Build-along - First time making wood arrows - Pic heavy

[MO Bow]

I'm a newer member here and asked a few questions about cresting paint.  Ya'll asked for some pictures of the final product, so I figured I'd post pics of the process.  

Keep in mind that this is the first time that I've ever done this, so I may mess something up...

Enjoy the pics...

Adam

[MO Bow]

Here are the 12 shafts that I picked out of 3 doz.  They're all matched to 70# spine.  Port Orford cedars.

[MO Bow]

Sizing them up to my bare-shaft arrow that I used to tune.  Shafts were cut to 28.5".

[MO Bow]

Each end was tapered using the Woodchuck.  Make for quick and easy tapering...

[MO Bow]

Taped off roughly where I wanted the stain and cap dip to meet.  I used Minwax Ebony stain.  Just did 1 coat because I didn't want it too dark.  Matches almost perfectly to my BW PSA Greybark.

[MO Bow]

Using a dip tube and gasket.  I used the 3Rivers brand of clear gasket lacquer for the finish.

[magnus]

Looks like your off to a good start.

[MO Bow]

Here they are, dipping complete.  White cap dip is the same brand of gasket lacquer, but white.  3 coats of each did the job.

[MO Bow]

This is my home-made cresting jig.  It ain't pretty, but it does the job.  Black and Decker cordless drill.  1x6 pine board and 4 drawer rollers that I got from Lowe's.  I pinched some paper towels between the wheels to prevent and rubbing or nicks in the finish.

[MO Bow]

Cresting complete.  I used Testors enamel for the job.  I did a black base coat the full width and painted the bright orange and gold pinstripes on top of the black.  In hindsight, I'll do separate bands in the future.  I had to thin the paints out and the black would bleed a little into the orange.  Plus, the orange will be brighter if painted on the white background of the cap dip.  Lesson learned.  Still looks pretty good though.

[MO Bow]

Here's a look at 6 of the arrows.

[MO Bow]

Now for the fletching.  Just got the multi-fletcher new for X-mas and I set it up according to the directions.  It required some adjustment because the arrows were canted way to far off center to get the feathers on correct.  The cock feathers had to be stripped and re-glued, so 6 of the arrows have a little bit of scarring where the bad glue line was.  I used 5" solid black shield cut cock feathers and orange and black barred for the other two.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Looking good to me so far  

[MO Bow]

Finished product...kind of.  I glued the points on last night and shot them a few times.  Found out that I'm an idiot.  I cut them about an inch too short for my bow and draw length.  They're flying too stiff, so I'll have to stick some heavier points on them.  I only have 125g points.

I'm actually thinking about placing an ad in the classifieds section.  Definitely not going to ask top dollar for these.  

Sure they're straight as all get out and will fly great for someone shooting a heavier bow than me, but they're what I call Bar Hot.  They look awesome at a distance in partial lighting, but when you get close to them, they don't look as good.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading along.

Adam

[COOCH]

Are you sure this is your first rodeo. Looks good  

[magnus]

[1oldbowguy]

Looks great, sure are lookers!  What kind of brush do you use when cresting?

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Good job Mobow, I think they look real nice.

What length and spine are they?

[metsastaja]

Nice Job.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Those look awesome! Nice color choices!