it’s very addicting. Post the final pics


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Thanks Shawn. The paduak has been tricky, especially for a first bow. I had begun sealing it prior to your post and nothing really seemed to work very well. I’ll be sure and try your recommendations on the next one though.

I’ve got T-bird on the way and should be here tomorrow. I went ahead and ordered their grain filler too and will be putting a couple applications worth of that on my second one. Being in WI and it’s still pretty chilly, I’m trying to find the best way to get this thing sprayed.

 

[Te Hopo]

So how'd you get on Kindo?

In the past when I've been working with contrasting woods, I've sanded the project to whatever grit I'm happy with, masked off the light wood and then kept applying CA glue to the dark wood until it doesn't soak in anymore.
After it's all dried, the whole project can be lightly sanded with no worry about the dark sawdust getting into the pores of the light wood.

 

[Kindo]

I quickly lost interest in trying to get a nice clean look and just rolled with it! After it’s all said and done, it looked pretty good as-is.

I made a couple more that turned out well and now I’m working towards building up some ambition to make a new form for the winter. I’d like a bit more reflex/deflex if I can.