56 inch 1959 Kodiak

[damascusdave]

A 56 inch 1959 Kodiak just showed up this weekend on the ***********...the bow is badly delaminated but it is the serial number that caught my attention...the serial number is AA 080 so a very early bow...initially I was hoping to find it was a very rare MSW version...now I am wondering, from the pic, if it is an even rarer Brazilian Rosewood I beam...check it out on the Wall please and chime in with your opinion...this is a nice piece of 59 Kodiak history no matter what the materials, but it may in fact be something very special

DDave

[mangonboat]

Dave, its an interesting bow, for sure. I don't have enough experience to identify old woods under finish, especially if its a i beam slab that was probably sawn for best grain alignment. I can say that this bow looks very much like the lefty 56" 59'er I passed up on the auction site a little over 2 years ago because it was 65# ...still kicking myself for buying a pretty little 60" bow instead.  I wonder if the bowyers at Bear were looking for stout, tight ,parallel grain  pieces for the i beam in those 56"bows

[mangonboat]

BTW, that lefty was also a AA low serial number.

[yeager]

I'm just completing a refinish on my 60" '59 Kodiak and prior to sanding, the sight window I-beam was very dark and too, looked like it might have been rosewood. After sanding, it turned out to be Purple Heart, but a very dark color. Even with additional sanding, I could never get that rich, purple look. The Purple Heart under the grip does have that beautiful color due to being protected from oxidation. Now, I would be curious to see exactly what the wood would be if he took the original grip off.

[damascusdave]

The truth is we are trying to sort out something that happened 57 years ago with limited information...educated guesswork but guesswork nevertheless...I for one enjoy the process as much as owning and shooting the bows

DDave

[damascusdave]

Pics are on their way to Wade Phillips for his opinion

DDave

[mangonboat]

The bow of which we speak...
 
 
 

[Wade Phillips]

Originally posted by damascusdave:
Pics are on their way to Wade Phillips for his opinion

DDave

Dave -

Never got the photographs...

However, no opinion is ever necessary in a situation like this... least of all mine...

Simply, (and carefully), peel back the 5-line leather strike plate and everyone can clearly see what the wood really is.

No sense in trying to make a big mystery out of question that is so easily answered accurately...

Frankly, this one was easy to tell just by looking at the grain of the wood in the sight window.

[damascusdave]

Thanks Wade...I gather that you are satisfied, as others have been, that is purpleheart in the sight window...the bow is not mine but I will suggest to the current owner that he do as you suggest...he may very well opt to leave it as is as he inherited it from a close friend...the reason I value your opinion in these situations is that I know you to be meticulous in making statements about old archery equipment...this bow is still a nice piece of 1959 Kodiak history and I have suggested to the owner that he preserve it as such...glue up the delaminated area and then create a display that honors his friend who left it to his care...I am just glad I could help him to understand what he has...he was of the opinion he had been given a rather common bow

DDave

[mangonboat]

There's a 60" 1959 kodiak rolling around on an auction site now that has s/n BE 005, and what looks to be pupleheart riser under original finish. Ive had a BD s/n. Is the second letter of the S/N a series ?  an individual bowyer? I recall that Wade's effort to catalog the 59 K Specials seemed to suggest a conclusion that the two letters were both descriptive of the bow, rather than a bowyer, e.g., length and whether or not there were tip underlays ( unless that detail was a peculiarity of a specific bowyer, of course    :rolleyes:  ) Has somebody already defintively answered this already?

[warpedarrow]

Yep, that bow was pulled because of a crack in the lower tip.  The owner did not know what was going on with the bow and didn't want to ruin his 100% feedback rating.  I had him send me some closeups of the problem and it appears to me just to be a crack in the micarta.  It will be interesting to see what this one goes for as it does have a bit of a different serial number.

[damascusdave]

There is no real significance to the prefixes...B is simply the 60 inch bows...the second letter started at A and went up from there, changing every 999 serial numbers (which could be either 1959 or 1960 bows) until Bear changed to a different number system part way through the 1960 model year...Wade documents this in my BH series 1960 Kodiak thread

DDave

[damascusdave]

The obsession with understanding serial numbers is, I think, simply a product of the internet age where people believe they should be able to know anything they want to know...when those bows were made I doubt anyone even paid attention to the number on their bow

DDave

[Twitko]

Maybe this help a little bit - my Kodiak 1959 - 56"/#33. Serial number AA155, which is close to "your" 080 (should be early production, too). The wood, as far as I'm able to recognize, is Purple Heart. If I'm wrong, excuse my poor knowledge, and please correct me ...

 
   
 
 

[jackdaw]

That is some awesome Brazilian rosewood on that bow..

[Twitko]

Jackdaw .. thank you for comment. Do You really mean there is Brasilian Rosewood in the sight window of my Kod 59 ?

Please note .. as I stated already, I know my identification (Purpleheart) can be wrong .. due to the lack of my personal experience with all those exotic woods .. Not easy task ... :-/

I just compared this bow to some other Kods 59 which have PurpleHeart wood and they looks "similar" to this one (for my humble eyes) ....

[alaskabowhunter]

these are the early versions with the rare "blond purpleheart" sight window... the bottom bow is a 56 incher....
 

[warpedarrow]

Nice collection of blondes.  Just leave them right there and I will drop by around midnight to check them out.

[Wade Phillips]

Twitko,

Yes, the sight window of your 56" is purple heart for sure. Very nice bow.

[Twitko]

Wade,
 Thank You for confirmation !