'59,'60,or '61 Polar?

[warpedarrow]

We were iced in over the New Years weekend and I took the time to stay warm and catalog my collection.  This task took a couple of days and is still not complete as I want to go back and add several photos of each bow to the catalog. During this process I also wanted to research any oddball bows and try to determine, as closely as possible, the year of manufacture.  This particular   [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]       bow was always called a 1961 but when I went to verify the year I started to question my prior thinking.
Looking in the Bear catalogs; the sight window, I beam construction and wood matched the 59 and 60 models but the glass was wrong.  The wood does not match what is called for in 1961 nor does the white glass as the catalog calls the glass "ice blue".  I have not seen ice blue glass but assume that it would be a very pale blue.  This glass is paper white.  

I would be interested in what your opinions are and why.  I kinda sorta might have an idea of what happened but want your thoughts.

[mangonboat]

I would also assume it was a '61 but now I'm thinking a 60-61 transition . The I beam makes me wonder if it started as a 60' Kodiak but something went awry with the slabs so they reshaped it and used the . I've only seen one photo of a 61 with  the "ice blue" glass and you cant mistake it for white. Pretty bow!

[damascusdave]

That is a butcher block I beam as well...very nice...I think butcher block was used most frequently in 1960...it also supports Mark's idea that it is a transition bow...it also might suggest that was a bow out of the custom shop of the day made to the buyer's request in which case the glass could be any colour

DDave

[rb61]

It is my understanding that the coin in a 61 Polar is an aluminum color versus what appears to be a brass color in your Polar. Although, I also understand that  a coin may not always the ideal identifying element.

Pre restoration Images of my Polar which has been labeled as a 61 by several people:

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[warpedarrow]

That light blue is what I expect to see for a color named ice blue.  I was aware that the coin is not correct.  If it were a Kodiak, I would look around for an aluminum one.  I guess that I could paint it with aluminum paint the smudge some black on in a few places to make it look authentic.

Thanks for posting a picture of your bow.

[rb61]

Replacement aluminum Bear coins are available.

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

Very nice looking wood in your Polar! Is it a bow that you refinished? If so, great job!

The #1 factor to determine the year of manufacture of any Bear bow is the form that was used to make the bow.

The 1959 & 1960 Polars were semi-recurve. The 1961 Polar was a full working recurve.

It is not possible to mistake a bow made on the 1959/60 form for a bow made on the 1961 form.

Forget the glass color, coin, riser wood, etc, all of those cosmetic things can be changed during the manufacture of the bow.... The form can not be changed and as I have always stated, it is the #1 factor in determining the year of manufacture.

Show us a photograph of the the limbs of the bow.

Then, after determining which form was used to make the bow, you can determine the year of manufacture, and speculate about how the white glass got on the bow.

There are a number of 1960 Bear bows that have white glass where it is not normally present on production bows. But any color glass on any bow would not surprise me.

1960 is also the most prevalent year for butcher block sight windows, but again a butcher block sight window on any year Bear bow would also not surprise me.

[warpedarrow]

Thanks Wade.

The tips curve away from the limbs at approximately forty five degrees whereas my full recurves tips are pointing between eighty and ninety degrees from the limb.  So, the form was a '59/'60.  Is that as close as we can get on the year?  I ran into that situation rather often on the older bows.

No, this isn't one of my restores.  It is a fair restoration job, good enough I suppose for a Polar.  I bought the bow off of the big auction early on in my collecting.  The contrasting I-beam with the light wood and glass does make it attractive to me.

[Wade Phillips]

Regardless of who refinished the bow, it has some nice looking wood.

If we have established that the bow was built on a 1959/60 form, we need to look at the specific characteristics that are often different on bows made during these two years...

Riser
1 - Shape where the shelf transitions to the grip, 59 usually slightly rounded, 60 usually noticeably angled, then rounded
2 - Shape of the grip, 59 usually pretty straight, 60 often rounded like holding a tennis ball
3 - I-beam core, 59 usually solid, 60 sometimes butcher block

Serial Number - 59 serial numbers were usually sequential and continued into the 1960 production year when the serial number sequence changed completely. With the bow being refinished, the serial number is even a less reliable factor then it sometimes can be.
 
Coin - Who cares? Most 59 Kodiaks originally had a copper coin, and the "correct" 60 Kodiak coin is purported to be aluminum, however, I have owned more original 1960 Kodiaks with copper coins than aluminum coins. This is not a factor to consider when trying to determine the year of manufacture, especially for a refinished bow in the 1959/60 era.

[warpedarrow]

Wade,

I'll add a few pictures.  The first one is an overhead shot of four bows of the era.  Top is a Deluxe, next to top is a '62 Grizzly (I thought that it was a 60 or 61 when I grabbed it for the photo), then a 59 Kodiak, and bottom is the '60 Polar if I have it dated correctly. [/url] [/IMG]

In the second photo I tried to capture the profile that I think you are describing, with the Polar being the first bow then the 59 Kodiak, etc.  The Grizzly profile isn't even close. If the profile held true between bow models the Polar and the Deluxe are very similar.  [/url] [/IMG]  

The final photo is of the curvature of the limb to establish recurve vs. semi recurve   [/url] [/IMG]

So, if I am understanding you correctly, the bow is a 1960.  

Thank you Wade for taking the time to point the obvious things that I just don't know to look for.  Now if I can just retain some of these details in memory for longer than a week or two...

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

Glad to help. Very busy here for next several days. Next week, will try to post some photos of semi-recurve vs what Bear Calls the full working recurve for 59-60-61s.

Just noticed the serial number on your Polar is JJ081, which is later then the latest I have of that model, JF820. So it makes sense that your serial number follows in sequential order as a 1960.

I like your Griz.

[Jack Shanks]

Interesting. I have owned a few of the Polars but not all that up on them. I just mailed one out yesterday 64" white glass, solid riser, serial number 1JX63. I assumed it was a 1961 but could be mistaken. I should have compared the profile with the other similiar two I have before sending it. The serial number on one of the others is JJ714 and the other is missing the lettering. They have the same profile, I beam with white glass.