anyone modify their riser?

[bunyan]

I have a cheaper 3 piece recurve with a flat shelf and smooth grip that slips in my hand when its wet or sweaty. Anyone ever take a rasp, sandpaper, etc to a factory riser to radius the shelf or make a better grip? Any tips, thoughts, or warnings? How do I reseal the rider afterward? Thanks!

[ChuckC]

If you are worried about resale, don't do it.  Otherwise, go for it.  I do it a lot.  

There is at least one build along posted for stippling grips.  Looks monotonous by not so tough to do.  Changing the contour of the shelf and part of the riser, sure, I have done it.  Take it easy and go slow, and do it.  Lots of spray cans of finish are available.

ChuckC

[Duncan]

If you have trouble with slipping try a bow saddle. Its a stick on leather palm grip. I've had some on my bows for years. They last long and stopp slipping even with wool gloves on. Got mine at 3 rivers.

[McDave]

I've modified risers that have grips I didn't like.  With a good grip, you should be able to draw the bow with the pressure of the grip against the V between your thumb and forefinger, and be able to hold your fingers and thumb open at full draw.  Not that you should draw with your fingers open as a regular thing, but you should be able to draw and hold it that way if you want to. You shouldn't need any extra help holding onto it, wet or dry, just the light pressure of your finger(s) against the back of the bow to keep it from jumping out of your hand when you shoot it.  If you want something that adds extra friction to the handle, fine, but don't let it be an excuse for holding the bow incorrectly.

[Pine]

A farrier file will make short work of it . Then use a sanding block to get the rough lines out .
And when finishing , DON'T USE POLYURETHANE .
I learned that the hard way , it turns a dirty yellow in less than 6 months .

[Bvas]

This is one I did a few months back. Pretty much along the same lines as what your talking about doing. I refinished the whole bow and used spar varnish then a light coat of satin poly to get rid of the shine.
I would recommend sanding all of the old finish off, otherwise your new finish will look spotty.
 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=013707

I modified a high dollar hybrid longbow riser to make it fit my hand better! I was pretty nervous when I first hit it with the sander, but once the shape started to get where I wanted it, felt much better!

Bisch

[30coupe]

I've done it to several bows. Depending on the finish, I often use Truoil gunstock finish. I haven't quite figured out how to do the more matte finishes. If anyone has a way to do that without doing a total refinish, I'd love to hear it.

[hawkeye n pa]

Steady hands and  a dremmel tool with the sanding drum will also work for the radius.  Use duct tape to protect the bow where your not wanting to cut / mess up.

[reddogge]

You can build a radiused shelf much easier than rasping and sanding your shelf.

You can wrap the grip with tennis racket tape or leather much easier that rasping on it.

Why make it hard on yourself?

[Leroy Hunter]

I love the grip on my shrew long bows, I have another bow that I wanted to modify by adding a locator similar to my shrews.  I applied some mole skin to the grip to create the locator and bought a sure grip and put that on over the mole skin.  The rubber sure grip eliminated the slipping and the bulge from the mole underneath gave me my locator.  This way I didn't have to do any file work or finish work.

[Basinboy]

I have modified the grip on a couple of my bows.  Think I posted the progress here but it was a year or so ago.

[LC]

I build my own recurves but with that said I don't have anything that I haven't customized for myself. If I'm not happy with it I make it to where I'm happy with it! period!

[bunyan]

Thanks guys! I'm not really worried about resale value at this point. It's basically a backup bow I haven't really used for a few years and its got plenty of dings already. But I'm planning to spend more time with it this year. I've seen the leather grips and stuff, I just didn't want to add more stuff hanging on my bow.  Mcdave, the grip feels fine, but if my hand gets sweaty or its raining I can definitely feel the bow slip in my hand and I loose control. Or at least it distracts me and I think I'm loosing control and then I loose my focus on the target and so on! Bvas, thanks for the tip about refinishing the whole riser to avoid a blotchy look. Just cause its a rougher bow doesn't mean it has to look ugly!

[M60gunner]

I did my Bear SK from the early 2000's. I followed the directions in the DYI thread here. I used my Japanese saw to cut the shelf down. I then used a drum sander to form the grip to my liking. I did not do a radiused shelf as I use a raised rest anyway. I used Tru-Oil to finish. Others who have shot the bow do not notice the shelf being lowered or the grip reshaped. Just say how nice it feels.

[BAK]

Have done so many times.

[Crested Finger]

I sanded my old bear riser to fit my hand better then put a little true oil on it.