sand paper and fiberglass

[Tajue17]

Hello all,, I need your opinions on refinishing a bow.  my father got an old recurve from a neighbor and I have no idea who made it but I love the bow. has a tad of limb twist but i can get that out.  the thing is whoever owned this bow taped around the entire riser and shelf area with white hockey or surgical tape maybe back in the 70's that has yellowed and is brittle but the adhesive has hardened to the finish of the fiberglas..  

this stiff is tough to get off but I've scraped and lightly sanded the wood sides which is working but the bow has this beautiful green glass and this sticky, crusty tape is bonded right to it!  can I sand the front and back of the limbs and then refinish it with spray poly to put the shine back on???

I'm thinking more of a matte but I never sanded over finished limbs before,, I'm just looking to make it back into a decent looking shooter. let me know what you would with stuff you would find at home depot or lowes..

thanks Taj..

PS, I also need grip material and wondering if anyone has piece of leather laying around for trade.

[adeeden]

Try some wd-40 and some serious elbow grease I have cleaned a lot of them up with it!

[Nim-rod]

Not sure about a poly coat but how about a small polishing wheel with compound on the fiberglass?

[Tajue17]

WD40? is it risky where the wood on the side is unfinished now and sanded? guess I can try just putting it thin on a rag and do it like that.. or stain the wood first?  

i do have a polishing wheel also, but do you mean use the polishing wheel after I lightly sand the fisnish or do you mean to not sand it at all and use the wheel to clean it?

[Robertfishes]

When building new bows I use 220 grit on the glass, no need to use anything finer.. I wipe glass with denatured alcohol, solvents could possibly cause wood oils or dyes to bleed into other layers..refinishing bows is something I have never done.. Maybe Whip or 2 Tracks will tell you the best way to safely remove tape residue

[Tajue17]

thanks,, i'll wait for a bit to see if anyone has the best idea before i try some a few things.  220grit,, do you smooth it with steel wool after?  also so everyone knows I'm just lightly sanding rhe finish over the glass and don't think I'm getting into the glass itself.

[Crooked Stic]

220 grit will not hurt your glass. My final grit when building bows is 180 grit. About three coats of finish will fill the sanding marks. You do need some tooth for your finish to stick to. That shiny surface on brand new glass is a release agent and must be sanded to take finish well.

[Tajue17]

okay sounds good,, how about the finish can I use spray on poly or what can I buy in the hardware store that you recommend.

[Robertfishes]

On new bows I have been using Minwax Spar Urethane satin, the last bow I built had a rosewood riser so I had to spray a sealer on it first ..due to the  oils in the santos rosewood...over the rosewood I used two coats of Bullseye Shellac ,then 4 or5 of Spar Urethane, Some guys use Deft

[chuprinko]

Crazy as it sounds, womens make-up remover wipes are the best for this. Learned this from a boaters forum to remove old decals off fibergalss boats.  Used them to remove 40 year old tape debris off a '59 Kodiak.  I use them to clean just about everything now!!

[Tajue17]

well looks like I'll be snooping through the wifes makeup draw later,,easy enough to try 1st to see if it works.

the bow i have has a maple riser and maple limbs, and walnut nock overlays.