I'm ready to spray the new finish on the Bear Super Kodiak I found on a Craigs' List ad a few weeks ago.

So... what's your opinion on the sheen of the new finish...Gloss? Satin?..Matte? I probably will spray with Spray Max K2. What do you think? And can anyone confirm the year it was made?

Ready to go!

My good friend Nemophilist gifted me this 1972 (my birth year) Super Kodiak. I lightly sanded it and sprayed it with a rattle can satin finish and I think it came out great.

I've been trying to kill a buck with it this season but the bucks haven't been cooperating.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your refinish

Gloss shoes off the wood prettier but if I was hunting with it I'd go with satin for obvious reasons. Either way it will look good.

I have a 72 with the original gloss finish and like it that way. Just me, but if I'm going to refinish an old bear I try to put it right back the way it was. No doubt it will look spectacular what ever you decide.

I prefer gloss on all my old Bear bows if possible.

Another gloss guy here.

If both silk screen logos are on the belly of the bow it would be a '72. bvd

I have a 1970 with a BowDoc high gloss finish. I love that bow, great grip, smoother than my 1965 and just as fast.

Logos are on the belly side, and I was careful not to harm them while sanding.

If you ruin the logos you can get replacements from Al Harford.

I vote for Spray Max 2K Gloss.

Gloss for me.

I did rub down the gloss a bit on this Bear Bubinga handle. That's always an option too.

I think they were gloss from new.I never liked gloss it shows every little imperfection I use satin myself mainly because when you refinish it is really hard to get every little imperfection sanded out .

Rattle can is ok but there are better finishes out there but they need to be applied by a spray gun .I have a friend that builds cabinets and he sprayed several for me with a Campbell conversion varnish it gets super hard and covers well with out showing small imperfections

I bought my Super Kodiak in 1972 as a teenager. Still shoots great after all these years. It could use a refinish. It came with a gloss brush. If you wanting it to look like it originally did gloss but if was only to be used for hunting my choice would be satin. Either way I’m looking forward to seeing the end result.

I vote for Gloss like it came when it was New, because I know you can make it look New again.

Gloss it is! I sprayed on three coats earlier this afternoon. When it set up for a few hours, I checked it out with a good light and it looks great! Now comes another decision......should I buff out the finish? Or let it stand? Time will tell!

I was going to say satin, if it were some fancy wood I would vote gloss.

3 coats of Spray Max 2K Gloss Glamour on the 1972 Super Kodiak..

I'm very happy with the results but there's a few spots with slight orange peel and a few specks of workshop dust, so after it cures a few days, I'll wet sand with 2000 grit and follow up with some McGuires' buffing compound. I polished the Bear medal and the threaded insert (it was rusted) so they're ready to be replaced. I just love messin' with bows!

Looks great!

Here's the before picture for comparison..

Looks great Richard! But then, all your bows look great! Lance

Nicely done!

Really, really nice.

Looks great

Beautiful job!

Very nice.

That looks great! Amazing how the old finish yellowed and how great the wood looks now.

Wow! Look at how the grain shows after the refinish.

wow it looks soo much better with that yellow finish gone.

Old bows need love too. That turned out beautiful , nice work

Well done, beautiful bow.

I’ve grown to like a gloss finish on wood bows. This one you’ve just done shows why. Looks fantastic.

Steve

I just finished spending the last two days wet sanding the Super Kodiak with 2000 grit paper. I had two small spots on the white grip overlay where I sanded through the clear coat, so I’ll re-spray those areas tomorrow. After a 2 day wait, I’ll wet sand those areas, then buff out the entire bow to its final finish. Photos to follow, so stay tuned! RK

I find this whole thread hilarious! Before I checked to see who was the OP, my best advice was going to be to do whatever Nemah does!

I would no sooner tell you what to do with that bow than I would tell daVinci what to do on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel…

But if it were my bow… It’s a pretty plain piece of wood and good colors for hunting, so I would go with Satin. This particular bow is never going to be a masterwork, but I’m pretty sure that I have seen your satin finish, and JMO, it is something pretty special.

Michaelangelo painted the chapels’ ceiling, not Leonardo. There are hundreds of folks on this site who know a lot more about finishes than I do. I still consider the finishing aspect of bow building my weakest area. I learn a lot by constantly watching videos on guitar building, woodworking, and auto painting and listening to the opinion of more experienced folks on the Leatherwall. I’ve looked at thousands of photos of bows made by guys that are far more advanced than I will ever be. So I greatly appreciate all the comments and ideas from each and everyone of you when it comes to bow finishes, textures, color, etc, and incorporate many of those thoughts into each and every bow I make. Just a few thoughts on this rainy Monday morning.

Nemah your bow looks great. Nice job.

My 1972 Super Kodiak came finished from the factory in camo paint. "LOL"

Looks better than when it was new, I like the gloss. If you wanted to hunt with it you could slip some limb skins on and take off when you’re done hunting. It looks great. Kurt

Excellent job. Looks better than the original.

Dang! Art History Fail.

And if the one with 3 coats of gloss is the same bow as the “before” picture… I’m glad I’m not a betting man, because I could have lost a small fortune on that one! Glamour looks mighty good on that one.

Finally sprayed the burn thru spots....I'll finish all sanding in 2 days, then buff it up!

IT'S DONE!! Here's the final result of the refinish work I did on the 1972 Bear Super Kodiak. I'm very pleased with the results, but I wish I had spent more time finish sanding the black limbs before spraying on the finish. I missed a few spots, leaving a few light sanding scratches, but they are barely visible. I striped the old, crackle finish off by sanding, finishing with 400 to 600 grit paper. I then applied 4 coats of epoxy to the riser to totally seal all the wood grain, letting it set a few days to cure, then sanding it smooth without cutting thru the epoxy to the bare wood (very important). It came out like glass. I then sanded the limbs to 400 grit paper, then used Scothbrite pads and OOOO steel wool. I used superglue to seal the wood edges of the limbs.

After final sanding, I cleaned the residue with compressed air and denatured alcohol and gave it 3 coats of SuperMax K2 gloss.

After a 3 day wait for the finish to cure, I wet-sanded the bow with 2000 grit paper. I sanded thru the K2 finish in two spots, so I masked that area off and sprayed it again.

Looks beautiful.

I think many believe that refinishing a bow just means sand it, spray it and you’re done. This one shows you put in the work and the result is beautiful.

Another 3 day wait and more wet sanding. Then I used a Mcguires' car polish, a black foam pad on my 3' power buffer and spent 4 hours buffing out the finish. I finished at noon on Thanksgiving.

I'll wait for a while before applying the final step, waxing. Today I will glue in Bear medallion and the threaded accessory bushing.

So..that's that! Hope you enjoyed the steps in my refinish job and maybe picked up a little information. Filling the wood pores always gave me trouble, until I started using epoxy. It's a little time consuming, and mistakes will be made, but it works perfectly every time once you get the hang of it! Let's see some of your bows that you've refinished! Richard

I would have to say it looks Better than when it was New. Very nice. Kurt

Excellent thread and very nice work.

Looks beautiful Richard, as all your work does!

Yes better than New

Wow, that’s gorgeous. Great job!

That’s beautiful , nice work , here’s a 63 Kodiak I did

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