Finishes,. Part II. Bohning Laquers

There was a time when Bohning pretty much had cornered the market on arrow finishes. With the development of other finishes, I would guess that there are now more people using other products. However, since the product has been around for a long time and does work very well I will devote some time to describing its use.

Probably the best feature of using Bohning lacquer is that it is compatible with all of their products including their lacquer dips, stains, cresting paints, thinner and Fletch-Tite glue. All of these products are made to work together. I would suggest that if you use Bohning clear finish that you use their other products as well. You will not have any problems with compatibility of material. You must use the Fletch-Tite glue as other glues such as Duco will not stick to the Bohning finish. The clear lacquer comes in three forms, Clear, Blue Clear, and Super Coat . The Super Coat is supposed to be a more durable finish, while the Blue Clear is supposed to enhance the bright colors when placed over their cap dip paints and cresting paints. The Blue Clear is also supposed to prevent yellowing with age. Personally, I used the Blue Clear quite a bit and it works very well. I don’t know that I ever had any arrows that lasted long enough to see if the finished yellowed over time. Probably the worst characteristic of the Bohning finish is the smell. It has a very strong odor and you need to use it in an area with good ventilation. My wife always complained about the smell even when I was dipping arrows in the garage.

Using the finish is really a snap. One of the best ways to clear dip a lot of arrows in pretty short order is to get a 4" aluminum dip tube and fill it full of the clear finish. You can purchase an arrow holder that will hold 12 shafts at once (See photo). After you dip, just hang the rack of shafts over some newspaper and let them dry. It usually take about an hour for the finish to dry depending on temperature and humidity. If you don’t make a lot of arrows, then the best thing to use is the Little Dipper dip tube. These tubes have an enlarged reservoir at the top and a screw-on cap. You can store your clear lacquer in the tube and then dip your shafts one at a time. Hang the arrows up by using a clothes pin. You can prop the shafts against at wall, but be careful because it is real easy to knock them over resulting in a big mess. It will take two or three coats to produce a smooth, consistent finish. Use some #000 steel wool between finishes for the smoothest finish. If you like to leave a satin finish then use the #000 steel wool after the final dip as well as between coats.