Stress Cracks

[Problem Child]

I noticed about twenty little horizonal lines on the bottom limb(it's a one piece recurve) on my bow. Some of the lines run at a slight angle.and all of the lines are on the outer part of the limb. It also appears that the finish has small bubbles in the same area. Is this stress cracks??

[Wingbone]

The glass on a bow runs parallel to the limb. If the glass cracks, its along the limb. If you are getting a lot of small cracks at 90 deg. to the limb, it's probably in the finish only. It's just cosmetic.

[Problem Child]

I took 600 grit sandpaper and removed the tiny cracks/finish. I'm going to shoot it for a few days and see if anything else develops. What clearcoat would be good to reapply? I would think that regular polyurethane would crack. I have a friend that paints Corvetts. Should I have him spray the bow with the flexible clearcoat ??

[Arthur P]

I've been using poly to refinish my bows ever since it came out. No problems with cracking. My current fave is Helmsman spar urethane from Minwax.

They used plain old varnish - waxed and buffed - in the 60's, so make sure whatever you use for touch-up work on the bow is compatible. If it isn't compatible, it'll bubble up the old varnish and you'll be refinishing the entire bow.

[Problem Child]

Well, I thought I sanded the little lines out, but when I string the bow, I can still see them. Hmmmmm