Was going to call this thread: "Refinishing Recurves with Birhcwood Casey for fun and profit!" (Well…, maybe not profit. LOL! -I’ll be selling this on ebay shortly and if I calculated the time-to- profit ratio I’ll probably end up making pennies per hour!) So I’ve posted how I’ve refinished this Colt Hi-Power recurve bow from beginning to end. I hope you find it interesting and useful! I apologize for not having consistent lighting for the pictures. If I had, then you’d be able to get a more accurate vision of the changes from before and after. Overall the refinished bow was not perfect; none-the-less I was quite satisfied with the results! This bow is left handed 55# @ 28”, 56” and probably made in the sixties. I’ve heard it rumored that Harry Drake may have had a hand in it’s design. Any info on that connection would be appreciated! The glass is a beautiful Kelly green and I’m quite sure the riser woods are bubinga (orange wood) and walnut (brown wood). Here are some photos of the bow before I did anything to it:

These photos also show how I taped over the Colt High-Power logos and bow stats written on the riser. The biggest thing that the tape does for me is to keep me aware of the writing so that I’m less likely to scrape/sand it off as I remove the old finish.

These photos also show how I taped over the Colt High-Power logos and bow stats written on the riser. The biggest thing that the tape does for me is to keep me aware of the writing so that I’m less likely to scrape/sand it off as I remove the old finish.

These photos also show how I taped over the Colt High-Power logos and bow stats written on the riser. The biggest thing that the tape does for me is to keep me aware of the writing so that I’m less likely to scrape/sand it off as I remove the old finish.

These photos also show how I taped over the Colt High-Power logos and bow stats written on the riser. The biggest thing that the tape does for me is to keep me aware of the writing so that I’m less likely to scrape/sand it off as I remove the old finish.

These photos also show how I taped over the Colt High-Power logos and bow stats written on the riser. The biggest thing that the tape does for me is to keep me aware of the writing so that I’m less likely to scrape/sand it off as I remove the old finish.

After the majority of the finish is off with the cabinet scraper I sand with 150 grit then 220 grit paper. BE VERY CAREFUL TO MINIMIZE THE REMOVAL OF LIMB GLASS! A little is inevitable but it is fairly easy to sand off so much that the bow weight drops or the tiller gets messed up. I now am the proud owner of a 1968 Super Kodiak marked as being 40# BUT is, in-fact, 36# because I kept using the 150 grit paper to speed up the tedious finish removal.

I can’t emphasize how important it is to not rush the process. More often than not, when I have rushed, I’ve ended up taking 3Xs the time to fix my mistakes –as you will see in some of the upcoming photos. For this reason I find it useful to have supportive family and friends around for moral support!

Carful inspection as and after finish removal revealed a slight delam at the string groove of one limb tip which I flooded with Loc-tite 420 super thin super glue, then clamped to repair. This stuff is WONDERFUL for delams and stress cracks in the glass! Just DON’T BREATH IT IN! It contains cyanide and will kill you dead (or at least do bad things to your biology) if you’re not careful!

Carful inspection as and after finish removal revealed a slight delam at the string groove of one limb tip which I flooded with Loc-tite 420 super thin super glue, then clamped to repair. This stuff is WONDERFUL for delams and stress cracks in the glass! Just DON’T BREATH IT IN! It contains cyanide and will kill you dead (or at least do bad things to your biology) if you’re not careful!

Inspection also shows dents and gouges in wood. I usually soak these in water for several hours with a wet cloth. As the wood cells soak the water in, they swell and this can reduce the depth of the indentations. I also tried using Loc-Tite gel to fill a particularly deep gouge in this bow riser but this was a mistake as it darkened the wood (you’ll be able to see it later in the ‘finished bow’ pics. Instead just go with the water and then sand the surrounding bow to level the area and add extra Birchwood Casey True Oil (as pictured) to fill what’s left of the indentation.

Inspection also shows dents and gouges in wood. I usually soak these in water for several hours with a wet cloth. As the wood cells soak the water in, they swell and this can reduce the depth of the indentations. I also tried using Loc-Tite gel to fill a particularly deep gouge in this bow riser but this was a mistake as it darkened the wood (you’ll be able to see it later in the ‘finished bow’ pics. Instead just go with the water and then sand the surrounding bow to level the area and add extra Birchwood Casey True Oil (as pictured) to fill what’s left of the indentation.

Just to re-iterate: I do NOT recommend the Loc-Tite Gel for filling indentations! I pictured it because I did it with this bow but it left a darkened wood discoloration at the bottom of the dent.

I sanded VERY CAREFULLY around all the original writing on the bow with 220 grit paper then VERY CAREFULLY reduced the yellowed old finish using plastic Scotchbrite abrasive pad. I do not use steel wool because of the oils it contains (used to retard rust in the wool). Its probably not a problem for the Birchwood Casey adhesion since there is an oil element in that as well but I didn’t want to take the chance. This light sanding over of the original writing minimizes the difference in appearance between the old and new finish –I just think it looks better.

I sanded VERY CAREFULLY around all the original writing on the bow with 220 grit paper then VERY CAREFULLY reduced the yellowed old finish using plastic Scotchbrite abrasive pad. I do not use steel wool because of the oils it contains (used to retard rust in the wool). Its probably not a problem for the Birchwood Casey adhesion since there is an oil element in that as well but I didn’t want to take the chance. This light sanding over of the original writing minimizes the difference in appearance between the old and new finish –I just think it looks better.

Also super important -WEAR GLOVES WHEN SANDING FIBERGLASS! This will prevent annoying/invisible tiny slivers of glass in your fingers.

Glad to hear it juneauhunt! CR

So now using Birchwood Casey to refinish! I started to use this product on advice from Bowdoc and find it to be MY FAVORITE so far! I’ve lost count of how many bows I’ve refinished using other finishes -poly, spar urathanes and varnish, Depthane, Thunderbird two part epoxy, Fuller Plast and there’s probably a few others too. Birchwood Casey’s probably not as resistant to chemical or physical damage as the Thunderbird or the Fuller Plast but MUCH easier and cheaper to apply. It looks MUCH better than any of the urathanes and takes a polish better too (IMHO)! From my experience using bows finished with this it is plenty durable! A few things I found out about using BC finish: -Cost is about $8 for the 8 oz wipe on and $15 for the 11oz spray can. I’ve bought it on Amazon.com and ebay.com -I go with the wipe on for the first coats and save the spray on for the final coats. -Wipe on usually ends in drips but that’s ok because they are easily sanded smooth before the final spray on coats are applied. I choose wipe-on for the first coats because I don’t have to worry about spray can nozzle clogging which can happen easily (will cover that later) and I don’t have to worry about spray getting all over surrounding environment and scent is minimized. -Being an ‘oil’ finish, I’ve heard it is useful to prep particularly oily woods such as rosewood, cocobolo and ebony with a wood sealer. I have not done this and this requires more research (by me anyway). I used DENATURED ALCOHOL to repeatedly spray and wipe and clean the riser wood after the final 220 grit sanding. You could see the orange bubinga dust/oils coming off the riser in the alcohol! I did this till it ran clean. I used a hand sprayer/mister (the type for watering plants). I’ve heard that BC won’t fully dry with the oily woods unless you use the sealer first. This bow with the bubinga and walnut has not had problems drying –maybe because of my prep with the denatured alcohol…? -Spray-on created a much smoother finish than wipe-on! The spray on takes practice to reduce particles/hair, dimpling, undercoating, drips, runs and errors. Any remaining drips can be sanded and polished out (more on how to do that later). -To prevent clogs in the spray can nozzle: turn can upside down and spray out residual finish. There’ll still be some finish coming out but it that’s ok. Then remove the nozzle and keep it soaking in mineral spirits until the next use. If I didn’t do this the nozzle was almost guarantied to clog between uses.

Great tutorial to look at on a stormy winter day. Got me thinking about one I need to refinish this winter. I'm sure you'll get some info on that bow from the vintage experts on here. I'm curious, also.

The first pics show spraying with denatured alcohol and the way the raw wood looked like after drying. NO NEED TO WORRY! The discolorations of the wood disappear after the Birchwood Casey True Oil goes on!

The first pics show spraying with denatured alcohol and the way the raw wood looked like after drying. NO NEED TO WORRY! The discolorations of the wood disappear after the Birchwood Casey True Oil goes on!

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

The intention of first phase using BC wipe-on was to put on repeated coats over the wood of riser and limb tips. MANY COATS! This was to fill in the wood grain. Basically putting on a few coats and then sanding it smooth (but not down to the wood) with WET 220 grit WET/DRY paper, using water. The WET sanding just seems to work better for this process. Then repeating until completely smooth. This allows for the deeper dimples of the wood grain to fill up and become level with the rest of the surface. The pics show the progressive filling in of the grain and the final smooth finish.

Looks like a true labor of the bow refurbisher's love..IF that final pic is when it is done?

I'd rub that finish out with oil and 0000 steel wool a bit..Jim

Here's a close up of the finshed riser wood. Note the absences of grain indentations! :-)

Finished limb tip...

To minimized particles of hair and dust in the finish and to assure good adhesion it is useful to spray and wipe down the bow with denatured alcohol between coats. After the denatured alcohol dries, wipe the surface gently of dust using your fingers but only after thoroughly washing hands, spraying with alcohol and shaking/air drying them. This will remove oil and dust from your hands. The devil is in the details!

Wet Sand!

Not bad a'tall. Getting the old Ben Pearson shined up purty.

Yes Pearson. The bow is a clone of the Browning Explorer-I which may indeed have been designed/influenced by Harry Drake. Pearson made them for Colt and a few for themselves. If memory serves, the bow when Pearson branded was called the Cobra.

You have discovered Tru-oil's benefits and limitations. But the job is far more simple with these tweaks:

Casey makes a wood filler to use before applying the T-oil. Saves a lot of that back sanding filling effort.

Then, Minwax's Helmsman OVER the t-oil for the build up of finish depth.

Great bow BTW, and as a Lefty too I'd love that bow, but I already have it at #55 with my own Browning, and a Hi-Power that I keep (broken) having had a stupid accident to remind me to stay humble.

Rick

I used a 'Uniball 0.7mm gel pen, black' to trace over the faded bow stat print but, as you can see, mistakes get made with rushing! I accidentally brushed the wet marker with my hand and had to wipe it off with denatured alcohol and gentle touch-up sand with 400 grit. Move slowly to move quickly Grasshopper!

Very nicely done! True Oil is a solid durable finish..but needs to be rubbedout smoothly..which you last pics show you understand and did!..Jim

"Yes Pearson. The bow is a clone of the Browning Explorer-I which may indeed have been designed/influenced by Harry Drake. Pearson made them for Colt and a few for themselves. If memory serves, the bow when Pearson branded was called the Cobra.

You have discovered Tru-oil's benefits and limitations. But the job is far more simple with these tweaks:

Casey makes a wood filler to use before applying the T-oil. Saves a lot of that back sanding filling effort.

Then, Minwax's Helmsman OVER the t-oil for the build up of finish depth."

Thanks! & Thanks Rick! I'll definitely try out the Casey wood filler!

And thanks for the kind words Jim!

CR

Just before and between the final coats of spray-on finish I buff with the Scotchbrite abrasive pad and of course the spray and finger wipe with the denatured alcohol.

You're welcome CR. There's a Pearson thread up now, with one photo of the Pearson Cobra version of this bow.

Rick

For the final spray coats I needed a clear air/warm air environment -my friend’s basement (mine had too much ambient dust in the air from my wood shop). The temperature can’t be too cold -best was over 60 degrees. I found it impossible to avoid drips all together but I found that the Birchwood Casey drips sand and buff out easily! How I did it: Sand the drip down almost level with the rest of the finish using wet, 400 grit wet/dry paper. Then sand out the scratches using wet 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Note how I folded the paper into a curved 'U' shape to minimize sanding the non-drip area. Finally I buffed using 3M Rubbing Compound. When I was done sanding out the final drips I did a light, wet sand over the entire bow with the 2000 grit wet/dry paper and buffed the entire bow with the 3M Rubbing Compound for a great high gloss finish! I love the high gloss look and this is not a problem for me deer hunting because I simply rub a bit of bees wax on the bow, back and belly during hunting season.

For the final spray coats I needed a clear air/warm air environment -my friend’s basement (mine had too much ambient dust in the air from my wood shop). The temperature can’t be too cold -best was over 60 degrees. I found it impossible to avoid drips all together but I found that the Birchwood Casey drips sand and buff out easily! How I did it: Sand the drip down almost level with the rest of the finish using wet, 400 grit wet/dry paper. Then sand out the scratches using wet 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Note how I folded the paper into a curved 'U' shape to minimize sanding the non-drip area. Finally I buffed using 3M Rubbing Compound. When I was done sanding out the final drips I did a light, wet sand over the entire bow with the 2000 grit wet/dry paper and buffed the entire bow with the 3M Rubbing Compound for a great high gloss finish! I love the high gloss look and this is not a problem for me deer hunting because I simply rub a bit of bees wax on the bow, back and belly during hunting season.

For the final spray coats I needed a clear air/warm air environment -my friend’s basement (mine had too much ambient dust in the air from my wood shop). The temperature can’t be too cold -best was over 60 degrees. I found it impossible to avoid drips all together but I found that the Birchwood Casey drips sand and buff out easily! How I did it: Sand the drip down almost level with the rest of the finish using wet, 400 grit wet/dry paper. Then sand out the scratches using wet 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Note how I folded the paper into a curved 'U' shape to minimize sanding the non-drip area. Finally I buffed using 3M Rubbing Compound. When I was done sanding out the final drips I did a light, wet sand over the entire bow with the 2000 grit wet/dry paper and buffed the entire bow with the 3M Rubbing Compound for a great high gloss finish! I love the high gloss look and this is not a problem for me deer hunting because I simply rub a bit of bees wax on the bow, back and belly during hunting season.

2000 grit wet paper

After 2000 grit wet paper

Final finish after sanding/buffing out drip.

The rest of these pics are of the finished bow. I’m pleased and happy to feel that I may have given this great bow a few more years life! Unfortunately for me (fortunately for someone else!), I am unable to shoot this 55# bow much due to a chronic shoulder problem so I’ll be selling it on ebay. Yes! You could possess this very bow! HA! I just hope it goes to someone who’ll use it! It’s a VERY smooth and fast for such a short (56”) recurve and I especially love the palm swell in the grip! Hope you enjoyed this thread and hope it will be helpful in avoiding some of the time/energy learning curve expenditures I experienced!

Peace and LONG LIVE THE OLD RECURVES! CR

The rest of these pics are of the finished bow. I’m pleased and happy to feel that I may have given this great bow a few more years life! Unfortunately for me (fortunately for someone else!), I am unable to shoot this 55# bow much due to a chronic shoulder problem so I’ll be selling it on ebay. Yes! You could possess this very bow! HA! I just hope it goes to someone who’ll use it! It’s a VERY smooth and fast for such a short (56”) recurve and I especially love the palm swell in the grip! Hope you enjoyed this thread and hope it will be helpful in avoiding some of the time/energy learning curve expenditures I experienced!

Peace and LONG LIVE THE OLD RECURVES! CR

The rest of these pics are of the finished bow. I’m pleased and happy to feel that I may have given this great bow a few more years life! Unfortunately for me (fortunately for someone else!), I am unable to shoot this 55# bow much due to a chronic shoulder problem so I’ll be selling it on ebay. Yes! You could possess this very bow! HA! I just hope it goes to someone who’ll use it! It’s a VERY smooth and fast for such a short (56”) recurve and I especially love the palm swell in the grip! Hope you enjoyed this thread and hope it will be helpful in avoiding some of the time/energy learning curve expenditures I experienced!

Peace and LONG LIVE THE OLD RECURVES! CR

The rest of these pics are of the finished bow. I’m pleased and happy to feel that I may have given this great bow a few more years life! Unfortunately for me (fortunately for someone else!), I am unable to shoot this 55# bow much due to a chronic shoulder problem so I’ll be selling it on ebay. Yes! You could possess this very bow! HA! I just hope it goes to someone who’ll use it! It’s a VERY smooth and fast for such a short (56”) recurve and I especially love the palm swell in the grip! Hope you enjoyed this thread and hope it will be helpful in avoiding some of the time/energy learning curve expenditures I experienced!

Peace and LONG LIVE THE OLD RECURVES! CR

The rest of these pics are of the finished bow. I’m pleased and happy to feel that I may have given this great bow a few more years life! Unfortunately for me (fortunately for someone else!), I am unable to shoot this 55# bow much due to a chronic shoulder problem so I’ll be selling it on ebay. Yes! You could possess this very bow! HA! I just hope it goes to someone who’ll use it! It’s a VERY smooth and fast for such a short (56”) recurve and I especially love the palm swell in the grip! Hope you enjoyed this thread and hope it will be helpful in avoiding some of the time/energy learning curve expenditures I experienced!

Peace and LONG LIVE THE OLD RECURVES! CR

And..., LAST ONE!

Looks real nice. Cool bow

Great restore along.excellent job.all that time pays for itself very good job. Jeff F

Nice job!!!

Yep..A fine bow restored very well! Ya done good!..Jim

Very nice restoration! An old bow given a new birth/life to be enjoyed all over again.

Great job !!

Very nice.

Thanks for the pics.

Great job and pictures.

Very nice! I found that the more patience I had in producing a really nice final product was directly proportional to the difficulty I had letting go of that final product, so now I save the labor of love for the bows and gun stocks that I know up front I cant let go of

Patience is the mark of a true craftsman. Unfortunately in this day and age of instant everything there is no appreciation for it. DAMN nice job, good luck with her!

Thanks for the kind words guys! And, yes, PATIENCE Mangonboat and Oldbowyer is at the heart of the restoration, be it bow, gun or any other restoration/project! After countless hours putting together my first Bingham kit bow, I took it out of the hot box and proceeded to cut the excess limbs at the marking for the nock grooves instead of the markings for the ends of the limb tips! Destroyed it! Alas...

I'm currently doing a full restore on a 1967 1/2 Super Kodiak that is a keeper for me. Unlike this Colt, it is right handed and only 44# -a manageble weight for my old shoulders!

Here's the ebay site in-case anyone's interested! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Colt-Huntsman-Hi-Power-Recurve-Bow- Vintage-Left-55-Extensive-Refinish-/151488209868? pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234566a3cc

Peace! CR

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