Authentic middle age finish on bows

[Ifrit617]

I have an English longbow that I am finishing up and want to use an authentic finish as used in the middle ages. I assume so type of grease or wax was used, but does anyone know exactly what was used? Any input would be awesome. Thanks.

Jon

[adb]

I think they used beeswax and rubbed it in.

[WillS]

This may be rubbish, so take it with a pinch of salt, but I believe that a large number of medieval bows were painted with various ingredients.  To them, the look of the bow was far less important than the resilience to weather conditions such as intense sunshine or rain, so they wouldn't have cared whether or not they could see the wood grain and so on.  Lots of the Mary Rose bows were definitely painted, some with a black mixture I assume was soot mixed in with various oils and waxes.

I think, personally, if you're going to "go medieval" you should theoretically paint the entire thing with a soot and wax compound.  However, to modern eyes that seems a shameful cover-up of what is usually a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, so maybe a slightly less genuine finish of beeswax as Adam said.

I've found that making up your own paste from pure beeswax, boiled linseed oil and some form of spirit works very well in all weathers, leaves a stunning rich patina and also dries to form a hard clear coat, unlike only using beeswax which can end up getting a tad mucky!

[Del the cat]

... Lots of the Mary Rose bows were definitely painted...

I don't think I've seen any reference to this.
Some of 'em are pretty dark but I'm not sure there is any actual surface layer that's been applied.
To me they all looked like natural wood.
Is it mentioned in Weapons of Warre?... I can't be bothered to wade through my copy at the mo' ?
I'd have thought all the commonly available materials at the time could have been used to wipe over it, but I'd guess beeswax/animal fat as the most readilly available. Plenty of soot about of course, but I'm not sure what soot brings to the party other than getting absolutely everywhere and making a heck of a mess.
Any surface finish would need to be flexible...
Del

[WillS]

When I was at the MR the first time I didn't handle any that appeared to be painted, however the last time I went I was chatting to the curator and he pointed out quite a few that had a tinted finish on, that he personally believed to be a paint of some sort.

Trouble is of course, they were all a bit wet for a while, so we can't really tell!  Like I said, it may be total rubbish.  I don't think it's in Weapons of Warre, and it's def. not in Secrets Of The English War Bow so I could be completely wrong.

I do however think that if you're making thousands of issued weapons, putting something on them that is hardy enough to withstand transportation, weather and the damage of battle in general makes sense, and beeswax alone, or oil alone probably wouldn't do much. 

I dunno.  Probably should have double checked before mentioning it, but it was just a thought.

[Robby101]

I seem to remember reading that a bow finished with green paint cost slightly more than one not. In the era of the long bow, those folks were well able to make paint's that were fairly durable, probably from a linseed oil base. Using various mineral and organic pigments they probably soon discovered just what worked as a drying agent when mixed with boiled linseed oil.
Personally, I like the glow of the natural wood. I suppose you could research 'varnish' and find something suitable. They had guilds that kept secret many things that were unique to their particular craft, but also were constantly looking and experimenting with new things to enhance that art.
I have made varnish by boiling linseed oil with lead oxide ( that frosty white powdery stuff found on lead when exposed to the elements), and exposing it to direct sunlight after application. It makes a soft but durable finish, but I would still wax it. If you found what they were using for green pigmentation back then you could add it to that mix and you would have paint.
Curiosity leads to discovery, or in some cases re-discovery and those wonderful 'AHA' moments! Good luck in your search!!!
Robby

[Robby101]

I just had another thought. They also made paint using milk as a base and for that most of the work has already been done for you, as authentic milk paints are readily available. Also the components for egg based (Tempera) paints are sold. Both are very old formulas.
Robby

[lostarrow]

Linseed oil and lamp blacking (the fine soot that collects on the globe of oil lamps,etc.)  was a known finish for furniture at the time. The lamp black was just used to enhance grain  . A stain of sorts.

[toomanyknots]

I would guess tallow would be up there as a common finish, as all you need is fat to make it. It would probably be pretty common I would think.

[Robby101]

This may help you a bit.
http://www.newportrestoration.org/sup/files/paint_18th_century_newport.pdf
Robby

[lostarrow]

Not sure but I think he's referring to an era a few hundred years prior to that ,  Robbie.  A lot changed in that many years.

[adb]

This may help you a bit.
http://www.newportrestoration.org/sup/files/paint_18th_century_newport.pdf
Robby

Warbows where long gone by the 18th century.

[mikekeswick]

The Turkish were using highly refined varnishes by this time. Rmember these people weren't numb nuts! They would certainly have had a very durable finish on the bows ....there is no way they would have put up with losing 20 yds distance due to humidity on the battlefield.
Try making your own varnish from pine tree resin as a start.

[Robby101]

This was just a quick search on my part. I am sure similar finish was used in the long bow era and even before. Many of these recipe's were discovered lost and rediscovered many times over. long before the Mary Rose set sail. Those folks were no less intelligent than modern day man, and as usual people tend to equate intelligence with technological development, not the same.

[Robby101]

Mikekeswick, I am not sure a varnish was made from pine resin, but turpentine was for sure and was mixed with boiled linseed oil as a drying agent. It was definitely a component of early varnishes.
As far as the long bow being long gone by the eighteenth century, perhaps not as long, and gone as you might think. No less than the genius of Benjamin Franklin pondered and wrote about the use of the long bow in our struggle for independence!
Robby