Bought two vintage bows with cracked handles or risers on ebay about 4 years ago at a very reasonable price. I wanted to see if i could bring them back to life.A 50 lb Red wing Hunter,and a 52 lb. York Cresent.Let us just say i fixed them. Shot them both for about four years,and so far so good.The common denominator on both of these bows was the fact that they were risers made from one solid piece of wood.NO I beams or lams in the risers.Both cracked at the throat of the grip, and front of the shelf.You do not see this often ,but it does happen on vintage bows once in while.

You did good Robert. I think a lot of the little cracks and snuffles on those old bows will likely hold up if attended to like you did. I've also seen it on the one piece risers. I have a Black Hawk Warrior that did the same thing.

George, the Red Wing Hunter is mint so the crack must have happened just after they got the bow.The York was beat up so must have been shot a lot. You met me friend Tim Wilson at Denton Hill. I gifted the York bow to him along with a football helmet.You just never know.

I have a 67# '66 Kodiak that developed a hairline crack in the throat of the grip. I haven't drawn it since, that's too much weight to land on top of your head or in your face. It's a shame too because other than that the bow is in great shape.

David, I'm sure you checked it good but those were prone to get lots of finish checking and cracking with that all phenolic riser.

Do not say you heard this from me David,and enter at your own risk.I cut 2 nice steel cross pins, and drilled holes to fit the cross pins, and epoxied them in.Nice tight fit.Then i cut a piece of exotic hardwood that sat on top of the shelf from front to back that covered the vertical cracks ,and epoxied that down.No signs of either bow letting go yet ,and have shot many arrows out of both bows.Those are 50 lb. bows though.I am not sure that would work for a 67 lb. bow, but is working fine for those 50 pounders so far.

'66 Kodiak is a Bubinga riser with Rosewood horn caps, I was at full draw and heard and felt it when it cracked. I considered myself lucky and immediately unstrung it.

Sorry you cracked your handle ,as those bears kodiaks are great bows.Could well have been due to the heavy 67 lb draw.

Send those antiques to me. With woodworking equipment and lots of time,anything that can be built can be rebuilt. Up to & including - I beams,dowels, and phenolic strips. Certainly won't be original but quite serviceable. I can't afford new or pristine bows. I have a couple of very nice originally expensive bows that were discarded. I don't believe in hiding fixes but do strive to make them decorative. >>>>-----> Ken

Well put. I just do not have the patients for rebuilding, or making bows anymore. If he really likes that bow maybe he should send it to you to fix.I am sure you could fix it no problem.For me it is a lot more shooting that peaks my interest at the present time.LOL

I might do that a little later, I've got some rifle projects going right now and need to get those out of the way. I'm pretty sure it was the high draw weight. Might be worth taking some weight off of it to help prolong it's life.

Loctite 420 is all I can say.

DDave

I'm with Dave on this one. Stress the bow to open up the crack a bit, inject Loctite 420 with a hypodermic syringe and needle , clamp overnight, sand off any excess glue and its stronger than the original at the point of the crack. Three of my favorite hunting bows had that same crack when I got them and were repaired that way and I shoot them a lot. My conclusion after seeing this exact crack several times is that it is NOT from separation of the wood under stress of shooting or stringing but bows being fallen on in the field. That tremendous load to the side of the bow produces a bending moment and shear force and the grip and sight window are the weakest points under that load.

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