Jon Howell

I recently brought back to life a 50 year old Osange Orange Longbow that may have been too brittle to string and shoot. I asked about oils and the conclusion is that Linseed oil is good for softening and preserving but would reduce poundage (spring), Danish oil, which contains Tung oil which is far superior. As we are not talking about bendy longbows but musical fretboards, just watch out you don't make them 'soft' as your fingers will wear away the pads between the frets. Use too much of a softening oil, and you may get a deadening acoustic effect, as I think the fretboard also absorbs/resonates frequencies when you play. Use any oil very sparingly and wipe off all excess.