When repairing a small non lethal crack in a bow with 420, what is the best product to wipe the surface of the bow of any excess adhesive ?

I was thinking acetone but not sure how that would react with existing bow finish...

OK, first, scratch the crack with a pin head to make a little ditch right over the crack. Then make a small masking tape dam on each side of the scratch....that's to retain the Loctite as much as possible and minimize the flow. Apply the Loctite with a syringe-as little as possible, minimizing the application. Better to have two applications than to have 420 flowing all over your bow.

Acetone will wipe off the excess, and the effect on the existing finish will depend on the existing finish material and how long you leave it on. I've heard a lot about how bad acetone is on finishes, glue lines, etc, but I've had really good luck for many many years, simply wiping it off quickly! Seriously, it has very little effect if it's quickly wiped away. It will curdle paint immediately, but glue and prior varnish coats, etc, are not so fragile.

I've used acetone on finishes from the 50s to current day. The early ones are succeptible to damage from it...but with a quick wipe, they may hold up very well. New finishes: no problem. It's not all the age of the finish: Wilson Bros Black Widow finishes from the 60s are tough as nails and will hold up to acetone. Others, not so much.

I did exactly as Tom instructed me back in May and I am now shooting and hunting with my bow. Thanks Tom, but haven't had the opportunity to take a shot at the big guy yet.

Thanks for info, Tom.

forgot to add, if you are successful in keeping the Loctite from flowing all over the bow, you can make very small sanding pads by taking 4 new wood pencils and gluing little round dots of sandpaper on the eraser end. I use 400 or 600 grit on one and 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit on the other three. It is very easy to hold the pencil and confine your sanding to a small area.

gonna try that, usually just use my finger with a fold of high grit paper but your way sounds more micro-manageable.

well there is one other way that works good also and that would be by using the smallest needle syringe you can find.If you draw the 420 into the syringe you will have full control and cut out about 99% of the extra sanding .... bd

Thanks, BD, is it hard to get a hold of a needle syringe without being a LPN or something like that ?

yes I should also mention its good for one to check state and local laws first before trying to purchase any type syringes.You can ask your local drugest he will know for sure if it is legal or not in your state.However some hobby shops carry syringes with a plastic needle and I believe that one is legal anywhere.The plastic needle type do not have as small of hole as the steel needle type syringes do but they do work better then using 420 straight from the bottle bd

Tractor Supply carries syringes with the vet supplies.

I think it's ok to have a needle because most of us recurve owners are known to be addicts anyway!

I also use syringes. For small excess I use lacked thinner on a rag. Acetone is an unknown very strong on some of the coatings. I go lacquer thinner max. If you do spill a bit after wiping with lacquer thinner I'll sand 0000 steelwool every lightly. Surface only not deep.

to clean out the cracks I really like to use denatured alcohol or covergirl 100% acetone finger nail polish remover.On some bigger cracks your best off to use the step Tom mentioned above and kind of clean them out with a dental pik wipe the crack clean with denatured alcohol or covergirl 100% acetone finger nail polish remover then maybe blow it out with just a couple pounds of dry compressed air to remove any loss stuff bd

Thanks for info, I have bought plastic syringes from woodworker's supply but for repair I have in mind, steel would be better, will check.

Nice one, crookedstix : )

if you do not have a syringe handy take a straight paper clip or any fine wire wil work.Place one end of the wire on top of or around or into your crack or gap you want to fill.Then just let 1 drop of 420 wick down the wire at a time.The 420 will wick down the wire and will wick itself into the crack gap whatever your fixing.Try to fill the gap just a tiny bit over level if possible.You may even want to kind of keep an eye on the 420 just in case the 420 finds a small hidden unseen crack it will wick itself into that gap also and you will want to fill the gap back to level as soon as possible bd

here is a 420 repair I made a few days ago bd

that edge is closed sealed tight and ready for new finish.There was old glue that was flaking out from inbetween the riser and the overlay.I picked as much of the loss dried up old glue out as I could but at some point you may dislodge a huge peace and not be able to remove it causeing a huge bumb under the overlay once it is reglued down.......upper pic is 6 inches away ..... this pic is 2 feet away bd

I bought a hundred syringes at Walgreens for about $17.

The wire wicking trick sounds like it may work better than a syringe once you perfect it ?

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