Hi, I just completed a refinish of this old bow.  I appreciate all the help from this site, especially the bowdoc writeup.  I wasn't sure what the wood was, so I asked around and the conclusion was that it is African Mansonia wood (aka African Black Walnut).

This first one shows the original dark looking wood, except on the riser window where sanding reveals it to be a very red color.

       

     
 
The next 2 show the riser after sanding
       

       

I wiped it down with a little water to see the grain and color
       

I thought the glass was yellow, but it turned out to be the finish that was yellow.  The glass is actually a nice white color.

 

   

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I appreciate all the help from the forum.  I tried out the Minwax Wipe-On Poly and this is the final result.  It turned out really nice and I have been shooting it in a 3D league lately.  It gets a lot of comments.

 

 

 

 

Turned out beautyful!   Good Job!      

How many coats of poly did you put on it?

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How many coats of poly did you put on it?

I lost track after about 10.    
I'm still learning.

Thats a very beautiful bow, nice work.  
-Jay

Excellent job!!

Nice, the color is super

Very nice! It always amazes me how much fading a bow has over the years. It really makes me feel good when the true color come out. I usually put on about 9-10 coats of the Minwax since the coat are so thin.

 Nice job.

Bow looks sweet !

Deck looks good also, nice straight even spacing.

Nice job! Love to see the beauty of the wood brought back to life.

 Nice!

What a change!  I don't think I've ever seen a Bearcat look that good..

Very nice job! Beautiful bow!

WOW. Never seen such a pretty bearcat. Excellent job.