Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
01-30-2007, 11:26 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 69
Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
I just finished my first half dozen traditional arrows. I took up shooting traditional late last year and had begun to play with cresting. Well with nothing much else to do in my evenings, which come around 4:30pm this time of year, I decided to try crown dipping and feather splicing.
This is really pretty cool, and although I think I did a pretty easy splice it's not hard to do either.
Thought if anyone wanted an idea for killing the Winter blahs they may want to look into this hobby as well. If interested I can give details, the dipping/cresting was interesting and required a lot of research to find a best solution. Also make sure you can open a window in your shop area cause if you use certain paints/sealers the fumes will have your wife...well fuming!
I don't use a cock feather so that I can rotate the nock and wear all my feathers evenly, which extends the time between refletching, and believe me that's a real consideration when you make arrows like this.
This is really pretty cool, and although I think I did a pretty easy splice it's not hard to do either.
Thought if anyone wanted an idea for killing the Winter blahs they may want to look into this hobby as well. If interested I can give details, the dipping/cresting was interesting and required a lot of research to find a best solution. Also make sure you can open a window in your shop area cause if you use certain paints/sealers the fumes will have your wife...well fuming!
I don't use a cock feather so that I can rotate the nock and wear all my feathers evenly, which extends the time between refletching, and believe me that's a real consideration when you make arrows like this.
01-30-2007, 11:42 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Spring Grove, Pa. USA
Posts: 2,120
RE: Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
Very nice! I do most of my arrow building over the winter months,too.It keeps me busy,it's fun,and I don't have to build arrows during the 3D or hunting seasons.
01-31-2007, 12:37 PM
#5
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Roanoke, Va
Posts: 3,562
RE: Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
Very nice.
I made a cresting machine last year but haven't used it much. What kind of paint did you use for the dipping? What kind of glue?
The glue I used would not hold to the dipped paint.
I made a cresting machine last year but haven't used it much. What kind of paint did you use for the dipping? What kind of glue?
The glue I used would not hold to the dipped paint.
01-31-2007, 10:40 PM
#6
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 69
RE: Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
I actually like to cover the crest with a clear coat, and found out the hard way that you cannot use Bohning Clear or Blue Clear over crests. I had read somewhere that guys were able to - using testors or acrylic water based paints for the crests, but I used testors and lets just say a womans mascara looks better after a monsoon!
Anyway I covered the dip (Bohning white) and Crests (Testors acrylic) with 2 coats of Polycrylic (Home Depot). I used Duco to adhere the feathers to the polycrylic, which I found out is the only adhesive that holds on this finish. If I hadn't coated with Poly I would have used Bohning adhisive to adhere to their paint.
The poly puts a beautiful finish on the dip/crests and protects the colors longer when shooting, and the water based poly doesn't smell at all, and cleans up very nicely! My wife wanted to kill me by the time I got the Bohning lacquer thinned down - whew!
I'm still learning and experimenting - not sure what is the best way or best materials, but half the fun is figuring it out ... just like hunting!
Anyway I covered the dip (Bohning white) and Crests (Testors acrylic) with 2 coats of Polycrylic (Home Depot). I used Duco to adhere the feathers to the polycrylic, which I found out is the only adhesive that holds on this finish. If I hadn't coated with Poly I would have used Bohning adhisive to adhere to their paint.
The poly puts a beautiful finish on the dip/crests and protects the colors longer when shooting, and the water based poly doesn't smell at all, and cleans up very nicely! My wife wanted to kill me by the time I got the Bohning lacquer thinned down - whew!
I'm still learning and experimenting - not sure what is the best way or best materials, but half the fun is figuring it out ... just like hunting!
I would worry about losing one. great job.
02-01-2007, 11:20 AM
#8
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,381
RE: Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
building woods are fun
its critical to start with high quality shafting. I personally use gasket laquer when I build them. I stain the shafts with leather dye, leaving the last 10-12" natural wood color. I dip, then crest around the area where the stain and non-stain meet. Fletch with some really bright feathes and go.
I had an Arrow Specialties crester at one time and spent a lot of time on wood shafts, built some nice ones. But when its all said and done ? I'll take carbons that are gauranteed to never warp, bend, or crack because of the enviroment while hunting. With carbons I use 3M refelctive tape and bright feathers.
its critical to start with high quality shafting. I personally use gasket laquer when I build them. I stain the shafts with leather dye, leaving the last 10-12" natural wood color. I dip, then crest around the area where the stain and non-stain meet. Fletch with some really bright feathes and go.
I had an Arrow Specialties crester at one time and spent a lot of time on wood shafts, built some nice ones. But when its all said and done ? I'll take carbons that are gauranteed to never warp, bend, or crack because of the enviroment while hunting. With carbons I use 3M refelctive tape and bright feathers.
02-01-2007, 09:33 PM
#9
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Roanoke, Va
Posts: 3,562
RE: Great Hobby for the dead of Winter!!
ORIGINAL: gtousey
I actually like to cover the crest with a clear coat, and found out the hard way that you cannot use Bohning Clear or Blue Clear over crests. I had read somewhere that guys were able to - using testors or acrylic water based paints for the crests, but I used testors and lets just say a womans mascara looks better after a monsoon!
Anyway I covered the dip (Bohning white) and Crests (Testors acrylic) with 2 coats of Polycrylic (Home Depot). I used Duco to adhere the feathers to the polycrylic, which I found out is the only adhesive that holds on this finish. If I hadn't coated with Poly I would have used Bohning adhisive to adhere to their paint.
The poly puts a beautiful finish on the dip/crests and protects the colors longer when shooting, and the water based poly doesn't smell at all, and cleans up very nicely! My wife wanted to kill me by the time I got the Bohning lacquer thinned down - whew!
I'm still learning and experimenting - not sure what is the best way or best materials, but half the fun is figuring it out ... just like hunting!
I actually like to cover the crest with a clear coat, and found out the hard way that you cannot use Bohning Clear or Blue Clear over crests. I had read somewhere that guys were able to - using testors or acrylic water based paints for the crests, but I used testors and lets just say a womans mascara looks better after a monsoon!
Anyway I covered the dip (Bohning white) and Crests (Testors acrylic) with 2 coats of Polycrylic (Home Depot). I used Duco to adhere the feathers to the polycrylic, which I found out is the only adhesive that holds on this finish. If I hadn't coated with Poly I would have used Bohning adhisive to adhere to their paint.
The poly puts a beautiful finish on the dip/crests and protects the colors longer when shooting, and the water based poly doesn't smell at all, and cleans up very nicely! My wife wanted to kill me by the time I got the Bohning lacquer thinned down - whew!
I'm still learning and experimenting - not sure what is the best way or best materials, but half the fun is figuring it out ... just like hunting!
Thanks
