Restore old bow
 

I have a old Herters that I'm planning on refinishing.My plan is to sand off old finish with 220 sand paper.The glass is a light tan color and I'd like to darken it up.Any ideas on how to do it.The bows is pretty sound with a ding or two.I want to patch them up and refinish but don't know what to use.Any help would be appreciated.

RE: Restore old bow
 

I've never tried darkening glass, but I guess just going over it with whatever color stain you want will do the trick. You have to be down to bare glass for it to get in there though.Itshouldn't soak in very deep at all, so the color will just be right on the surface. I wouldn't do much more of a buffing to the stainthan just a light going over with 0000 steel wool.

For all I know, it might not work at all, but it's the only thing I can think of to try.

RE: Restore old bow
 

Thanks for the reply.I didn't know if the stain would penetrate the glass or not.The bowhas had a few coats of paint on it so what ever I do has to look better.

RE: Restore old bow
 

You will have a bear of a time darkening the glass, you could darken the finish that you put on the glass with a little better help. Be careful using sand paper on old glass. You reduce the belly, or back a fraction you can develope a hing in the tiller that will cause some major problems. If it is starting to check, you can scrap it off with a blunt object like a dull bur scraper or the back of a knife. Just be careful when you remove the old finish. Dont want to have to retiller the whole thing and lose weight, or worse, case a hing or flat spot that will cause failure in the lams.

RE: Restore old bow
 

Good point. When you're sanding the limbs, be sure to use a sanding block,neversandacross the limband make all yourstrokes full length ofthelimb. Be sure to count the strokes and do exactly the same number on the other limb. I always do 10 strokes, then switch to the other limb and do 10 strokes. That way it's easier to keep up with.

RE: Restore old bow
 

Thanks guys.Now you got me nervous and thinking about a new paint job.I know the paint I put on is removable so mabe I'll steelwool the rest off and forget about sanding to much.Thanks again.

RE: Restore old bow
 

LOL! Don't let the sanding scare ya. As long as you sand with the grain of the fiberglass and keep count of your strokes, you won't have any problem. It takes a lot of sanding with 220 grit to take off enough glass to change the draw weight more thana pound or two.

RE: Restore old bow
 

Thanks.I'll be going out of town for work(30+days) so I'm bringing the bow for something to do in the hotel room.These people will love me lol.It might help with the sanity issues of being away from home.

RE: Restore old bow
 

I use colored gel coats on any fiberglass i want to change color on. get it at marine supply,,they also sell colored gel coat pigments, That stuff is how you color fiberglass, but if applied too heavy it will not flex well.

RE: Restore old bow
 

Thanks for the tips.I haven't thought about the finish yet.I was going to check out 3rivers for that kind of stuff.