About 15years ago (when I was about 16), after my Great Aunt passed away, my family decided that I should have my Great Uncle's deer hunting bows.
1) a Ben Pearson Mustang, Cat 975, 62", 60#@28"
and
2) a Ben Pearson longbow, 501-1-40
Though I was very into archery at the time, and I took great care of the bows, they somehow made it down to my Dad's basement during my years in AG school. When I found them on the shelf, the finish (which had been nearly perfect) was in bad shape. I took them with me and am now just getting around to refinishing...but it seems I have worse issues to tackle.
On the recurve, there are a few small places where the glass has delaminated (very slightly). The largest section is on the belly side, just above the handle...it's barely noticeable, but I can get a fingernail in between the glass and the wood. The other two places are the glass "points" on either side of the top and bottom string nock grooves. The tips themselves (including glass on the tips) have no delamination. There is also a slight crack in the handle where the different laminations of wood come together.
My other concern is some slight vertical stress cracking in the glass laminations where they widen back out above the sight window.
I was thinking of using a hypodermic needle and syringe to inject glue into these slightly delaminated areas and clamp them. Does this sound like a usable fix, or am I looking at a bow that's better kept for sentimental wall-hanging value? (Keeping in mind that my Great Uncle Steve would have likely wanted me to use the bows rather than let them gather dust.) As far as the stress cracking goes, is there anything to worry about there?
Also...is water based or oil based poly an acceptable finish for these two bows, or should I look into something else. (I just happen to have a couple gallons assorted polys left over from projects on my house.)
Thanks in advance!
-Phillip
Topic: First post: Great Uncle's bow...use it or hang it on the wall? (Read 429 times)
