so I decided to build up a batch of really top notch tournament arrows. I picked through my stash of cedar shafts and came up with 8 nearly perfect shafts matched in weight and spine. I tapered the last 10 inches with great care. as usual I wanted a color that would be easy to find in the woods for the frequent occasions they are not sticking in a 3D animal, so this time I picked tangerine. I mixed up some powdered Rit dye with the same bottle of 91% alcohol I have been using for a while, and dyed the shafts a brilliant tangerine. I used the same dye solution to turn some white feathers into tangerine barred feathers.
that was 2 days ago. today I used the eco dipper and put on 4 coats of gasket lacquer and they were really looking good. it quit raining so I grabbed my bow and headed out back.
came back in 40 minutes later and disaster had struck. my tangerine shafts were turning a lovely shade of lavender. I have done this before with red, yellow, orange, blue and purple Rit dye under gasket lacquer and never had a problem. it didn't happen right away, the part of the shaft that I tapered was solid lavender and the rest is blothches of tangerine mixed with lavender. the blotches of tangerine seem to be slowly disappearing, can't tell for sure but will know in a day or two.
I put some of my orange arrows and my daughters blue and purple arrows in the picture for comparison.
so here's my question. I say it's lavender, but my wife says it's between a pale rose and dusky pink. you be the judge.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa261/mudfish1340/lavender.jpg)
Never saw anything like that before. I have to go with your wife. Hap
Its a new Fad " PSYCHO CAMO ",LOVE EM!LOL
They would go great with the beach towel there on the right of the picture! :thumbsup:
yeah, should have got the beach towel out of the picture, it's draped over the front end of a motorcycle to protect it from my many misadventures
I actually like the way it looks but if it's not what you meant then it can be disheartening.
Is it possible that the gasket lacquer is clouding and thus changing the appearance of the color? I've had gl clouding issues lately and it's been giving me a hairball. Clouding is typically caused by moisture but that doesn't seem to be present in most of my issues.
Guy
It may not be exactly what you wanted but I bet you they will be hard to lose!
they will be hard to lose, even if I want to.
I did not know about clouding, thanks Grey. it was drizzling outside and I had the garage door open. I take back all those good things I said about gasket lacquer.
anyway, now an hour later and the tangerine is definitely losing the battle.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa261/mudfish1340/lavenderat6PM.jpg)
Definitely Pink fading into a Rosie shade, add some yellow to it and you got a Tequila Sunrise theme going on.
If I were you, I would just go all out with pink fletchings and make it look like you intended for them to turn out that way. If somebody asks about them at the 3D tournament, just tell them they are for sale if they are interested.
As a matter of fact, there are some guys on here that would probably take those off your hands?
I've seen lots of pink arrows with pink fletchings in hero shots on here.
I fletch em purple and chartreuse.
Bubble gum!
Rit dye mixed with alcohol also reacts "funky" with Bohning products. I figure this is an alcohol / lacquer compatibility issue. I noticed the same cloud splotches and had some bubbles after dipping in Bohning clearcoat (It did not change the color like yours did though... WOW!) on some kid's arrows. I lightly sanded after the initial coat, redipped, and my results were good... except for the cloudy splotches of course.
I'll just say, they're different. :o )
Hey, shoot them. If somebody says something out the way you can just chop them beside the head with one of them arrows....LOL
Better listen to your wife about the color, they look kinda rosy to me also.
Excellent! Nothing is so liberating as a bunch of arrows you have no love for. I tried an idea at camoflaging shafts for a bow quiver and they came out . . . unlovely. Great for stumping and bunny hunting.
Good stump shooting! :thumbsup: Man, they'd show up good under the snow.
I had similar results trying to tint a canopy on a R/C model airplane with Rit dye. According to the forum pundit it was to produce a gray tint after 20 minutes. Instead it was Easter Egg purple. I let it set for a week and it eventually made it dark brown???? The original color on the box was Navy Blue. Go figure.
Never argue color with a women, They have more names for a color than you could ever dream possible. I honestly believe my wife has memorized the Sherwin-Williams color charts and can name that color at 50 paces. What ever happened to just plain Pink? :laughing:
Is it possible the shafts were not completly dry before GS? Was it water you mixed the dye with?
Gs is still a solvent based laq. It does not like wet days or cold days below 70 degrees. I have some wood samples I sprayed on wet cold days that look like your cloudy shafts. My instructor gave me a lousy grade on them.
Hey Mudfish
Tom told me that there is a momentous occasion on tradgang and to check out your thread on a fashion disaster. Naturally I thought you posted a picture of purple pants. ;)
We like your Easter Egg arrows no matter what color they ACTUALLY are or finally decide to be.
I am curious ...did any of the color get pulled into the gl? If so has the color remained the same?
Now that you are posting...we need to keep you doing it.
I agree with Joseph...we will see you shooting these arrows for a long long time. You very...very seldon lose one and never break them.
Purple haze.
You shouldt have told us, I like them and (my wife)loves them. You may be on to somthing. TERM
Put Deadheads on 'em and hunt!!!!
There so pretty! :saywhat: I say pink dude
No a pinkish purple and tangerine. I don't know what everyone is getting upset about, I think they look good, sort of nouveau artsy.
I spent a few weeks training Muay Thai in Bangkok last winter. Some of the toughest fighters there regularly wore pink or purple trunks. I think the same thing could apply here. If you shoot those arrows well then nobody can tell you to do any different haha! :D
-Clay
I like them whatever color you call them.
God bless,Mudd
QuoteOriginally posted by hvyhitter:
Put Deadheads on 'em and hunt!!!!
:thumbsup:
They're definetely different.
thanks to everybody for the outpouring of love and support in my hour of need LOL. I love all the suggestions.
M60 - the dye was alcohol base and they had been hanging in the rack for 36 hours. and the 5 or 6 dozen arrows I have done exactly the same way turned out great. same bottle of 91% alcohol and same can of gasket lacquer, just a different color Rit dye.
Hey Dina - no color bled into the lacquer. I was still in the garage for about 10 - 15 minutes after the last coat of GL and they were a brilliant tangerine color. but 40 or so minutes after that I was greeted with a huge surprise.
the GL does not seem to be cloudy, you can still see the wood grain. but the color sure changed.
no question I'm going to shoot them. I took a couple of the shafts out to the shoot this morning to get the opinion of some of our leading experts. everybody was most impressed, or something like that.
between the shoot this morning, Sunday at the Rooster, and the Super Bowl I did not have a chance to do anything with them today. trying to decide what color feathers, I don't have any hot pink.
here's what they look like right now. tangerine seems to still be slowly fading.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa261/mudfish1340/lavender2-6-11.jpg)
Aweeeeee they are all turning a pretty shade of pink for Valentines Day.
Tom..think how much fun it will be to beat Mike H. with pink arrows! ROFL!!!
Mudfish, I kinda like them. Easy to see and find. So far as color, lav and pink cross.
"You should just shoot them, add a touch of green and maybe some yellow and you could hunt butterflies at the botanical gardens without being seen".
BB that is funny.
Earl
I think you should fletch them with marbled orange feathers, and go with the 60's tie-dye full experience. Marco
Maybe you should just work on your shooting at you won't lose any. Better time spent. LOL :bigsmyl:
QuoteOriginally posted by KSdan:
Maybe you should just work on your shooting at you won't lose any. Better time spent. LOL :bigsmyl:
I was going to say something similar.
If you win all the shoots, not only will nobody make fun of ya, I bet you will start seeing copy cats, LOL!
Wups! Makes no difference to the animal.
Flashback to 1969! Call them a new Psychedelic Camo pattern!
ready to hunt easter bunnies. or butterflies....
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa261/mudfish1340/lavenderarrows2-7-11.jpg)
LOL Mud, I'd go after the easter bunnies, may be easier to hit. Some wild looking arrows you got there, but I kinda like em. They are different. Put a couple black and gold cresting lines on there and you got some good-looking unique arrows.
My little girls would love 'em. They've been after me to make them some pink arrows. Too bad the process doesn't seem more predictable. Definitely wll be hard to lose.
Ted
I like them. Who cares what color they are as long as they show up and fly right. They would look good with blood on them.
Try rubbing the shafts with a cloth just damp with lacquer thinner. I had some cloud up years ago and that worked for me.
They would make cool bunny arrows.
MOOD ARROWS!!
AWESOME!!
:goldtooth:
Hey though, I am sorry it didn't turn out the way you hoped. Humidity can really play havoc with clear finishes.
Truth be known, I have some pink fletched arrows with red shafts I made up specifically for bunny hunting in the snow. You can see them under 1" or more of light snow. Sure helps retrieving them.
Jimbow39 - you, sir, are a genius.
I took a cloth with some lacquer thinner to the ends that I cut off and it worked. took a little rubbing and the cloth had to be more than just damp, but the original color came back nicely.
too late for these because they are almost all fletched by now, but that is a great tip for the future. thanks!