jesse 25

I read a somewhere that you could crest you arrows using spray paint. Is this true? If so someone please post your process from beginning to end and what kinds of spray paint work the best. Thanks !!!!!

LBR

Cresting with spray paint would be a bugger, especially if you were trying to get some hairline crests. Do you mean cap dipping instead? My early experiments with wood arrows consisted of spray paint caps--I just taped them off with masking tape. I did some that were half blue and half red, with a white band in the center, and some with barber pole stripes. Just put the white on first as a base, then tape them off accordingly. Very basic, but looked decent enough. If you wanted to see pitiful, you should see some I &quot;crested&quot; using magic markers, sharpie pens, and my cordless drill. How embarrassing......... <img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>

Chad

Long Bows Rule!

JRW

Chad's right in the fact that you're not going to get hairlines by spray cresting. Other than that, I prefer it. With sprays, you get gentle fades from one ring to the next, with no worry about ugly brush marks.

Your standard Bohning crester is not well-suited for spray. It doesn't spin fast enough to eliminate runs.

For this, I use a crester that I made from an old sewing machine motor and a dimmer switch. That way, I can spin them as fast or as slow as I like.

Basically, it's all done with spray and templates. Get the arrow spinning, line up the template where you like, and give it a short spray to pain the lines. Not much to it.

A word of caution though: Spin it too fast an it'll fish-eye. Spin it too slow and it'll run. After a few tries you'll develope a feel for how fast you need to go to get it done.

JRW

Brian L

Jesse: I too imagine you're thinking about crown dipping with spray paint. If this is the case, there are a number of people who use this method. I normally use gasket lacquer to seal my shafts so if you're using an enamel spray paint, you're supposed to spray paint over the gasket lacquer and then you can cover with polyurethane. However, I recently spoke with someone that told me they've been using gasket lacquer with spray paint underneath. I was told he sprays the crown first with the basic cheap spray paint found at WalMart and then coats with the desired amount of gasket lacquer, all with no problems. I'm probably going to try a test arrow next week using this method and I'll report back with the results. I know others have tried similar methods with the spray paint underneath the gasket lacquer only to find the lacquer won't adhere to the paint. We'll see!

JRW

You can put lacquer over just about anything, but you can only put more lacquer over lacquer.

Lacquer is kind of like a one way street. Once you turn that corner you've got to stay the course.

JRW

Brian L

Thanks for clearing that up JRW. I had been told numerous times that you couldn't apply lacquer over an enamel spray paint but had quite a few tell me that you could. I dunno, I'll probably just stick with my aniline dyes. The system is just too easy.

str8narrow

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 &quot;custom&quot; 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 &quot;crown&quot; 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 &quot;crest&quot; 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 &gt;&lt;&gt;

Matt 6:33,34/Rev 3:20

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

dscott

Jesse,

I used to crest and crown dip with spray paint all the time. Still do when I can find the color I want.

The key for cresting, (and yes you can get the same thin lines you could with any other paint), find some old aspirin bottles. Anything will do. Spray your spray-paint directly into the bottle for about 3 or 4 seconds. You will have liquid paint at the bottom of the bottle.
Apply with a brush just like you would with any other cresting paint.

The advantages are;

1. Spray-paint is cheap compared to some other paints.
2. You only use a small amount & what is left over stays fresh in the can.
3. Drying time is reduced.

The disadvantage is:

You must be careful with you finish. Some will dissolve your cresting. (probably true with other paints as well) I use a water based poly to seal the crest and crown, (also done with spray-paint)

Darryl

str8narrow

Darryl, I like your way of thinking... outside of the box. Or perhaps more appropriately, inside the aspirin bottle. I am going to have to give that a try.

Of course, I need to get a spinner first <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

YBIC,
Dave &gt;&lt;&gt;

Matt 6:33,34/Rev 3:20

dscott

Dave,

I used to just chuck the arrow up in a clamped drill. I still use a drill but I bought one of the crester chucks,($7.50 and worth every penny), from 3rivers and use that with the drill. I use a variable speed drill and a quick grip clamp to hold the trigger at the speed I want. The drill is plugged into a power bar for the on/off switch.

Darryl