Bow refinishing question

[billy shipp]

I'm refinishing a Red Wing Hunter....using Tru-Oil on the riser. Is there anything I can do or need to do to help the old beat up limbs other than skinning them or something similar? I've seen some really nice refinished bows and the limbs were refinished as well, but I have no idea what to use.

Billy

[Tom]

You might post this on the collecting forum, Bowdoc or Droptine may have some suggestions for you.

[stmpthmpr]

Hey Billy,

You can use Tru-oil on the whole bow, glass and all.

If the glass on the limbs is really beat up, you can sand off the old finish and surface scratches with 220 sandpaper. The old finish will clog the sandpaper quickly so youll go though alot of it, but you dont want to go any coarser than that.

It's best to sand the whole length of the glass evenly, not consentrating on any one area. Resist the urge to try to sand out deep scratches. Just get the old finish off and any surface scratches that come easily. If there are any nicks or gouges on the egdes of the glass, just smooth off the edges of the gouges so that they cant catch and splinter.

The color will tell you when you have all the finish off. Black glass will be an even grey color.

Rub the first coat of Tru-oil into the glass real well. The friction will cause a bit of heat that will help impregnate the strands with the oil. The first coat is very important as this will dictate whether you have even color. If black or green glass isnt sanded evenly, you end up with some lighter grey or lighter green streaks in the glass. But if it has nicks and deeper scratches it will have some "Character" anyway!!

[kurtbel5]

Nice job Stmpthpr,
Thats all good stuff right there.
          Kurt
  PS Billy, I use a piece of paper towel, fold it so no edges are exposed and it the size of your finger,use a nickle size spot of true oil and rub it in well,do that over and over, it takes several coats.
 If the grain is sunk real bad, fill it with super glue let dry and sand it down.Fill the verticle stress cracks in the limbs with super glue just like the riser,if the cracks go across the limb its a wall hanger.
        Kurt

[Bjorn]

Hi Billy! Another tip or two on Tru Oil: don't remove the foil on top just poke a pin hole into it. That will greatly increase the shelf life.
Be prepared to do 8 coats approx. I only steel wool between the last two coats.
Bjorn

[stmpthmpr]

Yup... T-O can go bad real quick. I extend it's life by folding a peice of saran wrap or poly four times and lay it over the top of bottle and secure lid over that. Helps seal the bottle.

[billy shipp]

Thanks guys....I appreciate the info.

Billy

[stmpthmpr]

Another tip I would offer comes before the finish. When working on finish sanding, I use a brown paper bag to burnish the wood to a shiny gloss so I can see all the little imperfections.

In the finish sanding stage I damp a paper towel and rub the wood down. Not wet, just damp. I then lightly sand off the raised grain after it dries, and do it again. I do this until I can remove any raised grain with the brown bag trick. At that point you have a fine finish. Just be sure and let the bow dry for a day after raising grain before you apply finish.

You take a peice of brown grocery bag and keep wadding it up and working it until it is like a peice of clothe. The fibers in it act as a very fine abrasive and it will polish up the wood really nice. Any defects are then easily found as rough spots and scratches will be dull and the rest shiny. Sand them out and repeat.

[billy shipp]

Ok guys,

This refinishing job is coming along nicely so far with the help of everyone that replied to this post.

The limbs are pretty much finished with instructions from stmpthmpr.

I stippled the grip per Tim Golders (how to),...thanks Tim.... that project came out great....much better and a lot easier than I first thought.

I have radiused the shelf and I have the riser ready to refinish, but I have a couple more things I want to do first.

The bow had a cushion plunger on it that I removed, and It has a bushing for a stabilizer.
I want to fill the holes where the plunger and stabilizer were.
Can i get some ideas on what to fill the holes with. I'd like to use something that will kinda match the wood, especially the plunger hole, since it's going to be more visable.

I know....I've already ruined the bow according to lots of folks with the modifications, but It's too late to turn back now ...8^....besides...It's all Bjorn's fault. He's the one that spawned the refinishing project. I recently bought a 59 Kodiak from Bjorn, and was really inspired by his work.

If i can get some ideas on what to fill the holes with, I'll have this deal on a downhill run.

Thanks, Billy

[kurtbel5]

Can you get a plug/dowel of the same wood somewhere else? cause if you can match the wood even close, its all but done, epoxy the plug in the hole sand down and finish.
       Kurt
PS aren't you breaking some kinda rule? NO PICTURES?

[billy shipp]

kurtbel5

I can plug the hole easily enough, and that's probably what I'll do unless someone has a better solution. The riser is Rosewood, so I probably can't match it very close, but this is just one of those pass the time projects anyway.