Old black Widow

[bowmaster12]

My late uncle had an old black widow hanging in his house that my aunt still has.  My cousin has said in the past he would like to string it up but never has.  They had wood burning heat and it hasnt been touched for at least 30 years.  Would it be ok to just visually inspect it and try to string it if it looks good? Or should we just send it into them and let them inspect it? I dont know if sitting so long in that dry heat environment would hurt it.  Thanks.

[McDave]

How valuable is it as an object to hang in the house?  If it has a lot of value to your aunt, then just leave it on the wall.

If it's okay with her, and she understands that it may break and won't miss it, then string it up with a new Dacron string.  If you use the old string and it breaks, the shock of that could also destroy the bow. 

Exercise it: draw it multiple times in increments of 3" or so until you get to full draw before you shoot it.  Shoot only heavy arrows in it: 10 gpp or more.

Obviously, if there are any cracks, etc., that you are worried about, then it would be best to send it to BW to inspect before you shoot it.