1970 kmag refinish

[huntersim]

Hi folks. I have been looking for an older kmag that I could use for hunting. I finally found one that that I picked up from Ted Fry. It was 55lbs and appeared to be a good candidate for a refinish. It has some stress in the glass around the riser / fades like a lot of the older bears do and the finish on it had yellowed to the point that the grey glass looked green. It was also cracked pretty bad throughout. But it was a shooter.
I ordered some decals from Al to replace the silk screens. The decals worked great and look great too.
I also asked Don his opinion about true-oil verses thunderbird epoxy. So I ended up using the thunderbird.
I have to say I was inspired by 4runr’s refinish of his kmag and learned a few things from it.
It didn’t turn out as nice as a pro could do it but it will definitely work for a hunting bow. One thing I like about the older bear bows are the silver coins. A lot I have seen have an oxidized appearance that looks cool to me. So instead of polishing up the brass coin on mine making it shine I oxidized it before I glued it back in. I think it turned out pretty good.
Anyway, thanks Al and Don. Oh, and if anyone has an old beat up kmag that is of hunting weight and you want to get rid of it keep me in your thoughts. I really like the kmag and would like to pick up a few more. Here are a few photos.

Matt
 

I changed a few photos, just didnt think they looked right

[TRAP]

Great Job Matt!!!!!!, what kind of finish did you use?  

Trap

[MJB]

SWEET  

[yellow bow]

that baby looks just fine from where i'm sitt'n! good job Matt.

[d. ward]

Hey Matt that thing looks super,nice job.....bowdoc

[huntersim]

Thanks everyone. It takes a lot of work. I can build a bow quicker than i refinished this one.

TRAP, the finish is thunderbird epoxy.

Im not sure why but all my photos have a haze to them. Need to learn how to use the camera correctly i suppose.

[4runr]

Nice job Matt!

[huntersim]

Thanks Rich, the only white flecks i can find are a couple that seem to be inherent in the glass. After i read that, i took it outside and gave it a twice over thinking i may have not noticed. Is it something you've seen? And if so, was it with the gloss version or one of the semi-gloss/satin versions?

Thanks Kenny, i've learned a lot from the one you did on here.

[hotfootTG]

Very nice job Matt. Now that's a hunting bow you can take in the woods Au Naturale. What was your process to oxidize the medallion?

Al (Als Decals)

[d. ward]

vineger will oxidizes some coin types...but not the brand new one's 3r's sells...bowdoc

[huntersim]

Thanks Al. Those decals work great.

To oxidize the coin i pollished it with some brasso then put a cotton ball soaked with brasso in the corner of a ziplock bag. then take a cup of water mixed with some salt, dip the coin in that and then place the coin in the bag with the brasso soaked cotton. Dont let the coin touch the cotton and within 5 min. the coin will be black. The ammonia vapors in the brasso will react with the salt water and the brass. Like the bow doc said, vineger will oxidise brass to but i think you get a green color and it takes longer. Havent tried it to be certain.

Thanks Rich, i was curious.

[hotfootTG]

Thanks for the tips Matt & 'doc.
Al

[stagetek]

How do you guy's know this stuff ? How does one "ever" find out that ammonia vapors react with salt water, and vinager will oxidize brass. And so on...I'm amazed by this. And who'd think the cotton should never touch the brass coin ?

[Horney Toad]

We all had a meth lab back in high school!