I have played around a little bit with spray paint crests. I have sprayed crown dips also. The crests are indeed time consuming and you won't get the really tight lines desired on a custom arrow, but they can be better than you would think. Obviously, you can only expect a simple design, but they will be "custom" none the less.

I used no spinning device, just simply eyeballed as I sprayed light coats (2-3 depending on the paint) on the bare wood of the shaft, rotating by hand until a full coat was applied, using masking tape and saran wrap to cover the rest of the shaft. You can get a pretty good "crown" without runs by using light coats. Bare wood and a warm room provide for the best adhesion.

For the crest, mask off either side of the desired "crest" area (only after the crown has dried of course) and again use a light touch with the paint aerosol in the same manner as above.

I have used clear acrylic spray to seal the shaft after painting. So far, so good. I should probably stick one in the freezer to see how well the fletching adheres to the acrylic. It certainly does fine the summer desert heat (up 110 degrees). They aren't fancy, but they aren't bad either. To make matching arrows, use your first as a template to tape off the others.

That is what I like about traditional archery. Trial and error... until you succeed, for the prince and the pauper alike

YBIC,
Dave ><>

Matt 6:33,34/Rev 3:20

Edited by - str8narrow on 01/20/2003 22:15:05