re-finishing/protecting

[ccbeagles]

I have a Martin Rebel recurve #50. It has a few gouges, nicks, and scratches from hunting. The factor finish is failing at the ends of the riser from water exposure from bowfishing. What is the proper technique for re-finishing the bow.
Thanks Chris

[Dave Bulla]

Sand 'er down to bare wood and recoat with clear of your choice!

Well, not QUITE that simple but close to it.

Some gouges you might have to live with if they're deep.  Dents you can steam out with a bit of wet paper towel and an iron.  You can sand and rasp to reshap the grip or shelf to suit your taste while you're at it.  The sides of the limbs can be sanded gently to bare wood and so can the back and face but you have to be real careful not to get into the fiberglass or you could screw up the tiller.  I did a recurve a while back and used a cabinet scraper to carefully remove the clear coat from the limbs without removing any fiberglass and it worked pretty well but it was slow and tedious.  You can work around anydecals and stencils if you want to leave them original.  Same goes for anything written on the side of the riser or you can go ahead and take a good close up picture and make a try at redoing the writing from scratch before you put on the clear.

There are lots of clear finishes you can use.  Anything from true oil (not sure if it will work over fiberglass but it's good on wood) to spray can finish to two part epoxy finishes (which are the most durable).

The "Massey finish" is a super durable high gloss finish you can do yourself.  It's simply Devcon two ton epoxy (30 minute cure stuff not 5 minute) mixed with acetone at a 4 to one ratio.  That's four parts acetone to one part epoxy.  It pays to try a practice piece with this finish as it can be tricky to brush on cleanly.  Mainly, ya gotta do a whole limb in one clean stroke.  If you try to go back and brush out a spot it messes up sometimes.  I've used it with the throw away foam brushes and it worked but spraying it on would be easier.  I hear it's a bit of a bugger to clean the spray gun afterwards though.  I think they say shooting pure acetone afterwards to clean the gun works best.

Have you ever refinished a gunstock?  Pretty much the same process other than being careful about not sanding the fiberglass enough to change the weight or tiller.

[Bjorn]

Tru Oil works just fine on the wood and fiberglass surfaces. I don't sand all the finish off if it is in good shape.
I find that the wipe on poyl finishes are not as water tolerant as advertised.
The 'Massey finish' described by Dave above would likely be the best. And like he says, practice first.