New to Archery

[Cowgirlhammond]

Hello all,
I am brand new to the world of archery and I was directed to your site from another archery forum. I was very adamant about wanting a recurve bow and not some fancy compound. My husband finally broke down and bought me a used York recurve. It's a nice bow but it is showing some wear and tear. Being a woman at heart I want to spruce it up and make it look a little nicer even though its just a learning bow. My main concern is that the old stickers came off and the coloring underneath is much lighter then the rest of the bow. Also someone appears to have written on it at some point in ink which has now stained it. My question is, what is the safest and easiest way to cover this up? My dad is a carpenter and has quite a bit of staining experience but he says the area looks like some kind of fiberglass coating. Would it be easier just to paint over it? I don't want to do anything that may compromise my bows integrity of course. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

[inksoup]

firstly, welcome abort.

secondly, it would be useful to post some picture and let us see the condition of it. (for posting picture you need to post them to some picture hosting site and give here a link)

instead of coating, we prefer to use backing. and backing materials vary according to a bow and its wood but generally accepted is glass.
some use sinew, some hemp, raw hide even paper. it depends your bow condition and desire.

and moreover, for bow making/repearing question discussions we are using "bowyer's bench" tag.

so it is better to move this thread to this tag. i am sure admins will handle it.

well good luck it is a long long journey. addictive and joyful.

[Brently]

Sure you can paint it.  Use a spray paint of some color you like.  They also make slip on limb covers that are made of spandex that will cover the limbs. Your dad is correct, the limbs are overlayed with fiberglass.  Hope this helps.

[Grey Taylor]

Acrylic artist paint like you get at a craft store will work great for this. It will also give you the opportunity to embelish the bow further if you so desire. It may be easiest to use a spray paint for even coverage and no brush marks. Then if you want to decorate use the craft paint.

Welcome to the passion we all share!

Guy

[JohnnyWayne]

Welcome and glad you made it  

[frassettor]

Welcome to Tradgang

[maineac]

Welcome.  there are ways to strip the finish off the wood handle sections and then refinish.  Some on the site here are masters, and I am sure will chime in with much more knowledge than I.  And don't hink sprucing up your bow is just a girl thing.  You should see some of the refinshing and augmentation jobs soem members (including me) have done to their bows to "spruce" them up.  Enjoy your journey into the traditional archery world.

[SELFBOW19953]

Sabrina,

You might try going to this link and asking for a copy of the compilation of a how-to thread that deals with anything and everything you could ever want to know about refinishing a bow.

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=005125

It sounds like a quick refinish of your bow is all it would take to really spruce it up.

Welcome to the "madness" that is traditional archery.

[KentuckyTJ]

Welcome from Kentucky!

[tuscarawasbowman]

Welcome.I re-read your post so I am going to edit mine. It is all personal opinion. If you want that bow to look original then do a full refinish which would include sanding, new decals, and new clearcoat at least. You will have a good amount of hours wrapped up in it. Or you can spray paint it whatever color you like with a top coat of clear. That would be the easiest thing to do but it won't be "original" and of course you can't see the wood. In the end it is all what you want your final outcome to be and what you think is pretty. If done correct neither one will compromise the integrity of the bow.

[wooddamon1]

Welcome!  

[Shakes.602]

Welcome to TradGang!! Whoever sent ya here did you a Favor!!     Not that I am Biased in any way!  

[JEFF B]

yup welcome to  tradgang as  shakes.602 said whoever sent ya did you a favor you will find us a nice bunch and  we will bend over backwards to try and help if we can.  

[ChuckC]

Ink


Aboard. . . .  

Just helping.

might be a nice idea to edit that one

ChuckC

[DannyBows]

Welcome!        

[Killdeer]

[Friend]

Hope you find yourself a home aside the campfire.

[Stump73]

Welcome!

[Sirius Black]

Welcome!

[darin putman]

Welcome great bunch full of good advice!!!