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Bow restoration

Red Beard said:
That seals it! I'm going whack a pile of deers with this thing next season!
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An option would be to give the limbs a light sand but take the riser down to wood. Refinish the wood to whatever luster you want on the wood and either re-gloss the limbs or give them a custom camo job. I vote camo cause it's my favorite color. :)
 
BTaylor said:
An option would be to give the limbs a light sand but take the riser down to wood. Refinish the wood to whatever luster you want on the wood and either re-gloss the limbs or give them a custom camo job. I vote camo cause it's my favorite color. :)
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I agree with everything here and X2 on the camo as you know that’s the best color out there on a hunting bow :laughing:
 
Weldabeast said:
In an inconspicuous spot try lemon juice or whisky/vodka/etc...furniture finishes are normally resistant to those...not sure if furniture and bows are sealed with the same kinda stuff...maybe super fine steel wool
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Sweet. It'll be my first visit to the ABC store in years. I'll tell my wife it's for "science".
 
Weldabeast said:
In an inconspicuous spot try lemon juice or whisky/vodka/etc...furniture finishes are normally resistant to those...not sure if furniture and bows are sealed with the same kinda stuff...maybe super fine steel wool
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This just made me think of using something like an emery board, like for super fine fingernail detail filing? Or may be a sandpaper in the range of 320 grit or finer. Just enough to remove finish material, not carpentry material.
 
My personal opinion: you will waste your time and spend much longer trying to preserve the original finish, and still wind up with a lackluster outcome. Or spend tons of time for an ok/good one. Much easier/better results to just sand to wood and respray clear poly. Any removal process that involves rubbing/dissolving/evaporating will create hazing by either leaving finish behind or creating microscratches in the finish you're trying to keep/ protect. It is borderline impossible to sand one finish off of the other, and would require grits in the thousands, not the hundreds. Even then literally one swipe too far and the project is "ruined". It *can* be done, but it's laborious, and best saved for museum pieces, valuable or sentimental items. This bow seems to fit none of those criteria so stripping and refinishing will get a better result, quicker. Do you have 1000 hours to carefully strip finish with a qtip, or do you want to go shoot the bow with your kids?
 
thedutchtouch said:
My personal opinion: you will waste your time and spend much longer trying to preserve the original finish, and still wind up with a lackluster outcome. Or spend tons of time for an ok/good one. Much easier/better results to just sand to wood and respray clear poly. Any removal process that involves rubbing/dissolving/evaporating will create hazing by either leaving finish behind or creating microscratches in the finish you're trying to keep/ protect. It is borderline impossible to sand one finish off of the other, and would require grits in the thousands, not the hundreds. Even then literally one swipe too far and the project is "ruined". It *can* be done, but it's laborious, and best saved for museum pieces, valuable or sentimental items. This bow seems to fit none of those criteria so stripping and refinishing will get a better result, quicker. Do you have 1000 hours to carefully strip finish with a qtip, or do you want to go shoot the bow with your kids?
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Anyone wanna pick the mic up off the stage after that?
Standing ovation.
 
thedutchtouch said:
My personal opinion: you will waste your time and spend much longer trying to preserve the original finish, and still wind up with a lackluster outcome. Or spend tons of time for an ok/good one. Much easier/better results to just sand to wood and respray clear poly. Any removal process that involves rubbing/dissolving/evaporating will create hazing by either leaving finish behind or creating microscratches in the finish you're trying to keep/ protect. It is borderline impossible to sand one finish off of the other, and would require grits in the thousands, not the hundreds. Even then literally one swipe too far and the project is "ruined". It *can* be done, but it's laborious, and best saved for museum pieces, valuable or sentimental items. This bow seems to fit none of those criteria so stripping and refinishing will get a better result, quicker. Do you have 1000 hours to carefully strip finish with a qtip, or do you want to go shoot the bow with your kids?
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Oh I betcha he has the time to piddle.
 
Lol since I came and stomped on the thread I should add that this is from a general woodworking background and not at all a trad bowyer background. I do not know enough about bows to know if sanding the finish (and thereby removing some tiny amount of the underlying wood) if that affects the bow's performance, my understanding of wood and finishes is more of a static nature, but I think/assume you won't change the bow by refinishing.
 
Red Beard said:
Just bought a longbow that the previous owner sprayed with a matte clear coat. I'm wanting to restore it back to the original finish. Found a video where a guy used acetone to take spray paint off an old bow and I'm wondering if it would work in this application as well. He put a bit of acetone on a rag and rubbed the riser/limbs until the old camo paint came off.

Are there any other methods that would take clear coat off without damaging the original finish?
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I’ve taken the sheen off of bows simply using 0000 steel wool and water. Never hurt laminations or glass.
Maybe too simple for you if you want to fancy it up with camo or a psychedelic paint job…which wood be cool!! Lol
 
thedutchtouch said:
Lol since I came and stomped on the thread I should add that this is from a general woodworking background and not at all a trad bowyer background. I do not know enough about bows to know if sanding the finish (and thereby removing some tiny amount of the underlying wood) if that affects the bow's performance, my understanding of wood and finishes is more of a static nature, but I think/assume you won't change the bow by refinishing.
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Oh no, don’t try to walk it back now lol
 
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