Arthur P

The ol' nostalgia bug bit the crap outta me and I kinda made up my mind to shoot only cedar arrows this fall. Even though I've toyed around with cedars on my longbows for 3D shootin', maybe doing a dozen every coupla years, I haven't hunted with wood arrows in... gosh... 25 years now?

So, I figure it's time to quit goofing off and start working up a hunting arrow setup. Took a trip to the shop and there just happens to be a dozen 65/70 spine cedar shafts on the rack. Grabbed 'em. Since I'm a big fan of the ol' Easton XX75 Autumn Orange - and will NEVER forgive them for discontinuing them[>:] - I decided I wanted to stain these cedars orange. You ever tried to find orange wood stain?

Lowes said they can mix some up for me, but only a quart at a time. Went to the hobby shop. No deal. Went to Wally World. Nope. Last resort was Ace hardware. Shot down in flames. Then I was looking around and found a little bottle of orange acrylic paint. Hmmmm....

Took it home, squeezed some into a dish, thinned it with water and wiped it on a trial shaft. BINGO! Orange wood stain.

So, a couple coats of poly, red cock feather with 2 orange hens, white nocks (shop was out of orange nocks[X(]), and I had my orange arrows. Let me tell ya, they don't get lost in the grass and leaves.

I made them for my longbow but shot them thru my recurve last night. MAN! What a difference.[:-] My Kings Pawn turned into a totally different bow. Still accurate, but now it's fast as well. I don't know the finished weight on the cedars - yet - but they shoot a LOT flatter than my 2216's. I was extremely impressed by how hard they were hitting. I definitely found out the bow likes wood better than aluminum or carbon (it absolutely hates carbon[:'(]).

Now that I've reminded myself how good wood can be in a recurve, I gotta order some of those 34" magnums from Rogue River.

JimPic

Arthur,try leather dye.I use Fiebling's Leather Dye and it comes in all kinds of differant colors.It even has an applicator and looks real nice on a wooden shaft.You can also check out RIT dyes-most supermarkets carry it.

Grey Taylor

You can also get bright colors from Woodburst brand wood stains and analine stains.
Analine stains come in three versions: water soluable, oil, and alcohol. Use the water for ease of use and the best UV resistance.
Valley Traditional Archery has a good selection of analine stains and so do some specialty woodworking catalogs. Lowe's and Home Depot will give you a blank look if you ask for them there. For that matter, Home Depot will give you a blank look if you ask where the 2 x 4's are.

This image shows some arrows I did with the Woodburst stain:

http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/...aylor/guy4.jpg

Guy

Coop

I've had good luck with mixing RIT dye with denatured alcohol. Use a hole package and just enough liquid so it's not real "gritty". Wipe on, let dry, and repeat a couple times. I did some black arrows for last fall and the finish is still on them.

Arthur P

I might get around to trying all those suggestions sometime. For this batch, I was desperate to get some color on the shafts and get the things made up quick. I actually like the way they came out.

Grey Taylor, you shoulda seen the look on the little dude's face at Home Depot when he caught me going through their red oak boards one at a time. He couldn't figure out why I wanted the grain running a specific way when they had so many pretty boards. LOL

Those selfbows made outta red oak boards are pretty decent shooters.

Venoy

Here is a good arrow straighter. Cut about 8 inches off a broom handle. Drill a hole in the end and screw in an I bolt. Cut the I bolt with bolt cutters so the finished bolt looks like a ? mark. Look down the arrow and locate a high spot. Put the end of the arrow on the edge of your table and hold the arrow just the other side of the high spot with one hand. With the other hand, pull down on the high spot and rub the high spot with the arrow straighter. This will compress the wood and the arrow will stay straight much longer than hand bending the arrow. If you have an arrow checker (like an Arizonia arrow straighter) with a gauge to show you very small bends (high spots), you will be surprised how straight you can get a wood arrow. Why is this important? Accuracy! Some traditional tournaments require wooden arrows only. Also, broadheads fly better on straight arrows.