staining and sealing wood arrows?

[chesapeakeblend]

Beginner arrow building question -

Does anyone use regular stains and sealers from hardware stores?  I see the ones in the catalogs but I am just curious if it is a better quality or what am I guying vs. household items?

Can I rub it on like regular stains or do I really need the dip tubes and such?

Yeah these are real novice questions.

[Larry247]

I buy poly and wood stains for some of the ceders i finish at the local hardware store. I've never used a dip tube for that, i just brush the stain on. Good luck..

[cedarshaft]

Mike;
I use Minwax stain and sealer. I brush it on and wipe it off with a clean rag to get the color I want. Works well for me.

[TexMex]

I rub on the Minwax stains and poly also.
I have use the stain and then just rubbed some paste wax on them too.  Some I just use the paste wax.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

paste wax. I have to try that...

I did one by sealer,stain then 3 cost of sealer.

[Frank Warnke]

What works for me is clothing dye mixed in denatured alcohol as a stain.  The kids love the bright colors.  I use water based enamel in a dip tube for the crown dip.  I use bright colors here as well so we can find the arrows when we miss.  I use Minwax Polycrylic in a dip tube to seal the whole shaft.  All the items including the dip tubes were bought and fabricated from my local hardware store.

[Lost Arra]

texmex    

Minwax stain wiped on with rag. Allow to dry.

Wipe on some spar poly urethane for first coat. Allow to dry. Steel wool. Few more coats of regular wipe on poly satin. Paste wax. Finished. Simple. No mess. (Of course, I only make a dozen at a time.)

wiping on spar poly is only used for moisture barrier. It leaves some streaks that can be removed with steel wool prior to the regular Wipe-on poly.

[deerfly]

yeah rit dye is good as are most home center stains, leather dyes work great as well. spar varnish is pretty tough as it gets too, just wipe a few coats on, steel wool in between.

[draco]

Watco Oil; wipe it on,go over it with 4/0 steelwool when dry. More coats wont do you any good as it soaks in the shaft and seals it. It has the stain in it as well.

[Froggy]

minwax stain . oil base. put a couple coats on with a old tee shirt or lint free rag. letting dry and wipe shafts in between coats. then use tru oil ( commonly used for gunstocks). rub on several coats, letting dry in between coat and sanding lightly with very fine steel wool. use your fingers to apply the tru oil, it  will dry very even. fletch using duco cement. get it at walmart for 97 cents. bonds so well with the tru oil, you almost have to grind it to get it off.the combo finishes that have stain and finish are ok. but the wood seems to show the grain better doing it separately. if the look doesn't matter that much, the combo stain/ finish is ok.  Froggy

[titus bass]

If you use the Minwax stains/Rit dye and or paste wax what glue do like with those combos??

[Kevin L.]

Minwax stain here, then seal and finish with Ace spar varnish.

[varmint]

I use the off the shelf stains from Ace and such,wipe on,wipe off.I like to use a spray on poly to seal,just seems so much quicker than dipping.Krylon is a good one...

[wapiti]

There are many many options for off the shelf stains and sealers. Just be sure to ask how much stearates are in the product. These compounds are used to make the product sandable with out clogging sandpaper too quickly. A result of these additives can result in early glue failure on your fletchings. It can prevent good adhesion of the glue to the product used.

 Another issue is how hard a finshed sureface you will need and durable it will be when shot into targets that create high friction loads on the finish. Many lacquers work well as does Pro Fin Poly. This poly dries hard and is very durable but is limited in its availability in parts of the country. Also it dries slower than lacquer and has a much longer curing time than a laquer. I believe the curing time is 10 days from what the manufacturer says. I pretty sure you can buy it from Bob Burton of Whispering Wind Arrows.

[Frank Warnke]

Duco cement works great on Minwax Polycrylic.

[snag]

Does the Minwax Polyacrylic hold up well to targets and the outdoor condition? It seems funny to be using a waterbased sealer on wood that you are trying to keep moisture out of...? But I guess the stain takes care of that. But my main concern is it's durability. How does it hold up?  I like the spar urethane. But it does turn a little amber with time.

[Frank Warnke]

I have been using it for many years and it holds up well on 3D targets.  I have not noticed any yellowing.  A big reason why I use it is that I can build the arrows in the basement and not stink up the house.

[chesapeakeblend]

Nice fellas!  I am going after some minwax today!

Thanks!

[Patience]

I use plain stain with a poly spry finish and a stain/poly mix. Both worked well and easy to use. The only down side is the stain/poly mix. The stain runs if you use multiple coats and needs to be wiped off quickly. Even with the stain/poly mix I finish with a poly spray. Haven't had issues yet and any arrows that make it through the year get re-sprayed with the Poly spray. As an example of how well the spray works, I found an arrow in my lawn after months of being underground. I let it sit for a week straightened it and was shooting again.

[Shawn Leonard]

I use min-wax stain and their oil based poly. I wipe stain on with an old sock and let dry. I than use a dollar can of Wally world paint and spray on my crown. I make a dip tube out of 1" pvc and an a small funnel. I than mix 30% paint thinner and the poly. I dip once let dry and use real fine steel wool and steel wool shaft just that one time and wipe clean and than dip 2 more times, make sure ya let dry good in between coats. i have lost wood arrows in Feb. and found them in the summer and they were still shootable with new feathers. Shawn