# Restoring an old Longbow



## BlueBomber (Jun 12, 2010)

Hey all,

I found an old longbow that is easily 40+ years old. It hasn't been used or strung in at least 30 years. It's been hand painted with a design. What I'd like to do is lightly sandpaper the paint off and maybe paint on some glossy finish and get it strung and see how she shoots. Does anyone have any pointers or where I might find the gloss finish to use on a bow? Thanks in advance!

Cheers :darkbeer:


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## Two Blade (Jul 13, 2008)

Is it laminated or solid wood? If it's laminated it's probably shootable unless it's damaged if it's all wood, it's probably a wall hanger.


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## FORESTGUMP (May 14, 2008)

*Check this site*

droptinetraditions.com Probably learn a lot there about restoring and refinishing. :star:


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## BlueBomber (Jun 12, 2010)

Two Blade said:


> Is it laminated or solid wood? If it's laminated it's probably shootable unless it's damaged if it's all wood, it's probably a wall hanger.


It's not laminated as far as I can tell. Maybe it is under the paint. So if it's not laminated it can't shoot it?


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## Two Blade (Jul 13, 2008)

I would wait on someone more knowledgeable than me about selfbows to post. My dad has has an old Ben Pearson Lemon Wood bow that he has never shot for fear of it breaking. He read that these old self bows need to be 'broke in' gradually before shooting them.


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## FORESTGUMP (May 14, 2008)

FORESTGUMP said:


> droptinetraditions.com Probably learn a lot there about restoring and refinishing. :star:



The guy who runs this site will answer all your questions if you ask. He restores old bows.


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## BlueBomber (Jun 12, 2010)

FORESTGUMP said:


> The guy who runs this site will answer all your questions if you ask. He restores old bows.


Awesome, thanks man! I'll go and check it out.


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## Warbow (Apr 18, 2006)

Two Blade said:


> if it's all wood, it's probably a wall hanger.


Depends on the details, like what it is made of and how it was treated and how it was stored. I've shot some pretty old Yew selfbows that continue to be sweet shooters, maybe 50 or 60 years old. But, my experience in such matters is pretty limited.


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## alanraw (Feb 18, 2005)

I'd say it depends on the wood and laminates. As Two Blade stated, if it is _lemonwood_, then I personally would make it a wallhanger...or use it for firewood, as lemonwood is notorious for becoming brittle---heard a horror story about someone who was standing in front of someone shooting an old Pearson lemonwood longbow---and thought it was still a viable shooter. Oh well...scars on the back of the head aren't as noticeable as those on the face. God and Christ bless!


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## Alpinbogen (Jun 18, 2009)

Inspect the bow well for any sign of delamination, splinter, compression fracure, or other signs of cracks or damage. Such flaws may or not be able to be worked out. If it can't be suitably addressed, make the bow a wall-hanger. 

If its a selfbow or other type of wood-faced bow, you'll need to need to retrain the wood cells to take a bend. Initially brace it very low for an hour or so. Work it up slowly to full brace with couple-hour or so intervals of brace and rest. Draw and tiller in similar manner, ideally using a tillering tree so your body is out of harm's way if it she goes. Perhaps try 50-100 draws to 10", rest it awhile, then another 50-100 at 11", and so on to full draw. The bow may or may not need subtle tiller corrections as you go. Don't overdraw it beyond design length. (You'll either need to make an educated judgement or find a marking for this limit.)

To refinish, I like to use a cabinet scraper to remove the worst of the old finish, followed by 80 and progressively finer sandpaper. You may need to replace handle splices or tip overlays as well. I like Urac 185 for wood-wood glueups and Kwik-Tite Superglue Gel for overlays. Helmsman spar urethane is a cheap and favorite finish. Easy to apply in spray can form, too. 

Here's one that I refinished last summer for a friend. It's still shooting as far as I know. The only thing I didn't like were the huge pre-shaped horn nocks, which he bought for the bow. (I make them much mored slender on my own bows.) I filed them down quite a bit, but they were still monsterous on that bow.


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