Tell me more about your, or show me your, wood arrows!

[Sam McMichael]

My arrows don't look as good as these. Mostly, they are rather plain jane, but my last dozen actually look pretty good. They also shoot well. Maybe I will eventually make some worthy of photographs.

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by WESTBROOK:
I've made a few...

 

Which cresting jig do you use? Beautiful craftsmanship!

[WESTBROOK]

Thanks Capt'n

Like most, I tried some home made jigs but finally spent the money on a Spinrite...they are great!

There is no substitute for a good cresting machine for good clean lines and a dipped final coat to show off your work.

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by WESTBROOK:
Thanks Capt'n

Like most, I tried some home made jigs but finally spent the money on a Spinrite...they are great!

There is no substitute for a good cresting machine for good clean lines and a dipped final coat to show off your work.

If your work is any indication of the Spinrite, those are high recommendations indeed!

[WESTBROOK]

 

Dan Worden, the guy that makes the spinrite actually duplicates barcodes that read correctly....fine lines1

[longbow fanatic 1]

Excellent work, Eric!    

[WESTBROOK]

Thanks Dennis, I love wood arrows!

[Warden609]

Great thread! Very nice work!!

[Captain*Kirk]

Which cresting paint do you use, Eric? Specialty lacquers like Bohning, etc or generic like Testor's?
I've seen some darn nice cresting jobs done with Testor's model paint.

[kybowman]

Most definitely an art form in itself!!
   

[WESTBROOK]

Just good ol' Testors enamel. Mostly oil base but some Acrylic if there is a color I cant find in OB. The metalics need to be water based because an oil based finish will make them run for some reason no matter how long they dry. The crown is just spray can rustoleum. The BEST finish is Daly's Profin poly if you can get it, it don't get target burn. I've shot 3D all summer and the arrows look like new. Otherwise its Minwax OB poly thinned 25% with mineral spirits.

Its a lot of fun building wood arrows, just don't get in a hurry. It can take most of a week to get them ready to fletch.

Once they are straight...

day 1 stain
day 2 dip a sealing coat
day 3 spray crown
day 4 crest
day 5 dip finish coat
day 6 dip final coat

[wooddamon1]

Diggin' those arrows WESTBROOK! I really like the Wolverine scheme posted as well, made an ex bro-in-law a similar set way back with blue stained shafts.

 Nice work guys! I'd love to have a Spinrite, I'm still using an ancient Bohning I got in a kit when I first got into rolling my own.

[wooddamon1]

Lions (no jokes!) colors for my late brother:

 

These were with some water-based cresting paints, made kind of a cool fade pattern that matched the stained portion:

 

 

Top ones are cedar, these ones are all from German Spruce shafts I got for a steal:

 

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by WESTBROOK:
Just good ol' Testors enamel. Mostly oil base but some Acrylic if there is a color I cant find in OB. The metalics need to be water based because an oil based finish will make them run for some reason no matter how long they dry. The crown is just spray can rustoleum. The BEST finish is Daly's Profin poly if you can get it, it don't get target burn. I've shot 3D all summer and the arrows look like new. Otherwise its Minwax OB poly thinned 25% with mineral spirits.

Its a lot of fun building wood arrows, just don't get in a hurry. It can take most of a week to get them ready to fletch.

Once they are straight...

day 1 stain
day 2 dip a sealing coat
day 3 spray crown
day 4 crest
day 5 dip finish coat
day 6 dip final coat

WOW!!!!
No kidding,those are   amazing  for Ace Hardware model paint! Those are some of the nicest arrows I've seen. Thanks for sharing!
Now I'm inspired to do more than boring natural cedar!

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by wooddamon1:
Lions (no jokes!) colors for my late brother:

   

These were with some water-based cresting paints, made kind of a cool fade pattern that matched the stained portion:

   

   

Top ones are cedar, these ones are all from German Spruce shafts I got for a steal:

     

I like the way your cresting pops out at you with the fades...almost looks "electric blue".
Awesome work!

[WESTBROOK]

Nice work Damon, I like that light wood within the cresting    

I still have yet to try that marble dip, got a bunch of fresh shafts so I might give it a go.

[Captain*Kirk]

I think everything I've seen so far is amazing!

[Captain*Kirk]

So, Eric...earlier you said you had gone through a bunch of home-made arrow cresting machines. Care to elaborate, possibly on a different thread? I would love to drop the dime on a new Spinrite or Bohning cresting machine, but geez...you could buy quite a few arrows for that sort of dough. I wouldn't mind starting small if you or someone else could show us how to build one cheap just to get my feet wet; that is, unless building one would cost 50%+ of buying a professional grade one. In that case, might be best to just bite the bullet.
Thoughts, anyone?

[wooddamon1]

Thanks guys! I've seen some pretty nifty home-made set ups using a drill strapped on its side with a "V" block made from scrap wood for a roller/rest along the shaft. One of those "AHA!" moments long after I'd spent money on the dedicated crester, of course...

[WESTBROOK]

Yup, not too complicated,  a drill motor, one of those straight electric (or cordless) screw drivers, the popular one was an old sewing machine motor cause of the pedal speed control.

A cradle for the arrow to rest in and a coupler from the motor to the arrow, usually a piece of rubber hose or tubing.