When sanding through a bow limb's finish to prep for applying a new finish, is it a delicate operation not to sand into the fiberglass or is it pretty straight forward? Never done it before.

You will feel the difference as soon as you get through the finish and reach glass. I've refinished many over the years. The old Bears had a very thick finish so you can sand on them pretty hard with 100 grit paper to start and get through quickly. You can also see the difference in the surface once the finish is gone. Some bows have much thinner finishes so you want to change paper often and frequently check your progress. If you hit the glass with a stroke or two it is not he end of the world...the bow will be fine.

If you are concerned then start out with 120 or 150 grit until you get a feel for it. It's pretty straight forward..enjoy it and good luck

I'd just dull it up with 220. It would take a lot of sanding to ruin the glass and still let the new finish adhere well.

X2 on what bodies says. Just did this on two bows. 220 grit to just remove outer layer of finish and dull it up. Quick wipe down with denatured alcohol to clean all the dust off. Then first coat of minwax wipe on poly. Let it dry for a couple of days. Then buff with 0000 steel wool. Clean again with just a damp cloth (not alcohol just damp with water) to get rid of any dust. Then second coat of poly. Let dry for 3 days. Then buff again with the 0000 steel wool. Done. You will be amazed at the results.

Best of luck.

Steve

One more thing - I use cheesecloth to apply the poly. Just cut about an 8" X 8" square and fold it to about a 2"x 2" square. It holds the poly well and applies it nice and smooth. Turns out great.

If the finish isn't all cracked I'd just wet sand with 400 or 600 grit and put a few coats of something new on the bow.

If you want to remove the old finish I'd suggest scraping with a utility knife blade. It's easy to tell when you get to the fiberglass.

If you sand, it's a good idea to use a block on the flat limb surfaces. Less likely to dig into the glass in any one area.

I like the scrape and sand method but not all bows are in need of a full sand back to bare glass.When you have to do a complete sand back you will not wish to do it unless it's completely necessary.Its a pain in the ass. OSR

I'm midway through a complete refinish of a 1962 Kodiak Special that had been refinished previously ...with a dark red-stained poly on the Brazilian rosewood riser and multiple coats of spar varnish on the limbs. You couldn't be sure there was wood in the riser and the varnish yellowed so much that the seafoam green glass limb faces were pee colored. It was straight and had only a few noticeable digs in the wood so it shoots like a dream so I committed to make it like-new. I started scraping with a knife edge and I'm currently on 220 grit paper. The spar varnish on the limbs is tenacious.

According to Bear's 1962 catalog, the theory behind the pale seafoam green glass in this model was to make the limbs disappear into the background at full draw so the archer could better focus on the target. Don't know if there was any merit to the theory, but the color is very unusual and it really sets off the Brazilian rosewood. I will use a matte finish on the limbs to enhance the disappearing funtion ;-)

All I might add is to start w/0000 steel wool. You may not need to sand at all? Sanding goes thru varnish pdq. Wipe on poly works better than Spar Urethane which I used for years. Once dry, harder than Chinese arithmetic! Go slow & ask plenty of questions.

I sand until the glass is a uniform color unless I am going to paint the limbs. I did a 61 and a 62 Kodiak Special with paint and was well pleased with the results.

A trick that I use is fresh sandpaper while there is lots of old finish to take off. Worn out or finer grit paper when you are down to the glass. Getting all of the old yellowed finish off is the difference between it looking ok or looking great. Don't skimp on the tips and string grooves.

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