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.
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