Refinishing an old bow - advice?

[Steven_CO]

Need some advice here.      

A friend of mine started a bow from a blank back in high school, way back when.  It's a recurve that has some old paint and stuff on the limbs and I need some help on how to deal with it.  

All I can think to do is to sand it off with wet and dry - finer grit and then what?  

How do I get it to the look of a glass-like finish?

Thanks in advance.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Sand it clean and avoid hammering on the glass portion. Just enough to clean it up. Finish with 400 grit or so. Get some Helmsman spray poly of your choosing and give it 5 coats 2-3 hours apart with no sanding between coats. Let it dry for two days and enjoy.

[Steven_CO]

Thanks PD.

[Steven_CO]

Refinishing went pretty well.  
I couldn't quite get all of the deeper scratches out of the glass on the limbs without taking off more material than I was comfortable removing.  But it is still a nice bow.  It really shoots smooth.  I think my friend will like it.  I wish I could remember where we got the blanks for these.  

 

[LittleBen]

Looks like it came out well. I'll have to take Chris' advice and do the same helmdman spray to an old York recurve I have with a nice walnut riser.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Nice work. Its quite simple and not quite as spooky as portrayed.

[Steven_CO]

Thanks.  

A little spray booth to keep this sort of work dust free has been on my to-do list for way too long.  I think I'm going to have to move it up in priority.