There is a bow up for auction that is represented as a Grumley bow. I am not an expert on Grumleys but something about the bow strikes me as odd. There appears to be an aluminum lamination in the bow. The aluminum lam Bears were 1949 and 1950 year bows. Nels left Bear in 1948. Since he left prior to Bear using aluminum, it can't be a Bear bow signed by Nels.I have never heard of Nels using aluminum as a lam. Are there any Grumley experts on here that can verify that he did in fact use aluminum?

I saw it too. Odd Nels was not a fan of the aluminum in a bow. JF

I didn't see any aluminum in those photos, I believe that is glare.

It may be glare, George. I cannot see anywhere near the definition on this iPad and the bow looks normal. On my computer, it looks just like the aluminum lam Bears. I will fire up the computer and save the picture, then I can play with it.

It is a very nice looking late forties/early fifties bow and I would like to have it. I just prefer to do a little research when my knowledge is minimal.

Grumley by Grumley I've had one.When he went to work at Sears he experimented with Formica (new then) for overlays also.

Is does appear to be glare. Whew, I thought that Nels had really gone off the deep end.

It appears that the bow will bring good money. It's already over $300. I don't know if I can play on this one.

It wasn't Sears. He worked for Fridgidaire as a pattern maker after he left Bear.

He used refrigerator plastic in some of his later bows.

That particular bow is also backed with some of the first fiberglass that was made available to other bowyers by Bear.

It's definitely a Grumley.

I have an old Bear aluminum lam where there is no lemonwood covering the aluminum. The decals have all fallen off but I am pretty sure that it is a Polar.

Yes there were 3 versions of the alum lam Polar.

I bet $1,500 take's her home....

I know I asked this before, not sure if I was clear on the answer I got before.

Looking at this bow I notice the grain is running back to belly on the bow limbs. Is the lighter color wood maple or some other kind of white wood or osage with sapwood?

Also noticed on the other thread some of the grumley's look to be selfbows chasing a single growth ring. Maybe fortisan backed?

With this info does anyone know what type of construction the brush bow & deerslayer were? Selfbows or built with lams in a caul?

Thanks in advance, John

Beautiful bow. But then again all Grumley's are in a class all by themselves.

The most common Grumley composite was HYO hickory,yew,osage

I may be a bit low $610.00 an 6 days to go......

Just back in from EBay- still up there, still "only" $610, will undoubtedly go up. If it wasn't a dedicated RH it would be bothering the hell out me.

I emailed a friend with my guess of about $2100, but he puts it closer to $3000. If Wade Phillips gets involved, then the sky's the limit.

I have talked with Wade a few time on the phone and came away with the idea that he likes to buy bows when there isn't a bidding war going on. If he does get into the fray, it is because he has the knowledge to know if the bow is "in the money" I have no clue what Grumleys are worth and don't have the museum curator mentality that drives me to possess such bows at high prices. Wade is a different breed of cat and his work and displays show a dedication that is quite rare.

I've never had a Grumley in my hand ,but center lam. and brush nock lams. look to be lemonwood. The buttery color with no apparent grain structure kinda' reminds me of that. The belly wood I agree to be Osage for sure. Whoever had it must have kept it in a box or something its whole life or the osage would be even darker. Very nice bow!

There are warning out there about not shooting the alu. lam bows. Just a caution.

Wade got a Grumley pre-Bear and another Grumley post-Bear from me I doubt he'll chase it.Its in nice shape Id bet $1800 now(over $3G 10 years ago)great bow

Less than 20 minutes to go....

Only $751.00...

$1,625.00 took'er home.

My initial impression is that us not a Grumley. I have seen and held several but not all of them. I'd be cautious.

Its a grumley by grumley my guestimate wasnt far off

Good guess. I was about $900 low with my bid.

I was $1625 low ;) WOW what a find. JF

I was way off. I thought it would be over $2500! Now I gotta buy Blackhawk a coffee, he was closer to the selling price than I was. Ha! Lance.

Can someone that has a Grumley bow tell me how wide the bow is at its widest point?

Looks like a good two inches. I'd be interested to know the typical width.

The tri-lam ones when he was with Bear looked narrower. This one looks more like the width of the older all Osage models.

This is my laminated one and it’s right 1 7/8” I think they were all different lengths and various width.

Thank you! I was wondering having never held one, just photos. Not a "narrow" bow limb at the mid limb.

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