1959 Kodiak Restoration Project

[Larry m]

I picked this up a while back on the big auction. The bow was described as solid with no limb twist but needing work. I was not aware of it at the time but this bow was being auctioned off by the late Al Readers son Dave Harby while in the process of cleaning out some of the less desirable inventory. The resident Bow Dr's are so backed up with inventory I thought I would give it a go myself.  

[Larry m]

A lot of good info came from bd's 101 That and a lot of patience so as not to be in a hurry. My goal was to restore and leave as much original as possible. Blending the holes and dealing with the etched in serial number took a bit of effort. Topped it off with a feather rest from Trap. With my draw length this will put me in the low 40#s which is what I like to shoot. Now I just need to twist up a string.          

[Bel007]

Very nice!

[vintage-bears]

What a great job Larry!
Congratulations..........Philip

[Warberg]

Thats a dandy Larry. Super job  

[yellow bow]

Great job Larry.     :cool:

[Bjorn]

Whoa! Great job Larry! The wood is especially handsome-what is the finish?

[Jack Shanks]

Nice job Larry!

[hayslope]

You did very well!!!  Looks like a different bow!

[JavelinaHink]

Great job Larry    I have a MSW 59 if you want to have another project.   :cool:  Hink

[Larry m]

It's was trial and error all the way. Used Testers Paint for the touch up and tried to go over it with Tung Oil but it wiped and smeared the paint. Same with the India Ink on the lettering. The only good part about the Tung Oil was it soaked in and restored a lot of the bows original color. Then tried spraying a water based poly to hold the paint and ink. This worked out just fine. Lots of sanding in between. Finished up with many coats of Tru Oil with light sanding in between and then Minwax. I certainly have a new sense of appreciation for what the bow doctor's accomplish here...

[Mike Shaw]

A very fine job indeed! you are a craftsman for sure.

[JJB]

Beautiful work Larry!
-Jay

[Precurve]

Very nice work Larry!  I always love seeing these old classics brought back to life.  Great job on those drilled holes in the front section of the riser.

Dave

[d. ward]

OUTSTANDING job Larry beautiful work bd

[59Alaskan]

Beautiful bow!!  Great work!

[damascusdave]

Been away for a while and I come back to this.

That is some really great work Larry. Bjorn, Jack and Don do not give praise lightly. And any connection to Mr. Reader gives a bow a whole different level of mojo.

I would send 45, one of the twins to you for some work,but I have an idea it might not come back.

And thanks guys for reminding me I need to get my act together to get a guide's license. We could put a hunt together and call it "A Bunch of Old Bears Hunting Big Bears with Old Bears". Fred would be proud of us.

DDave

[59Alaskan]

WHOA!! IT'S DAVE!
Welcome back Dave!

[Larry m]

The strike plate was a piece of cake. I had ordered one from 3R's but it was of such poor quality I used it for a template. Soaked my piece of leather and used a straight edge and a butter knife for the scoring. The pattern for the grip came from bd's 101. Thanks Doc!!!!Resized for my grip and again soaked the leather and used carpenter's glue in a 3 phase installation of stretching, placement and drying. This took a bit of effort.
 
Thanks for All of your positive comments! I learned a lot while in the process and the next one will be a bit easier.

[damascusdave]

Great news you guys. Just talked to my buddy Eric and my guide's license is already in process. That means we have a whole lot more options for hunting in the Canadian wilderness (or my back yard).

DDave