Refinish longbow

[sandhillhunter]

Any tips on refinishing my Hornes Archery longbow? I called Hornes' past number but there was no answer (he's out of the bow building business now).

I bought this bow used, so I'm not sure of the construction.

[Restless]

Why Refinish? Mark is No Longer Building Bows.

[caughtandhobble]

Looks great to me. It seems that the darker wood always shows any blem 10x more than the lighter colored woods.

[sandhillhunter]

I went to Mark's after I bought it 3 years ago when his shop was still open. He got me set up with a new string and gave me a few pointers on shooting.

I've shot it quite a bit but only recently got a case for it.

It does have a few scratches from use and from the previous owner. It's nice enough I thought it could use a refresh and so I was curious what the proper finish would be.

I could be persuaded otherwise I suppose.

[KenWood]

I'm a spare time bowyer. Fiberglass laminate is not my specialty. I can't tell if the belly of that particular bow is wood or fiberglass. I know that the riser is exposed wood. My recommendation would be to use a light buffing compound or perhaps a wet piece of 600 grit sandpaper on the fiberglass areas. Then maybe a light steel wool to remove the finish on the wood. The biggest issue is if you can't match the original stain under the fiberglass then you don't want to remove it on the wood. So maybe try to remove only the clear seal. My personal favorite finish is true oil guns stock finish. Some like polyurethane. On self bows it is common to use animal fat mixed with beeswax. Like I said I'm a Selfbow guy and have limited experience with laminates. Hopefully someone who knows better will chime in.

[sandhillhunter]

Thanks for the reply and info Pigthumper. I may try to just buff it out first and see how it looks.