is there a problem with my bows?

[mike838]

i have two questions.first my ole man gave me his York recurve . but its been in his closet probably since the late 70's or early 80's at least.nothing looks cracked on itbut it is beat up a little bit. is it still safe too shoot? i know it is not worth anything [money wise],but it is too me. second question is ,i have a pse takedown that creeks a little when i string it and shoot it.i make sure the limb bolts are tight and eveything looks alright. i was wondering what i could do or if anything too stop the noise.as you can tell i am new too the traditional thing, so any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Wingbone]

First, about the York. If there is nothing cracked or delaminated, shoot it. I've got an old recurve about that vintage that I use for carp shooting regularly.
As far as the creaking takedown, Remove the limbs to see if there still is some padding or gasket material between the limbs and the riser. This stuff can get worn through. That happened on my takedown. I glued a layer of buckskin, 'cause that's what I had at the time, onto the riser where the limb rests. No more creaking. A thin layer of bleach bottle plastic HDPE would probably work too.

[mike838]

thanks for the input.i will have too give that a try. i dont think that i ever taken that thing apart.



thanks again

[PaulBear]

Mike838 your pse takedown sounds like a problem that I learned the expensive way I had a take down and would string it by the ol step through and bend the bow to string it which was the way I was taught but I was at a 3d shoot and a Ol timer came up to me and told me I was twistin the limbs on my bow stringin it that way neadless to say he was right I ended up with a problem with noise and my string wouldnt set right had it checked out and sure enough the limbs were twisted slightly so now I use a bow stringer. it might not be the cause of yours but it wouldnt hurt to check it out