Some of you may remember George Stout's recent post of his newly aquired,1959 Bear Grizzly.

In what can only be characterized as a serious lapse in judgement on Georges part,LOL,he sold it to me.

The bow was actually in really good shape,considering it is 50 years old.It did have a few of the normal scratches and dings plus one,fine stress crack.I have been feverishly working on refinishing this thing for a week and just got it all together today.

I was able to get all the scratches and dings out and I hope George and Papa Bear will forgive me for giving it a satin finish.I just like it that way and I can easily rub it out later to resemble the original factory finish,if I change my mind.The bow is 62" and 43#.

Cool!!!

Very nice looking bow.

I hd one of the dark brown '59 strke plates from 3Rivers but decide it would be lost against the dark,Brazilian Rosewood sight window,so decided to make my own.

I made a roller to roll out the lines but it just didn't work well.I ended up wetting a strip of leather and stapling it to a pine board.I used a steel ruler and pressed the lines in,one at a time,using the narrow end of a small sculpting tool.That worked.I then let it dry.

I used some "Basics" raw sienna acrylic paint to color the leather like I wanted it,let that dry and sealed it with Fiebing's Tan Cote,leather finish which finishes and seals the leather.

Rather than using the store bought one as a pattern,I changed the lines slightly to go with the shape of the riser.

I used a sanding drum in my Dremel to skive the leather thinner on the edges and left it full thickness above the handle throat.Full thickness is maybe 1/16".

I brushed the same paint into the handle leather.This evens out the dark and light tones and fills any dark scratches etc.I then sealed it also with Tan Cote.
 

George might want that old girl back now!!! You did a real nice job.....

JimB...you did a beautiful job on the old '59 Grizzly.

George thought the coin was copper,I thoght it was brass.it's often hard to tell under the old finish.I'm now convinced it is German silver.

There were some dings under the coin and I was able to raise them by placing a piece of damp felt over them and touching it with a small,hot iron.It raised them up perfectly flush.

The screw was pretty rough,unlike the rest of the bow.The slot was buggered,the top gouged and some of the knurling on the rim,was ground off,probably by using pliers.

I had a couple others but thought it would be neat if this one could be salvaged.I worked the slot and top of the head with small files.I then masked the threads,chucked it in a small battery drill and spun the head on some emery cloth.This gave it a machined looking surface.

I thought the knurling was just full of crud but on closer inspection,as I said,some of it was ground off.I own one metal checkering file and it turned out to fit the spacing of the serrations.I went all the way around the rim and restored the knurling.I rubbed a little cold blue on it and though not perfect,doesn't look too bad.

I wish I had taken a before picture of the leather.It wasn't bad for an old bow and George had cleaned it well,but there were some scratches and uneven tones.A simple application of that paint,makes it almost look new.

I also applied Loc Tite 420 to one stress crack and a crack in a tip overlay.It seemed to do well.

It is tricky to sand a bow and retain the silkscreens.These were perfect so I spent time working 320 grit right up to and around the letters.After that I lightly,very lightly sanded over the silkscreens with 400 grit,to blend into my other sanding.

There are layers of finish over the silkscreen so you can do this but you have to go very lightly and watch every stroke,making sure you aren't damaging the silk screen.You have to know when to stop.anyway,it blended pretty well.I love the color of this glass.

A thing of beauty, and much-loved. That bow fell into good hands.

Killdeer

This is an awesome thread! Now, maybe I oughta tear into that old Nomad....

That's beautiful! does that feather rest make the nock point high? and how do they wear?

Thanks Killdeer.I told George I belonged to an archery club in the early'60's and one of the club bows was a '59 or '60 Grizzly,about the same weight.I used to try to beat the other guys to the rack to get that bow.It was a smooth shooter.I've always wanted one.

I believe this one probably has another 50 years left in it.

Thanks again George.

Gorgeous!  You did an exceptional job!  

It's amazing what a talented Taxidermist can do with some stuff he has laying around his shop      

You did a great job bud, the bow looks awesome!

Wow, your attention to detail is neat to see.
I would have thrown the screw out and put in a new one.  :rolleyes:  
   Sean

SWEET!  What's the purpose of the screw?

Outstanding work. I really like how that brazilian rosewood sight window stands out.