Picked up a nice Thunderstick II today at a shoot. 58@28  60" bow. It has a "arrowhead" under the finish on the riser. Is this common on all of them or denotes something special, etc ?

Lets see some pics, please.  

Tim,

It something special.  Jim never made the arrowhead riser for customers.  He saved that detail for bows that he donated for special purposes like auctions for PBS, UBM, etc.

It is such a beautiful design, and looks like it took a great deal of skill and time.

I'd say you've got yourself something, there!  

Yes it is special!

OK, here goes
 

 
It had real snakeskin on the limb backs but was peeling loose , don't know but doubt Jim done that. Anyway I carefully peeled it off and rubbed the glue (likely Titebond) off with #0000n steel wool and denatured alcohol . Works like a charm. Cleaned the whole bow up similarly to rid it of wax and such and rubbed a bit of wipe on poly on it to freshen it up.The bow is marked 58@28 and it's a 60 inch. I do not believe it to be actually 58# but have not weighed it yet. I can shoot it so who cares.I like the short bows, but all I have shot in the past I did not shoot well.I will say as of now it feels really smooth and shoots well but needs some John Nail tuning done on it.

I think this bow may have been owned by a couple guys at our club at some point in it's history but cannot confirm as of yet. It is marked "Custom made for John Sloan" Anybody know John ?

Hmm, John Sloan the bowhunting writer maybe ?

Hi Tim! I have been shooting 60" MOABs for the last couple of years and recently picked up a Thunderstick III. Jim makes some great bows! Enjoy! Mike

It's a keeper for sure.From what I am gathering on it it must have been made for John Sloan the writer. The arrowhead special edition points to that.

Neat picture, neat bow!

Tim, the "arrow riser" I was referring to earlier in this thread is something different.  Jim's special donation riser had a miniature wooden arrow built into the riser, which went all the way through and could be seen from both sides... complete with fletching, shaft, and broadhead.  Wish I had a photo, but I never managed to win one!

Just wanted to make sure I didn't leave you with bad information.  Beautiful bow, though!

But I gather from other pics of his bows I have seen that this arrowhead treatment is different from his "regular" bows ?. It's the only one I have seen so far.

As far as I know, you're right.  I've seen hundreds of Jim's bows, and several with the special riser I mentioned, but have never seen another like your picture.  I'm sure he's be glad to tell you the story behind your bow if you get in touch with him.  Jim is a GREAT guy!

Seems at one time it was owned by Curt (aka littlefeather) Kellar. He sold it to  guy from our club. This bow is starting to have a story.

Heard back from Jim. He does not remember the bow but said he has made so many that he can't remember all of them.I am 99% sure that that is a genuine arrowhead. It appears a piece of leather arrowhead shaped was glued on first and the the stone point thinned on the backside and glued to the leather. Then the finish applied.

flinttim sent you a p.m ,thanks gib