From: crookedstix
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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...to show this bow with a wet coat of tung oil in the bright morning sun, but I'm going to anyway!
This is the "coast-to-coast" Howatt that Knifeguy posted about a couple of weeks ago, after I had tipped him off about seeing it on the Tacoma Craigslist at a great price. He snapped it up, but it turned out that the bow had a couple of issues.
We're pretty sure it was a lunchbox bow that never made it to the decal stage; perhaps because it had a bit of lifting grain right in the neck of the grip. For whatever reason, it never got fully shaped...at least not in the way that Larry shaped them. As a result, it didn't fit the hand right, nor did it look right. Lance also found the draw weight (58# @ 28") just a bit more than he enjoyed, so we decided that I would take a crack at it.
When it arrived in Maine, I threw it on the scale...and it weighed 2.26#, compared to the 2.08# weight of my other 1962 Hunter (50# draw). That might not sound like a lot, but I was convinced that this bow was carrying a lot of extra wood. I went at it with the rasp in ten different places, using my other '62 Hunter as a template, and finally got it looking and feeling the way I wanted it to.
However, there was still a draw weight issue. At my longer draw, the bow was pulling just over 62#. I'd been getting my courage up for a while to try a draw weight reduction on a bow, and I decided this was the time.
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From: crookedstix
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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I just put blue painter's tape along the edges and scribed out a sliver (about 3/32" on each side) to take off, and then started grinding with a palm sander loaded with 80-grit. When I reckoned that I was about halfway done, I checked it on the scale...down to 60#, looking good!
I resumed the grind and went to my marks, and when I weighed it again, I was at 58.3#. At this point, I took it out to shoot...and it worked like a charm, quiet and smooth.
I gave it one last gentle visit with the grinder--just a few passes each side, using even pressure and timing-- and then chamfered the sharp edges with the sander, then hand sanding at 150, 220, and 400 grit. For good measure, I also took the rasp and sandpaper to the tips, which I thought were bigger than they needed to be...because remember, this bow never got fully finished while it was at Howatt.
I'm calling it done now. The bow with string weighs 2.15#, and the draw weight at a 7.5" brace registered at 57.02# @ 29.5", which is a very comfortable weight for me.
The last step will be about half a dozen coats of tung oil--I had already rubbed in a couple, and this is what the third coat looked like just after applying it. Then I'll give it an elevated Para-Rest, and see if I can hit something with it!
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From: Knifeguy
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Well done Kerry. You gave this bow the finish it deserved and made it a contributing member of the “Bows I Love To Shoot Society”! I’m working on the “Holie Howatt” now. I can only hope that it looks half way as good as that old Hunter. Lance
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From: YH2268
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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WOW, great looking bow, nice work!!
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From: Keefers
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Looks a lot like this Mint one I have
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From: chazz847
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Looks Great!!
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From: Bassman
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Hatfield,and his boys made bows ahead of there time both performance ,and aesthetics.With a skinny ff string they are the bomb.
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From: boatbuilder
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Are you selling or just taunting us? its a beauty.
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From: crookedstix
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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No, not selling or taunting; just celebrating that particular model year, especially with the teal green glass setting off all those Coca-Cola tones in the rosewood. I know that Howatt made even fancier risers on some target bows, but in terms of a hunting bow, I think the 1962 Hunter was the most sculpted riser of all, from any manufacturer.
This project gave me an even deeper appreciation of that fact, because when I started it none of the different planes had been brought out to the knife-edges that were normal on a '62--and in fact, I think the bow was actually a '63 or '64, because it has both overlays and underlays of rosewood, which I've never seen on a true '62. There are actually five such edges if you look closely at a '62--not just the one in the sight window that we always talk about.
This photo shows all the different areas that needed wood removal, edge definition, or radius adjustment, in order to get it looking like a '62. I should have taken some before pix; as it is, only Knifeguy and I know what the actual transformation was on this one. Luckily, there was enough wood to work with to get it looking "62-ish".
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From: Renewed Archer
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Great job! Beautiful bow! That's inspiring.
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From: Pdiddly
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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A Handy Hardy Howatt Hunter!
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From: Buzz
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Great job.
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From: Pa Steve
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Looks great.
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From: grizzly
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Real beauty. love the way that green glass pops.
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From: TBinMN
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Kerry - nicely done!
This 62 Hunter is a favorite of mine - great shooting bow and a beauty to boot!
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From: Pdiddly
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Date: 04-Jul-18 |
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Love mine as well...it used to be Kerry's!!
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From: Babbling Bob
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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what a fun, informative, and fantastic post! Some great work on an absolutely beautiful bow. Enjoy the bow.
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From: cacciatore
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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Very nice great work.
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From: Frisky
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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I will say it has proper glass color.
Joe
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From: mangonboat
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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Nicely done, indeed! That lump of coal has been redeemed!
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From: Knifeguy
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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Here are a couple of before pictures that I posted in coast to coast bow. You’ll be able to see and appreciate all the work that Kerry put into this bow. Lance
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From: StikBow
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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Great job on a fantastic bow. Thanks for walking us thru this transformation
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From: cueman
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Date: 05-Jul-18 |
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Hey Kerry, what is the serial number on that bow? The original pictures look allot more like a 63-64 bow than a 62. They are not nearly as sculpted as the 61-62 knife edge bows. Just wondering if it is a real late 62 and maybe they were going to the fuller riser shape.
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From: Pdiddly
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Date: 06-Jul-18 |
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There were no numbers on the bow Kenny...I think it was made around 1963 due to the overlays.
The bowyer did try and knife edge the rear of the sight window, which ended in 1962 so was familiar with that look but not the process, given the results Kerry had to fix.
The 1963 Diablo had a knife edge so they were still building bows with it.
Finally, the turquoise 3M glass was not on a lot of 1964 Hunters.
Looks like a lunchbox bow for sure that was "good enuff" for the original owner but had serious shortcomings in proper fit.
Those are my musings...
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From: crookedstix
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Date: 06-Jul-18 |
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Kenny and Pete, I suppose another possibility is that a private owner got this as a 1963 and tried to retro it himself...for instance, the sight window had been cut past center. But my hunch is that it never got a serial number or a decal, and just went home from the shop with a worker. The flaw in the grain that Lance glued up was in a fairly critical spot, and that might explain why it got pulled from the normal production process. Either way, I'm pretty sure that it was destined to have 1963/64 styling...but Mr. Rasp and I liked the '62 look better!
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From: cueman
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Date: 06-Jul-18 |
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Nice job Kerry! It is a lot more sleek and curvy now.
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