I have an old Red Wing Hunter,it is the first real bow I ever bought. I got it from a co- worker back about 1975. I gave it to my best friend years ago and when he got where he could no longer shoot it he gave it back. It has 3 holes drilled in the side of the riser that I'd like to fill and then try to refinish the bow. What would be best to use to try and fill these holes with?

You could get some of the same wood the riser was made from, make little dowels and epoxy them in the holes. That only works if the riser was not stained before it was finished.

You could just use any old wood to fill it if you don't mind how it looks. You could play around with stains to match the shade of the riser etc that way.

Or, you could just mix up some clear 5 min epoxy, load the hole with just enough to fill the hole a tad high and leave it. Or, you could sand the epoxy down with super fine paper and re-spray the bow.

My vote would be to fill with epoxy just a tiny bit proud and just leave it be.

Do only one hole at a time so you can concentrate on doing a good job.

If you are going to refinish the bow wait until after all the old finish is off to fill those holes. Much easier to try to match/hide then then. Could even mix some sawdust from handle into the epoxy for color match.

If you bought that bow new in 1975 then it is a AMF RWH and the handle is made from most likely Wingwood, colored and epoxy impregnated Maple.

All advise above is good. They are all ways I have done it. I will add that I buy a cheap set of artist paints at Walmart and mix paint to the epoxy to match the riser wood. Then use a little of the paint to match the wood grain of the riser. They become practically invisible. Apply finish after the paint cures well don't hurry it.

I would suggest if you are going to use the epoxy method to refinish first so you know what the final color is, then tint epoxy till you get the correct match before filling with it.

I do it just like Ben said. It is detectable but looks nice. It is practically impossible to match the grain but you can get the color right.>>>----> Ken

I bought the bow used in '75 from a co-worker. Here is a pic of the riser to show it's color and serial number.

Here is a picture of the Wing logo

I've never seen anyone make them go away completely. You can use small dowels like match sticks to fill and color as close as you can. That bow is a pre Head Ski and the riser looks like bubinga.

Thanks for all the help, I thought the riser might be bubinga but wasn't sure and was hoping someone might be able to identify the riser wood. Here is picture of the holes

I see the start of a good stick man drawing. Anyway, I would use match stick and let them stick out a bit so you can sand them down to the finish. That will help with some original color. Shouldn't be hard to find a decent match for that with some stain also. You can apply stain a bit at a time with a Q-tip after it's sanded and before finish to try to blend it. Awesome bows those Red Wing Hunters.

If you go the dowel route, make sure to go across the grain so it can line up with the riser grain.

Again, thanks for all the help and suggestions. Never tried to refinish a bow before, can someone help me with the proper materials I'll need before I start. I do not want to ruin this bow because as I said in my initial post, it's the first real bow I ever had,other than a fiberglass Pearson when I was a kid.

I use quick wood and color with powder color and will pro and cheese cloth and pencil in the grain.then seal it up.

One other option I've had real good luck with; Get a piece of bubinga that is the same color, then grind a Little pile of saw dust from it on the bench grinder. Now use that saw dust to mix with clear epoxy. You should get a very close match.

I filled holes on a bow that I gave to a new friend. I refinished the entire bow. For the holes I mixed instant coffee dry with Tight Bond glue. A perfect match for color. Tight Bond looks like Elmers, but it dries much faster.

Most anything will do. I have even used toothpaste. When it dried I tinted it to match with water color paints and sealed it with superglue. Worked fine. - lbg

If you are going to use matching wood dowels to fill them, you need to taper them in a pencil sharpener before you tap them in to get a tight fit and minimize the glue line. Tap them in tight and sand flush.

All good ideas given. Personally I'd plug the 3rd hole to seal it and put a quickie quiver bracket on the bow and enjoy it.You won't see any holes and the quiver is pretty good. Sometimes such repairs look a lot worse than before.

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