I just bought a new to me Dale Dye. Gorgeous bow. It's not a huge deal, but is there a way to remove the old owner's name from the bow?
Thanks,
Bob
Send it to Dale and he will replace the original owners name made for and put resurrected for and put your name.
I would guess that the name is put on before the final coat of finish. I removed an owners name once with a green scotch bright pad. Gently at first so I could observe the results and get the feel and varying pressure as I went along. Once you see the characters start to fade away you'll know you are through the top coat and can let up. Finishes on bows are hard exterior grade and it takes awhile to get through, unless your going to use sand paper. Avoid sand paper
Rusty
Careful work with a circular saw or a die grinder will remove any name.
Just saying :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
ChuckC
I would try an oval sticker that will cover the name.It can be an animal,a writing,your name.I am sure you can make a google search and somebody will custom make those.
Call the maker and ask him what he recommends. I would hate to see you ruin a finish. He might even be able to supply you with a bit of finish for touch-up after you remove the name.
Some come off better than others. As mentioned, the writing is under the final coats of finish, so those need to come off before the name will. Depending on the finish it may have yellowed some. So taking off what is there and then redoing with new clear finish can sometimes leave a spot that looks a slightly different color. That would be less noticeable on darker colored woods.
I have done it on some Dye's before, and it can be done, but is a bit tricky. His finish is hard and you will end up with a "dent" where you sanded it off. It is very easy to make it look worse than before you started.
Sandpaper is actually ok, but very fine grit. You will need to reapply some sort of finish over the area. Again, it can be done, but takes a little knowledge about finishes.
If you want it to look perfect, your best bet is send it to Dale, or to someone else that does refinishing, like John at the Bow Hospital. Or you could just accept the name as a part of the bows history. The only one it really will bother is you.
Thanks everyone. I don't want to send it off...I just got it! I think I'll shoot it as is for now, rather than chance messing up the finish.
Don't do it. That is part of the bow and part of it's hunting karma. This is only my opinion but I always think about the what if scenario:
What if the name on your bow is the next Fred Bear/Howard Hill, Ben Pearson etc? What if it said Barry Wensel? You never know and if you leave the name you share every hunt with the original owner who for what ever reason parted with their custom.
Again, just my opinion but I would not do it. If I get a used bow with a name I like to research it's history and attempt to track down the original owner - T-gang is a great place to start for that.
Or Doug Witcher? That one had to go...
crunch, don't let it distract you. If it becomes a great shooter for you, study it for a year or two. One day you'll get the nerve to tackle it and when you do it, it will be a piece of cake
I bought mine from a good friend with his name on it so I'll leave it on just to harass him when I beat him at 3-D. Just kidding Dave.
Too scary for me right now. I just want/need to shoot the thing a bunch:).
Man this bow is quiet!
It's my experience removing the name is much more noticeable than leaving it. I have many bows with other folks names. No worries. I have a great bow with the name removed. I see it every time pick this bow up. It bugs me.
I'm going to leave it for now...gorgeous bow. I'd hate to mess it up.
I'm with Bobby Urban, it's part of the bow, add your name if nothing else. There is some MOJO in the original name, that's the spirit that created that bow
I have lots of bows with the names of the original owners on them. I call them orphans. My bow rack is the orphanage. :)
Good luck with your 'new' bow!
I just re-sold two bows that I've had for 5-10 years. Both guys recognized their names and happily re-purchased them from me...good karma to leave the name intact :)