Looking for some input / history

[Dan Zawacki]

Greetings. I'm new here at Trad Gang. I'm normally a compound shooter, but I came into an older recurve some time back. I asked my coach about it, hoping he would have some info, and he sent me here.

When I first got this bow, it was a mess. While I was waiting fr the admin to approve my membership here, I spent some time reading through bowdoc's restorations, and was surprised at how familiar some of his examples looked. I had cloudy old finish, but under that the real damage was to be found.

Once I got through the cloudy old finish I found gray oxidized wood, mold, and a surface that was wavy and uneven. It took me almost three weeks just to get the surface prep done. Thankfully enough I didn't have any major cracks or delamination to deal with!

When I started this project I didn't have any idea how involved I was going to get. It just looked dirty, and I set out to clean it up a bit. Thus I didn't take any 'before' pics.

I know enough to look for identifying marks, but there was no evidence on the bow anywhere to point to who made it, draw weight, etc. I brought it in to my local shop (they're awesome!!!!) and hot it strung, and they measured 40 lbs @ 28".

The real point and purpose to this post is to ask if there's anything about this bow that anyone hear can use to help identify it. Like I said, there were no identifying marks anywhere, so I have no idea where this bow came from originally.

Here's the pics of the refinished bow. Please forgive them - a photographer I am not!

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[PAPALAPIN]

Can't speculate as to the brand and model, but it appears to be a semi recurve with hardrock maple risser.  The overlay on the belly might be birds eye or curley maple.

Looks like it could be a york, Stemmler, Stottler, or possibly even a Pearson.  Possibly a program bow used in school archery programs. Although, the way the riser justs out a bit at the grip, it could be a Staghorn.

Keep in mind that these are just my speculations.  Someone with a better idea may chime in.  

You did a nice job of cleaning it up.

[Dan Zawacki]

Thanks!

There sure was a lot of work involved! It's going to be a gift for my brother in law.

[Dan Zawacki]

WOW - thank you!

I din't know that. I thought it would be a good way to keep the string in one place while not shooting....

Taking it off now!

[PAPALAPIN]

I keep many of my bows srung backwards.  It keeps a bit of tension on the string and helps to keep the string from drying out if you don't use it a lot.

Just what I do anyway.

[oldbohntr]

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't draw it backwards!

That's a beautiful bow with elegant lines.  The tip wedges make me think of Drake and others in the California group of bowyers. However, I don't remember seeing that much of a concave profile in the back side of a sight window before.  Not that it's bad, just different. Whoever did it made a wonderful grip-for me, anyway.  Whether you ever learn the history or not, you found a really pretty bow and restored it nicely.

Some of these old traditional bows are pretty nice, huh?  Welcome.

[Dan Zawacki]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks! I guess it's a bit more of a puzzle than I thought it would be. That's cool though, everyone likes a good mystery!

So let me get this right - it's ok to have the string on backwards as long as nobody tries to draw it that way? No fears there. I was afraid I had already done some invisible harm.

[Larry m]

That is a very nice looking old bow and you did a very nice job of restoration. bd's restoration 101 has helped me many times. Really like those limb tips! Unless I missed it you don't mention the length. I'm guessing 66"? Looks like it would be a pleasure to shoot.

[NumPls]

How many bowyers built their limb tips with wedges (either instead of or in addition to) overlays?

Two that types of bows I have seen with wedges are Howard Hill and Smithwick.

Others?

Ray

[NumPls]

Thank you, Jim, for that information!

I had not intended my question to have been a distraction; in fact, I was thinking that one way to figure out who made the bow was to try to identify bowyers who used the technique of the limb wedges. I figured that if we expand the list of bowyers who used limb wedges, we may eventually be able to figure out who made this bow.

So, I consider both my question and your answer to have been right on topic in helping Dan get the history that he seeks.

Ray

[PAPALAPIN]

Hello Dr Roan...Long time.

[Dan Zawacki]

Thanks so far guys! That's awesome!

Yeah, those limb tips on that browning have me going HMMMMM...

The other stand out features that seem to me to be difficult to match have been the sweep of the sight window and the way the limb glass extends almost - but not all the way to the center on the front of the bow. I've seen a lot of bows with the limb glass either ending not long after the transition to the riser, or continuing to cover the entire front. This one, there's a section of the front, just opposite the grip where the limb glass gives way to the riser wood. I can't seem to find any bowyers with whom this was a common design feature.

I just re-checked, and noticed that none of the photos I posted show this at all well. If you look at the second pic I put up, yu can see what I'm talking about. It's just opposite the throat of the grip, and it's on;y 2" long or so. The limb glass follows the lines of the laminate, and stops opposite the grip, where a section of the riser wood forms the front round of the center section of the riser.