Removing Paint From An Old Bear Kodiak

[rwbowman]

I have seen the topic of removing paint before and found that the most common method was using denatured alcohol and fine steel wool. I started in on an old Bear Kodiak I have and am finding that this method is likely to take three years before I get it done. Are there any other methods that anyone would suggest that might not take as long and still be safe on the wood beneath?
By the way, this bow is going to be beautiful when all the paint is gone!

[Lunar-Tic]

I just did a Bear Grizzly last year and after several searches, I found Goof Off with a cotton rag and some elbow grease to work the best. From my experience it did no harm to the original finish of the bow.

[stagetek]

Goof-Off. Use it in a well ventilated area.

[reddogge]

Formby's or Minwax furniture refinisher. It's not ot a stripper but milder. Use with a scotch brite pad.

[rwbowman]

I picked up a can of Goof Off and it does not seem to be any better than the alcohol. I should have stated, this is a factory painted Bear with the army green/black leaf camo paint job.

[Lunar-Tic]

Sorry that didn't work for you rwbowman, Maybe it was just the type of paint that was on my Grizz. Hopefully someone else may have an idea for you on that factory paint.

[Duncan]

WD40

[59Alaskan]

I like the original camo bears.  Yeah, there are usually treasures underneath but I would keep mine buried.

Good luck though.  Now that you've started I do hope you have a beauty there.  Post some before, during and after pics!

[reddogge]

Factory camo Bear. Minwax furniture refinisher and scotch brite pad.
 
 
 

[Burnsie]

Criminal putting paint over the best year(s) of Super K ever made.  That's Saaaaweet!

[Hobow]

Following Bowdoc's recommendation I used cheap, 100% pure acetone nail polish remover with cotton pads and elbow grease.  It left the factory clear underneath so nice that I only had to polish it.

[Jon Stewart]

Same as reddogge. Minwax refinisher only I use 0000 steal wool.  No scratches and the bow still has it's shine under the paint.

I wear good rubber gloves and use lots of paper towels to remove paint residue after scrubbing down with the refinisher.  Small areas at a time.  Takes about 30 minutes to clean up the entire bow.  I also use the refinisher on old Bear painted arrows.  There are some real nice cedar arrows under all that paint.

[rwbowman]

Man I wish I could have found the Minwax around here. I ended up talknig to the bowyer who made my longbow and took the bow over to his place. He told me to get after the riser with sandpaper and to do the limbs with steel wool. When I told him about the finish, he said get it cleaned up to a super fine sanding and bring it over to spray.

Say Red, that bow is gorgeous! I'll have to get some pictures up of mine. So far I've got the riser finished and have the limbs yet to clean up, but this riser is beautiful.

[Jon Stewart]

The Minwax can be found in all box stores, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards etc.

[dbd870]

reddogge that is a beautiful Super K, fantastic job!

[reddogge]

Thanks for the compliment. It was a heavy bow for me so I sold it to a member here. The original camo finish had been compromised to I decided to strip it.

[tracker12]

Someone got a very sweet looking bow.  Had no idea that could be under some of those old green bows.

[BWallace10327]

I removed the camo paint from a Grayling Grizzly a few months ago.  Used 000 steel wool and plenty of elbow grease. It took about 10-15 hours accumulated.  This paint wasn't factory, but a poor job someone did a long time ago to replicate it.  The weight and serial number was hidden as were all of the labels and the medallion. The only paint that I couldn't get off was in the recessed areas of the medallion, so the bear is shiny but the rest of the medallion is green. When it was finally stripped I applied 8 thin coats of high gloss poly and buffed the final coat down to a low luster finish with 0000 steel wool and put the finishing touches on the polish with a Scott brand paper towel (the most abrasive paper towel brand I have found).  It really turned out nice.  It was like that bow was in a time capsule for the past 30 years.

[reddogge]

Kind of wish I still had it but at 58# it was a hoss for me. The shine may have come back with just polishing but since I had to do the new decals and lettering as these were lost when I took the camo off I redid the finish with Tru-Oil.

Some more pics.