I Have This Old Bow... removing a rattle can camo job.

[OkKeith]

Wise Ones,


I acquired a wood riser takedown bow. Other than not being setup to shoot off the shelf like I prefer, its a great shooting bow. When I met the Gentleman to take a look at it we both had arrows and a target bag in the truck. He wanted me to shoot it as much as I wanted to try it out. First shot at roughly 12 yards was an arrows width out of the dead center dot, second arrow touched the first. The third was my second in my life Robin Hood (may need to rethink removing the flipper rest!). I turned around and handed him the money.


The whole bow, riser and limbs have a decently done spray can camo job. The painter left the limb markings clean and it reads - Hoyt Game Master 58# @28.

Anyone know what the wood might look like under the paint? I don't mind the camo job, but if there are some nice looking hardwoods under it I would prefer that. I don't think I would have any problem refinishing the riser. I would probably radius the flat shelf. I just worry about damaging the glass on the libs with either solvent or sand paper. Also, I know the limb tips are not FF durable but if I sand them down I might as well add phenolic or something at the same time.


From brief reading these were import bows with the Hoyt name on them so its not like I would be damaging a collector's item (like the camo paint hasn't already... right). I just want a good shooter. If there is pretty wood underneath it's just a bonus.


What is all ya'lls advice?


OkKeith

[scrub-buster]

I used a little acetone on a rag to clean up 3 old recurves that had camo paint jobs.  Here is a post about the first 2.  It has some before and after pictures.

   http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=007182;p=1


A couple guys recommended goof off but a friend of mine tried that and it damaged the finish.  After I saw what it did to his bow I decided to stick with the acetone.

[OkKeith]

Clint-

Thanks for the info and the link. Those two bows turned out to be spectacular! I love old Bear Recurves.

It would be great if mine came that clean with just elbow grease and acetone. My thought is to start on the riser and if it cleans up good I can try the limbs. If not I can just re-spray it after I radius the shelf.

Thanks again,

OkKeith

[scrub-buster]

I would get the rag damp and then scrub until it quit removing paint.  Then keep repeating that with clean spots on the rag.  Don't pour it on the bow or get the racked too soaked.  It took a good while to get them looking like that.  It was worth the effort though.    

Good luck and post some before and after pictures of it if you can.

[OkKeith]

Thanks again Clint.

Anyone messed with one of these bows?
OkKeith

[Zradix]

Acetone can certainly work...and I've had to use it.
Keep in mind though that acetone is one of the harsher solvents to use. It would have one of the highest chances of messing with the finish.

I've removed old paint off a few bows.
I found some paints dissolve with some solvents better than others.
For instance, I removed one camo job that one color of the camo came off really easy with methanol...I'm mean REALLY easy....but acetone surprisingly didn't do much to it.
But the methanol didn't do much to the other color.
Acetone took off the other color fairly easy.

Also I've found that quite often a little acetone or methanol might not wipe the paint off much at all.

But wiping 1st with acetone sorta breaks the paint down the 1st step. After that methanol will dissolve off the rest pretty easy.

Not very often have I found mineral spirits to be enough.
Mostly it seems to remove the streaks that are left after wiping off the most of the paint with stronger solvents.

Toluene/toluol is another solvent that I've used a few times.
It has worked for me sometimes when methanol and acetone didn't. Also have done the combo/2-3 step process of using a few solvents with the toluene with good results.

Bottom line is different paints have different chemistry...kinda have to experiment sometimes...and always be ready/prepared to recoat with clear if needed.

I'm sorry but I have no idea what type of wood is hiding under there.
...maybe remove a small spot (if you can't tell what's under by looking at the spots left alone for the markings on the bow) and decide how much more to do.

...you can always go back over the newly de-camoed spot with a rattle can of a matching color if you decide it's not worth stripping.

[OkKeith]

Thanks for all the information John!

So from least harsh to most harsh (that don't sound like good English, do it?) would be MeOH, acetone, toluene? I get the idea that any of them could soften the clear coat on the bow?

Now I'm at a quandary... do I want the paint off bad enough to risk messing up the bow finish? I suppose if I do wrinkle or mess it up I could always take all of it off and re-spray clear back on. Two coats of high gloss for durability and a mist coat of satin for that gorgeous "no shine" look.

I may just get into it and see where it goes. Like I said, this isn't a restoration so much as a sprucing up.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

OkKeith

[Zradix]

well...depends on what was used.

I consider acetone (the full strength stuff..not diluted nail polish remover acetone) to be the strongest....not so far behind MEK.

Between methanol and toluene..?.... I dunno... I'd say methanol has a better chance of getting off the paint...but it's hard to tell Bud.

Again...a 1-2-and maybe 3 punch with different solvents seems to work quite often and keeps the elbow grease to a dull roar.

One thing is for sure...toluene smell takes forever to get out of the air...lol

Just gotta experiment I guess.