Old Lemonwoods

[Fletcher]

I worked out a deal with David32cal for three wooden bows.

They turned out to be all lemonwood bows, circa 1940 - 1950 I believe.  Lemonwood was a very popular bow wood in those early days.  It is very straight and tight grained and has a good compression and tension ratio for a self bow.  Two of the bows have a thin fiberglass backing on the back side only. The wood is indigenous to the Carribean, especially Cuba and with the current embargos on so long it is now rare and expensive.

One still had a Ben Pearson cellophane label.  The other had no visible markings left but could be be Ben Pearson by the shape and style similarity.

All three had some degree of 'string follow' and one limb worse than the other which put the bow out of perfect tiller.  The original leather handles were all gone and the varnish finish was marred and checked on all the bows.

This is all very typical of bows this age.

I considered the value as collector's items as is, but the old bows all spoke to me.  They all would rather be gently restored and put back into service than retired and hung on a wall somewhere.  I think most of us would feel the same about ourselves!

I stripped the finish and gently worked the stiffer limbs back to perfect tiller.  It did not take much and the draw weight and limb shape were not adversely affected.  I put on a new light walnut stain to closely match the original and am in the process of finishing the Tung Oil outer coats and sewing up new buckskin grips.  I like the Tung Oil better as it is easier to keep the limbs more limber than varnish will allow.

Anyway, I will put these up for sale at the Trade Shows in Cour D'Alene and Monroe.  I may try to get a pic of the restored trio and post it here.  If anyone is interested in them you can send me a pm.  They would be good for ladies or youth.  They are about 68" length and draw weights of about 23 to 30 lbs @ 28".  They should meet the muster for most of your historical events - I am not sure how your clubs deal with the glass backing.

You could tell them the bows are at least 50 years old!

[ridjrunr]

I could be wrong on this ,but in the past when I picked up lemonwood bows,they had what looked like glass but it was black and was actually fortisan which is glorified cardboard or tagboard.I cant remember exactly when but I didnt think glass as we know it came out until the very late 40's or early 50's and then it was bi-lateral and had a visual"weave"in it.Unilateral or one direction glass didnt come until I think the mid 50's.William Folberth was the "founder" of glass backed bows.If I am correct, then the lemonwood ones would be  "composite" bows and should qualify for primitive.But some club rules I guess could very on this. I know quite a few people that shoot those and the old hickory ones as well.ridjrunr

[Fletcher]

That is possible.  It does not have the same look as many of my more modern glass laminated recurves.

Maybe Longhunter could weigh in here.  I will look more closely tonight.

[Fletcher]

I looked up the Fortisan online.  Sure enough Ben Pearson and other used this cellulose impregnated fabric as bow backing in the late 40's and early 50's.  It did come in colors as well as natural.  It was popular until the fiberglass came out in the mid 50's.  It was also used as an art fabric (see Frank Lloyd Wright)

I would say these 2 bows are definitely Fortisan - one natural, one dark green, both in very good shape.

[ridjrunr]

Fletcher,Neat imfo and thanx for sharing yer findings.When I first started collecting recurves I tried an old lemonwood bow and it exploded as I have a long draw.Others I know can shoot them with no problem.I dug in my storage locker the other day and I did squirrel away one old hickory static tip recurve with no backing.I believe it to be a Pearson as well.Could this bow be "refreshed" so it is shootable? I am willing to try it but dont know where to start.I could send a pix or two if need be.Thanx for any recomendations on this,ridjrunr

[Fletcher]

Post your pics or send them to john.fredenberg@yahoo.com.

I stripped the varnish off these (it was hard and cracking) then restained after I had worked the tiller back to true.  Then I used several coats of Tung oil.  I limbered them up slowly and all seem to work just fine.  I would not draw an old wood bow over 29"