Bear Alaskan Refinish

I found a Bear Alaskan that was in pretty bad shape.  It had discoloration on every surface an severe flaking on the wood finish.  There were also vertical cracks in the glass that needed to be stabilized and it was missing a sight plate (or cover) and the Bear coin/medallion.

(click any picture for larger view)

The finish was really easy to remove. It was brittle and and flaked. Underneath, the wood was a nice walnut, but it appeared to have some discoloration, possibly from water damage.  The limb glass under the messy finish was a nice white color, like the Bearcat that I refinished (another blog).  I had  no choice but to remove the decals on this one, but I found a person on the TradGang forum that has duplicate decals. I used these for the Tamerlane that I refinished and they really look great. So I got some for the Alaskan as well. It makes it look really original, when done.

After applying several coats of Tru-Oil, sanding between coats, I also applied several coats of Wipe-On Poly until it had a deep, beautiful finish that really shows up in the sun.  I also created a cover for the sight groove from an aluminum strip, and I put a black coating on it.. Original sight covers are hard to find and very expensive, so this will have to do for now.

The end result was a great bow that looked good and shot great as well.

The bow is 66" and pulls 46# at a 28" draw.  I got a matching Flemish string installed and setup.  The draw cycle is smooth because of the longer length and it shoots nice and straight.

Bear Bearcat Refinish

I obtained a Bear Bearcat that was not in the best shape. The finish was flaking and discolored and the glass was yellowed and scratched. The logos were still in decent shape. It was not worth keeping in that condition and had low collector value, so it was a perfect candidate for a refinish .

(click any picture for larger view)

Once I started scraping and sanding away the finish, a more beautiful wood showed up in the the sight window.  It was light and very red. Some think that it is African mansonia wood. It looks more brown in the right picture, but the true color is very red, like the left picture.

When the finish on the limbs was gently removed, it revealed that the underlying glass was white. So the finish is what gave the yellow appearance, which was common with spray-on finishes from the 60's.  I kept the original decals intact and carefully removed finish around them. I also protected the original Bear coin with tape.

I wiped some water on the wood (right side) to show the color.

After applying several coats of Tru-Oil, sanding between coats, I also applied several coats of Wipe-On Poly until it had a deep, beautiful finish that really shows up in the sun.

This is a 66" bow that pulls 44# at a 28" draw.  Once I got it setup with a nice Flemish string, I shot hundreds of arrows with it.  I even used for a winter 3D league and it performed well. It shoots nice and has a very smooth draw.  It's a great bow and it looks so much nicer than before.