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Grading the Condition of a Bow
I have never seen a guide for grading the condition of a bow. Maybe a grading system is not useful since there is no price guide for old bows like there is for comic books, records and nearly all other collectibles. I mean, once you know the condition now what do you do with it? Well I believe this would give archers/collectors a standard to relate to, therefore I have attempted to outline such a system. Also realize I have written this from the perspective of a collector, archers who buy bows to shoot may feel very different. If you are another collector, PLEASE add your comments to what I have done.
Conditions:
I've tried to create a grading system simple yet be descriptive enough to let the collector/buyer understand the condition of the bow. I will explain the meaning of these in the last section in applying factors to conditions. The conditions I've decided upon are:
Mint
Excellent
Fine
Good
Fair
Poor
Horrible
Factors:
(Hover over picture for description)
Factors are things which effect the condition of the bow. Before a bow can be graded for condition all the factors must be considered. I have tried to list most of these factors however I realize there are some I probably missed.
Twisted limbs: Older bows often have twisted limbs.
Sometimes they are noticeable when unstrung and sometimes they are only noticeable when
they are strung. I do have a method to straighten them which Joe St Charles uses where I
bump the twisted limb in the opposite direction for about 5 seconds. This has worked most
the time and sometimes remain permanent. However, understand there is usually a reason why
the limb twisted in the first place. One side of the limb has become weak due to exposure
to heat, moisture, improper construction, improper stringing or other factors. For a
shooting bow this can be very degrading.
Drill
holes: I hate drill holes. However, Allot of bows have them out of necessity.
There was no AMO standard on accessory holes though most of the 70's and earlier so when
an archer wanted to add a sight, stabilizer, clicker, quiver and the like he had to drill
a hole in the bow to accept it. Even a patched hole is still a hole only filled in. Of
course this does not apply if it was a factory drill hole and sometimes this is difficult
to tell. Sometimes manufacturers built in an area where the archer was expected to drill a
hole.
Varnish chips & scratches: Bows were built to be used and not
collected (with a few exceptions) by nuts like us. If it is used it is bound to get some
chips and scratches. They can be as subtle as a 1mm chip in the risor varnish or a foot
long scratch in the limb. They can even worsen things if they run through the markings.
Stress
lines: These are mostly associated with Bear bows but can be on any make. They
run lengthwise on the limb where the limbs join the risor. A bow is usually still
considered shootable and does not hurt the integrity of the bow although they dont look
that good.
Dings/dents: When bows are dropped from normal use they can get dented
up. These appear as small indentations in the risor. Loss of varnish can occur but not
always. They can be very subtle at times and only seen when light reflects off the finish.
Scuffs: These can be the most benign of all factors and can usually be
removed with a good cleaning. Scuffs are not scratches and do not compromise the finish.
Refinished: I would rather have a bow in its original unfinished
condition. A refinished bow could never be called mint. Even if it appears perfectly mint
it is only in excellent condition. This can be a desirable bow for someone who wants to
only shoot it though. Whenever a bow has been refinished it should be declared as such.
Refinishing a bow can be good. I have a Grizzly in poor condition that would increase in
value and would make a fine shooter if refinished. Be careful not to remove the markings
and beware of that when buying them.
Gouges: these are very bad scratches and usually involve removal of the
wood or fiberglass as well as the finish. The wood fibers can be exposed and sometimes
they can compromise the integrity of the bow.
Delaminations: Bow age can take its toll at times. This is when the bow
fiberglass/wood laminations separate from the bow. Bad glue, construction, heat and misuse
can cause this. When a bow delaminates it is serious. If it is in the limbs it can make it
unshootable. When in the risor it usually compromises the integrity but not always,
sometimes they are still shootable when in the risor.
Decal/stickers/screening
damage: Early bows used decals to identify the bow and relay information. They
can be under or on top of the finish. Stickers are usually on top of the finish and can be
easily damaged. A more durable way later used was to silk screen this information. Early
Bears used decals and these were easily damaged. Damage can be as small as a small chip on
the decal to missing altogether. Stickers can be scratched, missing or simple slide to
another spot.
Varnish yellowing: From the factory a finish is bright and
clear. Age will almost always make the finish on a bow yellow. Yellowing is considered an
acceptable factor. It is important to understand though that this does not always happen.
For a bow to be mint there should be no yellowing. Older bows with no yellowing are rare.
Cracks: A bow with a crack is unshootable. cracks can penetrate the
laminations and make a bow dangerous to shoot. They can effect one or all laminations.
Cracks can also be in the risor where the wood grain has dried out and developed a crack,
while maybe still a shooter it greatly degrades condition.
Non-factory
addons: These can include sights, arrow-rests, quivers, clickers, straps, grips
and others. An item attached with stick-on tape or the like can be removed sometimes it
can remove the varnish also. They can also cause discoloring in the finish. Items like
sights and quivers can have drill holes to install them which presents another degrading
factor. Some people dont consider them as degrading if they are of the same time period
but I do.
Missing standard items: Often bows come with standard items from the
factory like built-in-sights, arrow rests, and stabilizers. This doesn't necessarily
effect condition as much as value.
Factory options included: Once again this doesn't effect condition as
much as value. Optional items will nearly always increase the value. Items like bow cases,
sights, stabilizers, magnetic rests are common optional equipment.
Applying Factors to Condition
This is the big question, just how much do these factors effect the condition? This can be a highly bias and objective area. Taking all these factors into consideration and assigning a condition to a bow is something that is difficult at best. An expert can more easily do this than a new collector. Some factors more easily dictate condition than others, combinations of factors can add up and some factors have different degrees of complications. You should not qualify a bows condition by its age, as in "this bow is in excellent condition for its age". A bows condition is just that, regardless of age. The same factors apply to a 1949 Grizzly as a 1999 Grizzly. Keep it consistant. I will pass on how I feel some of them affect condition. Again this is only my experience and opinion so I welcome all comments.
Mint: Mint is mint, there are no exceptions, period. A
mint bow can have no factors to degrade it. A mint bow with yellowing is excellent at
best. I've seen some people grade a bow by saying "it is mint except for some slight
yellowing of the finish". It would be better to say "it is in excellent
condition and would be mint except for some slight yellowing of the finish". however
I frown on this and you could only do this with one factor at best. You couldn't say
"it would be mint except for a crack in the bottom limb", sorry, but that would
be stretching it too far! A mint bow should look like it did from the factory at worst. It
is also worth noting that some bows fresh from the factory are not even mint. And yes, I
have seen 30 year old bows with no yellowing.
Excellent: Most bows passed off as mint fall into this condition. Usually
there is only one small factor which effects this bow like a small dent or a slight
scratch. I believe any standard items should be present. A bow with yellowing varnish
rates excellent at best. Small stress lines may also be acceptable as maybe very small
chips. A chip in the decal however is debatable, possibly if it is very small on only one
decal. This is the condition as a collector you strive to find. I've learned to restrain
myself lately to only buy bows in excellent or fine condition.
Fine: After much thought I added this condition because I felt there was
too much room between Excellent and good. Yet, this is a difficult condition to nail down.
Factors that would make a bow excellent would make a bow fine if there were enough of them
or a combination of them. Most factors would be scratches, dents, decal damage, missing
items, yellowing and stress lines. I seem to have many bows in this condition. As a
collector this should be almost the worse condition to buy.
Good: Bows graded good dont quite make the grade as fine bows. They have
multiple factors wrong with them. Some more serious factors come into play here like a
slight twisted limb, worse finish chips and scratches, small gouges, they could even have
drill holes if not too many other factors are present. I buy bows in this condition only
when it is a very good deal or very rare and unique.
Fair: Visually these bows are obviosly far from excellent. They are often
good shooters if no limbs are twisted or delaminations but they show signs of well use or
even abuse. The finish is chipped and scratched or even gouged. Drill holes usually are
present and they may even be painted. You will see allot of bows in this condition and
unless rare and a great deal ($20+/-), they too should be avoided.
Poor: These are usually non-shooters though not always. As a collector
avoid bows in this condition. I have bows in this condition that were usually given to me
or when I first started collecting and was nuts buying everything I saw.
Horrible: . These are nearly always non-shooters. A cracked or
delaminated limb, a very bad twisted limb, and several combinations of other factors. One
could call these worthless but this may not be true. I mean, would you give $10 for a 54
compass kodiak with a cracked, delaminated limb?. Maybe, maybe not. As a rule, always
avoid bows in this condition.
How Condition Affects Value
If there was a price guide for old bows like there is for comic books, we could now say, "ok, this Kodiak is in fair condition and the guide says take X% off the listed price so its value is $X". Ah, we can only dream. However we can set some standards. I feel if a model is given a value it should be in excellent condition. All other conditions would be a deduction from there. Mint is a special case and could command many times an excellent condition bows value. Remember, true mint bows are very rare! So what would the percent deductions be? (at this point the author scratches his head) Well, I cant answer that, no more than I can say with conviction that a 1972 Super Kodiak is worth this amount. I just dont have enough data to determine that. Perhaps with input from other collectors we may be able to develope a picture of that. Maybe constant monitoring of Ebay auctions and the resale community will clear things up. Possibly someone with experience in other organizations that publish price guides could give us guidence. Some one needs to do this, just not me. Maybe this article will inspire someone to do just that.
Unfortunately, all pictures were taken of bows in my collection :(
I wrote this having read no similar articles, if there are other articles on this subject
out there, I apologize.