what finish would look historically correct?

What currently available and easy to use finish would you use to give a historically correct look?
Tung oil perhaps?

Thanks in advance, Todd

What's best for a period finish? That's a bit hard to say. The Maximilian I bows at the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna are a dark red with gold lettering. I suspect it's a red lacquer.
Many bows are just dark wood now and it's hard to tell what they were made with. Some bows, like the Fels Colonna Bow in the Wallace Collection (London) are covered in bone plaques. That doesn't help much either.
I prefer to give my bows a coat of linseed oil to bring out the color. Then wait a couple of days, buff with some very fine steel wool, and rub in a coat of tung-oil. Let that soak in a day or two, buff again and give it another coat of tung oil. If you stop after two or three coats, you'll have a nice, natural looking finish. Add another coat and the tung oil will start getting a bit glossy. If you do 5 or 6 coats, the finish will go very bright and glossy indeed. If you look at the Ulrich V bow in the Metropolitan Museum (New York) you'll notice the finish is surprisingly glossy after 500 years. It was probably brighter when new @ 1460.
I prefer a flatter finish for my projects, while my apprentice, Lightly, likes 'em glossy. What's best 'period' practice? I really don't know, but 2 or 3 coats of tung oil certainly looks nice and it keeps the wood clean and fresh looking for a long time. Geezer

I will probally use 2 to 3 coats of tung oil as the crossbow I am starting on will be used for hunting. With that being said less shine is better for hunting as a shiny glare can catch the eye of the game being hunted and be spooked.

Todd

Personally, I would use bees wax, diluted in a natural turpentine. As sources say, this was used for wood finishing for centuries..

Dohhh! I should have mentioned beeswax. A little research on the web should turn up some other traditional finishes, but beeswax in turpentine is a good one. DRW

Dear Master!

I actually want to try the beeswax and turp! In our copious spare time... We have some beeswax in the shop and I have a friend who keeps bees, did we need more..

Uh, I promise to finish the Hungarian bow, the Danish bow, and the Curtis bow first.


Maybe.


heh!

Love;
Lightly.

I thought you guys might like to know Lightly and Silly Person have begun experimenting with the bee's wax/turpentine/linseed-oil finish. So far it show great promise. We'll see how it looks after several coats, and of course it will take a while to find out how it wears. Geezer.