Bow Renovation 103

[James N. Hunt]

[James N. Hunt]

Here is my 1959 Kodiak that I purchased recently on the big auction site for $360 Shipped. The seller indicated that this bow had some renovation work done before he came to own it. Immediately I notice a few updates, first the gold lettering and the well done but loose fitting leather grip, she has a newer strike plate and feather rest. The yellowing on the limb tips was partly sanded off. The overlays on the front of the bow appear to have been lightly sanded. She has most of her original thick factory finish. Perhaps someone did a "moosh method" repair. The upper decal was replaced. She has some vertical cracks in the glass that you will see in the pictures I will post. There are a great many opinions about whether or not a bow with cracks of any kind are safe to shoot and I think we can all just agree that there is an element of risk involved with choosing to continue shooting an old recurve bow with unknown integrity. The cracks are most likely a result of moisture penetrating and expanding the wood beneath the glass but there are consistencies in the location of the cracks on both the front and back of the bow. I tend to believe after many years of lurking around on forums related to the topic that my Kodiak is worth the Renovation she is about to recieve. As for the damage, you can feel the cracks with a fingernail. The limbs are perfectly straight and the limb tips are in great shape. The first thing I did was allow the bow to hang unstrung in my workshop and allow it to adjust to the humidity for several days then I carefully put small pieces of masking tape at both ends of the cracks. (This will enable me to tell if the cracks spread during use.) I strung her up and fired some arrows. It was a joy, the draw was smooth and the bow feels great to hold. I used to feel that the 59 Kodiak was overhyped but after I have handled it's elegent lines and put over 100 arrows right where I was looking I have to say.. The hype is well deserved, this bow is lethal. The 59 Kodiak weighs in at a stiff 43lbs. Fred would grin if he could see how effectively this old warrior still spits out arrows. This will be a picture heavy renovation. Advice and Input will be appreciated. -BowWalkIn

[James N. Hunt]

   

Limb tips are solid with no seperation. Because I would like to shoot this bow more than a handful of times per year I will have them replaced.

[James N. Hunt]

Riser with gold lettering updated by unknown soul. If it was you please contact me I would love to learn a little about this bows history.

[James N. Hunt]

OK, after a closer look I realized that this logo is highly pixelated. I can scratch off the clear decal material surrounding the words with my fingernail and it leaves a scotch tape like residue under my finger nail. This logo is not original, the color is also more yellow and the other decal is much more white in color..This is not one of Al's Decals this looks homemade. Hmm, who did this to you?


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This decal sits beneath the finish, it appears original by contrast with the pixelated sticky decal above. I wonder what other surprises I will find!

[James N. Hunt]

Note the crazing in the limb in the upper picture, these horizontal cracks appear in the bows thick (original) finish and do not generally cause harm to the fiberglass beneath.

[James N. Hunt]

[James N. Hunt]

The purple heart is dull and needs to be brought back to life.

[James N. Hunt]

Notice the crack reached the end of the fiberglass.

[James N. Hunt]

Note the two small cracks on riser, interesting that they line up with the I-beam.

[James N. Hunt]

[James N. Hunt]

More lines!!! What will we ever do!?  

[James N. Hunt]

Coin looks good  

[James N. Hunt]

Too tired to post anymore tonight, will post more pics in the morning.

   -BowWalkIn