My new restoration project

[Novaln1975]

I had such a good time restoring my 59 Grizzly that I was looking for a second restoration project. I found this 59 or 60 Alaskan in need for a restoration. It’s sound but has obvious gauges and blemishes that need to be taken care of.

Here are a few pics of the bow before the restoration.

 

 

 

 

-Simon

[Novaln1975]

Before starting the restoration, I would like your input on a few subjects. à

First, there are two chunks of wood missing on the riser. They are not very deep but are too deep for just a simple sanding for them to disappear.

 

I am contemplating cleaning the gash as best I can and filling it completely with a clear material (super glue?, epoxy?) and sanding until it’s smooth. The result I imagine would still show the scar but the finish would be smooth and shaped correctly.

I could also dye some epoxy as close as I can and fill and sand the repair to a smooth finish. I doubt that the patches would not show but they might look like imperfections in the wood.

Finally, I could patch the holes with dyed epoxy and paint with a small brush over the repair, faux-finish wood grain.

What would you do? Open to any other suggestions.

-Simon

[kurtbel5]

That looks like a fun one Simon,
Are all Alaskans backwards, W/ the coin in the site window?

[Novaln1975]

What do you mean by backwards? The coin is on the right side of the bow like on all the Alaskans I’v seen. These Alaskans are double shelved. Ambidextrous bows.

I actually am going to try to shoot this bow left handed to see if I can switch. I am left eye dominant and I shoot right hand at the moment.

-Simon

[kurtbel5]

Simon
I Don't have any Alaskans, so have not seen the coin in the window before, pretty neat.

You know that is an awesome idea, my oldest daughter is L eye, RH and I just finished a LH BP for her to try, she's been shooting RH.

Getting an Alaskan would be the best of both worlds and a Bear to boot.

OK any body have a light weight Alaskan for sale or trade??

[Novaln1975]

You could also look for double shelved Pandas, Cubs, Polars, Grizzlys, Kodiaks, all Bears!

-Simon

[ckruse]

It's not a Bear, but I have a lightweight double shelved takedown Pearson in the classifieds. It would serve a similar purpose. CKruse

[Shaun]

Maybe I'm just a longbow guy, but the Alaskan is my favorite Bear bow for shooting. May not be as fast as a recurve, but sometimes hitting the mark is more important than how fast the arrow gets there.

I am taking mine turkey hunting Sunday morning.

[Novaln1975]

Shaun

I started thinking about owning an Alaskan after seeing yours here on TG. I shot a couple of arrows before starting the refinish process and found that it was not that slow. It felt as faster or even a little more than my 59 Griz, same weight, 45#.

BTW at what brace height do you have yours?

The job has begun. I’ll post pics soon.

-Simon

[Shaun]

7.75" and I'm all tuned up for turkey in the AM. Seems to like a low spined arrow since its cut out from center with the double shelf. I am shooting 45# old ceders 29" BOP with razorheads - total wt 460 grn. Hoping the black back glass will be invisible in a double bull tomorrow and that the turkey stays for a second shot.

[chiger]

Hey Simon,

You know those are for shooting bears, not letting them play with.  ;~)

Very cool old piece of bow history.  Can't wait to see what you do to it.  

I'm not a bowyer, so I don't know squat about bow restoration.  I do know something about restoring antique firearm, furniture, knives, that sort of stuff.  It's hard to tell in pictures, but a lot of that damage looks a more like a gouge or dents than missing wood.

If it is, a damp wash cloth and an iron may pull a lot of it back out.  You may have already thought about this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway for those who haven't tried it.  I think I might try it first, before I did anything else and see if it won't pull some of it out.  It will at least raise the grain a little and leave you with less fill material to put in.

Dampen a wash cloth and fold it in half.  Lay it over the dent and iron it on medium heat for 20 or 30 seconds to start with and see what happens.  It may take a few times to lift the grain as much as it will raise.  

You may have to raise the heat a little depending on the iron, but you want it to be hot enough to lightly steam the moisture in the cloth.  But not make it sizzle!  Be careful not to use more heat than it takes to steam it.  Too much heat for too long can damage the wood and actually set a dent so it can't be raised.  

The whole point is to use the heat and moisture to soften, hydrate and swell the cellular structure of the wood.  I've done it dozens of times with varying degrees of success.  Some gouges I thought would never come out just disappeared.  And some of the ones I thought would be a snap wouldn't move a bit.  But it's worth a try for sure.

Hope it works.  And as I said, can't wait to see how it comes out.  Be sure to keep us updated.  That's a cool old bow.

[Novaln1975]

Chiger

Thanks for the repair tip. The damage was actually missing wood. I wonder how that could of happened. I started sanding around the damaged parts and realized I could sand down enough to eliminate the one close to the serial number completely. The lower one is almost gone but still has a half inch long splinter of wood missing. I filled it with superglue mixed with wood dust and now looks real good. I will post pics tomorrow.

-Simon

[bamboo]

simon
 that trick for dents and gouges is a great one--but i would try it cold first-in other words just take an eye dropper and fill the gouges w/ water and let it set for a while [2-hours?] then load it right up w/ water again--maybe 2-3 more times[just in the gouge]then if you have to lift it more[like chiger said-it might not lift!!]nail it w/heat--and try not to heat the glass edges--thats pretty severe damage [purely cosmetic!]--but that'll make it that much nicer when its repaired!!

[Tom I.]

Chiger's method has worked for me on many woodworking projects and gunstock refinishes...as he said, tho, don't use too much heat....just enough to see steam coming out of the washcloth or rag....
Tom I.

[Novaln1975]

Well here is the state of the project as of this morning. I removed the grip and strike plate. I will keep those and use them as patterns for the new leather.

 

I removed the coin with the heat transfer technique and continued sanding the whole riser section.

 

 

[Novaln1975]

So I sanded down the damaged part and all was left was this splinter. I filled it with crazy glue and wood dust. this is the repair after I cleaned it and made it level to the riser.

 

Now I read on TG that some people used superglue to seal certain types of wood. I decided to give this a try. I used my finger at first to apply the glue. I eventually changed my technique and wrapped my finger in a sandwitch bag. The result is an extra hard varnish reveling the rich color of the wood under it. Superglue actually gives a much darker result than if I would have used Minwax Wipe on Poly.

 

 

 

I did the whole riser section right away even though the limbs are not done yet. I get sweaty hands when I work and the sweat stains the unprotected wood. so I sealed the riser from top to bottom with crazyglue.

 

 

I´ll sand it again lightly when the limbs are done and finish the whole bow with Minwax.

-Simon

[jcar315]

Simon, Very nice pics and way to go on diving in on the restoration. I am still trying to get up the nerve! I have a late 1960's Bear Cub and love shooting it. I am right handed but am left eye dominant too. I shot RH until February 2009 and made the switch and havent looked back. It didn't take any time at all to get used to it. I shoot better now after just a few months than I did RH!! I am in the process of selling off my RH bows and getting more LH ones. I am looking for more Cubs and will watch and learn on your bow here so I can try one on my own. Lots of great instruction here. Keep us posted!! John

[chiger]

Great job Simon.  Looks a 1000% better!

Got a question.  Are you going to try and reproduce the bowyer's scribe?  I noticed you took it off.  Being new to this whole bow restoration thing it may be a dumb question, but I'm wondering how that is handled.  

Like I said, great job with the gouges.  Kind of braces my spine to give my old SK a go.  

Thanks!

[d. ward]

OUTSTANDING work......bd

[Novaln1975]

Chiger

Yup, I’m going to rewrite the serial number, AMO and weight. I’ve only done this once before on a 59 Grizzly. I practiced before writing on the bow. Black India Ink by Koh-I-Noor. No reaction with The Wipe on Poly but can be cleaned off with a water dampened rag if you screw up. I must have screwed up a good dozen times before I considered the script acceptable.

 

 

-Simon