wood arrow builders ..HELP! COMPLETE! Pics page 3

[Matty]

Originally posted by bowheadhunter:
Heat up some Walrus or Spotted Seal oil coat 3 times dry for 3 days than use Mini WAX polyU ,Spotted Seal oil goes on easier but both condition arrows from moisture ...arrows stay straighter in wet and very cold weather.

Oh...how silly am I?!     :rolleyes:  
Duh.  Every Coloradan keeps spotted seal and walrus in their basement! I had just been saving mine for Christmas dinner and putting a protective coating on my 4 runner. Why didn't you say something sooner....
       

[bowheadhunter]

Oh...how silly am I?! [Roll Eyes]
Duh. Every Coloradan keeps spotted seal and walrus in their basement! I had just been saving mine for Christmas dinner and putting a protective coating on my 4 runner. Why didn't you say something sooner....

come up Sitka AK I give you some ,,,GREAT for making Eskimo donuts also,,

[Matty]

Eskimo donuts!! Now that's something I gotta try!!! I love donuts!!

[bowheadhunter]

Ground bowhead whale bones and bone marrow(deer or Elk BONES ) ,buck wheat flour add sugar ,dried white fish ,fresh black bellies add yeast sit 30 hours at room temp(TURNS A LITTLE SOUR)  ,boil seal or walrus fat or lard make round balls drop in boiling fat or lard  THAN cook  till golden brown ,goes great making arrows on a cold night when wife has playing cards with the ladies  . Smells WORSE than the burning feathers for your arrows but tastes great,be near the bathroom after eating the donuts ,,

[Matty]

Ok here's my update. My 1 day of elk hunting was a bust. Saw nothing. Heard nothing. I think with the high temps and the full moon. They are hunkering down in the trees. And feeding at night. Not making excuses. Just a theory.  I have plenty of time..
ANYWAY.
So I put 3 coats of stain on my arrows (2 sets of 6,  2 different spines and weights) till I got them to a color I was happy with. Nice and rich. Let them dry for a few days.
 

Last night. Mixed 1:1 min wax FD high gloss poly : mineral spirits. Put it in the dip tube. Started dipping 1 by one. And hung to dry. That was 7 pm. Today I had a break at 11. Shot home and thought I'd check on them.. As most of you said 24 hrs. To dry I thought they'd be tacky. But they weren't. They were dry. I mean DRY. and so I figured I'll do a scuff with fine steel wool and do another dip. So I did that. They scuffed nice. Wiped them with a clean cloth. And back in the dipper and back to hang dry. That was at 11:30 today. Had to go back to work at 1:00 and figured I'll put them outside in the hot summer sun and air dry outside. So at 12:45 I grabbed them to put out. And they already felt dry. But I put them out anyway. It's now 400. And I can tell you. They SEEM AS DRY as they were this afternoon from the dip last night. They are gorgeous and glossy too.
 

These are very exciting times...

[M60gunner]

Being dry enough to work does depend on your weather and location, time of year etc. In my case I do not want to put in the sun. The temp can be over 115 degrees on a day like today. That will cause the finish to blister. I wait until the wood is dry to the touch then move to a sunny spot. This helps to cure the finish faster.

[Bud B.]

I can dip three times in one day with 1:1. I also re-check for straight between each dip. Steel wool before the check. I can usually tell if they're dry enough by the droplet on the down end when hung. If I can touch it and it's dry, then I know the rest is. I think the 1:1 or 50/50 ratio helps with that.

[monterey]

Matty, I have the same experience with the faster curing time.

Also had the same experience Sunday seeking elk.  Too warm and too much moon!  Going to try to slip into a travel route to a feeding area in hopes they will come in before dark.

I like the look you have going on your shafts.  What was your stain combination?

[Matty]

Hey guys thanks for all the help. I hope after this experience I go to wood full time. But we'll see about that.
BUD B. Yes! I can't help to think "why not?" I'll do 6 hrs apart.
Thanks for the straightening tip...but I only had to minimally straighten one. They came straight. I've been spinning them on rollers and I'm impressed.
I just did my 3rd and what I think FINAL DIP. They already look good. And for a test set probably good enough.
Here's another question.
What difference would more dipping make? Stronger/  Harder finish? What's enough? What's overkill?
Monterey: I wanted to keep them simple. No cresting no crown, I like simple and more of a primitive look. So I went with just stain to closely match the woods in my bows.
Ebony and provincial (55-59)
Ebony and red mahogany (61-64)
Doug fir from surewood. When all is done I should be pushing a 600 gr 29.5" arrow.

[meathead]

They're looking good Matt.  3 coats of finish is plenty. Get them fletched up and flying. Then order some shafts and start all over again. Arrow building gets kind of addicting.

[Green]

The 1:1 ratio definitely dries faster.  If you hang them indoors, then as has been said, the sun won't blister them and any wind won't leave a rough finish on that side.  Just remember....there's a difference between "dry" and "cured".  Let your last coat have 24 to be sure.  As Bud B. said, the final drop on the tail of the shaft is a good indicator of your cure.  Have fun and post a pic of your finished arra's!

[Matty]

Originally posted by meathead:
They're looking good Matt.  3 coats of finish is plenty. Get them fletched up and flying. Then order some shafts and start all over again. Arrow building gets kind of addicting.

Yes you are correct. And there's several hundred in the basement already waiting their turn!
And thanks Green. YES. dry vs. CURED
Got it that makes sense
Also they seemed "dry" before I put them outside and it's been low wind, so wasn't worried about something sticking to them. But never thought about "blistering" but they were ok.
More pics later.

[Bud B.]

Additional dips can get the lighter grain-per-inch weight shafts up to a closer reading on the heavier shafts, if there's not a huge variance.

If your extreme is 420 on the low side and 440 on the high side, then an extra dip or two might bring them lower ones to within 10gr or so of the higher weight shafts. I have never weighed any to check to see the increase. My shooting ain't accurate enough to tell the difference.  :(

[Jack Skinner]

Those look great Matty. Well done

[Matty]

Ok so here they are after 3 coats. I weighed them all. And I'm very excited to report that they are all still within 4 grains! I weighed them before and they have only gained about 2-3 grains each. Which I think is quite insignificant.
 
The nocks aren't permanently on. Just pre planning and color matching. I'm super happy with the final results of the shaft simple and sexy!
Now onto nocks and feathers!!!

[Matty]

Ok fellas first batch complete! THANK YOU ALL who helped with your advice! They are nothing fancy. But that was my goal. Simple stained, sealed, fletched. They took a while to do. I only have 1 fletching  jig. That makes for a slow go. I'll shoot them tomorrow. If they work like I hope, they will be accompanying me on my elk hunt this coming week.
 
And here's the business end 130gr Grizz sharpened by my boy Ferretwyo! That alone makes them dangerous to elk. They might just fall over dead knowing randy held them.
 

[Bud B.]