I got this at a flee market for $8 and it looks to be delaminated. The glass is also damaged but no wood is damaged. It appears to be a glue failure.

What kind of bow is it? Does the glass appear it will be able to seperate cleanly from the core?

1959 bear kodiak, it doesnt seperate from the wood core but in the vertical cracks the center of the glass is stlit (cracked) going up from the string grove

ive emailed a few people as i havent ever done anything like this and was reccomended ea 40 for the delamination it self, but im nervous about the glass being split vertically. would superglue help the glass if i glued it up with this ea 40 glue

The only hope would be to strip the riser and re-limb the bow. With what you have to work with I don't think any kind of repair would work.

Does anybody know anyone who would do that? Who strips limbs and re does them?

Justin...........

This is a Pearson hunter that I re-limbed with brown glass and a maple core. The bottom limb was completely broken just past the fades.

James how hard is that to do? Also how much was it to do (ballpark)

If you are not already into building bows this might be more than you could take on. A form would have to be built, the riser stripped and cleaned up, then just a normal build and a complete refinish. I don't know any professional bowyers that do that kind of work anymore because of the work involved and the cost. I have done maybe a 1/2 dozen re-limb jobs on recurves the past few years.If you can post a pic of the riser profile I might already have a form for that bow and might be able to help you out. PM me if interested.

Could I put a overlay over the glass after I glue it if it doesn't explode?

Ive done a fair number of limbs with both smooth on and super glue. My last one I did was super glue and my girlfriend is still shooting it and going strong. It was delaminated just like yours. Fairly easy fix

Even with the cracks in the fiberglass?

I wouldn't trust ANY repair on those limbs! What is your eyesight worth?

JUSTIN,

I avoided responding earlier. Working backwards, Steve (SB) is known for his rather constant You can't fix it, it'll put your eye out opinions. And he is entitled to that perspective despite many successful examples to the contrary.

Next, the vertical stress lines are typically caused by a few fibers coming loose from the surface of the glass and working up through the finish, look ugly but do no real harm since there are literally millions of them in a limb.

No you can't really re-enforce the glass with an overlay at this high bend/stress area of the limb without doing the same thing to the opposite limb as well. It will add a LARGE amount to the draw weight and by stiffening the limb where it is supposed to bend you are forcing the bow to bend elsewhere, where is wasn't designed to do.

1. Get enough c-clamps to thoroughly squeeze the repair area along with a couple of those freebie wood paint stir sticks to place between the limb and the clamps so's not to mar the glass.

2. Wedge the de-lam as open as you can even trying to pull it further apart (We want to make sure we "get it all" as we won't be able to un-glue to get to a yet to give de-lam.)

3. Make sure the glue you use is meant to flex. Many are not. Even pure fiberglass resin without the glass is too brittle.

4. Have a bit too short string handy to brace the bow backwards. Doing this closes up the split and helps insure that the bend of the repaired limb will still match the contour of the opposite limb.

5. Glop in the glue insuring all the interior surfaces are covered. Better to have glue ooze to file off than a missed spot.

6. Get the reversed string on and start clamping, Lots of smaller ones make it easier to maintain the curve than a few larger clamps.

7. Extra cure time. The internal glue with no access to air takes longer to dry than the outer edges.

8. Scrape/test and refinish. Ta-da! You will have also resealed any of those loose fibers that were in the de-lam area.

Last, yes, SOP is to inject superglue into the stress lines that have broken through to the surface. Seldom does this make them disappear, just stops them from growing. Total removal requires a full strip off of all finish and a re-seal of the glass surface (often with paint) and then the replaced finish on top.

Good luck.

Rick

I always wear a welding helmet/mask when trying out a bow that I fixed. If you follow the steps that Yorktown5 laid out, I'll bet it'll work. I've only seen one bow not respond to that kind of repair.

What is the best to use for refinishing?

Sand paper. Steel wool. Minwax poly. 5-6 coats

Yes Justin even with the glass split it will be fine. Just fine. They are parallel stress cracks going with the natural flow of the limb. They will fill with glue under compression. Follow yorktown5s instructions and you will be just fine. Thats exactly how I do it with super glue. Using smooth on epoxy is more like a limb redo.

I dont understand why people are so afraid of shooting bows with repaired limbs. Most all bows we shoot today are all glued together to begin with minus most selfbows. A lot of old bows fail simply because the glue gets old and brittle. Ive seen brand new bows snap for some reason or another.

Fix it. Shoot it.

Yorktown thanks a bunch, I'll make sure I get this done to those steps. Thanks again

What about the crack in the brown glass? When rubbing over all of the lines with my nail it catches if that makes a difference

If you are worried about those lines then use the same glue used on the delam and fill them. Light sand them smooth before refinish. Then are sure to feel safe and solid.

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