Hey all,
I'm looking into starting building wood arrows. I'm going to be testing tapered, compressed cedar shafts from Cedarsmith as well as some tapered Surewood shafts.
If I'm going to shoot wood they are not only going to have to be matched and willing to be perfectly tuned for the bow, but they're going to have to be waterproof and tough.
The main thing for me when I shot cedars several years ago was that I used to live in Oregon, and with the wiped-on polyurethane finish they had, they soaked up moisture readily and as a result, warped.
I have done a lot of research and settled on Helmsman Spar Urethane as my finish, but it seems that this finish may have a tendency to burn on targets. My question is, what if I dipped twice or more in the spar urethane, then crested, then dipped at least one coat of gasket lacquer? Would these be compatible?
I don't mind doing more coats, but I don't want to add a ton of thickness to the shaft, don't know if that's an issue or not.

Thanks,
Craig

When I was making my own cedar arrows I used water based poly and dipped arrows. Two dips and crowns and cresting(with water based paints)is all I used. I live and hunt is relative wet(humid) areas and I found my finish to work fine.

Craig, I used to use Spar Urethane. I worked ok. The main draw backs was it yellowed over time and it did show target burn over time. I have switched to Daly's ProFin. It is more durable and is for outdoor use. I usually crown, crest and then dip 3 times for a really good finish. If you find that after dipping once or twice that you have some shafts that are off by 5-8 grs. by dipping those lighter shafts you will even out the weight to near perfection. The Surewoods are a great choice!!!! You will love them. They are the only shaft I make arrows out of now....well, I do have a few old ACME POC shafts I pull out and make some arrows once in awhile.

If you have access to automotive clear coat laquer, it works great, and it is compatible with Fletchtite.

When I was making custom arrows I found that solvent based polyurethane (Minwax) high gloss, thinned about 1 or 2 parts thinner, dipped at least 3 times, steel wool between each dip, and the shafts never, ever had a problem with target residue, moisture uptake. I even used them on the compressed Forgewood hemlock shafts and never had a problem.

Craig, when it comes to wood, there's no such thing as waterproof, only degrees of water resistance. No finish will totally exclude water.

You will get the best results by first applying a penetrating sealer, followed by top coats of the finish of your choice. Generally speaking, the high-gloss finishes are better at resisting moisture than satin types. Lacquers and urethane-based finishes are all good. I would not recommend gasket lacquer on top of a urethane top coat, though. Gasket lacquer will work on top of a urethane-based penetrating sealer, since the penetrating sealer doesn't leave much on the surface.

The most important thing to remember about moisture control in wood arrows is to store them indoors when you're not using them, where the humidity is lower than the outside air. Do that, and they will hold up fine. In normal use conditions while hunting, you don't have to worry about them absorbing too much water unless you're scuba diving!

Snag taught me right ! Daly's Profin all the way. Best finish for arrows on this planet. Use $1 a tube Duco for feathers and nocks. The Duco melts down into the Daly's and you cannot even see the glue. Now, if I could just make arrows as purty as Snag's !

nocams  

I have used Tru-oil for years with great results.  Just be sure to use Duco for your feathers and nocks.  I wish Wally World still carried it.

Glad it's working for you NoCams. Lots of fun when it comes together.

epoxy....as good of a sealer as you can get, wont have warpage problems...and they wont burn.  Not to mention atleast for now it's still easy to find, unlike lacquer ugg.  

I've also been using dalys profin for a little while now and love it...minus the target burn.  If you dont mind carrying a bar of soap around while at the 3d range then you'll probably love the stuff too.  It is sloooow to dry so dont get in to much of a hurry.

Another vote for Daly's Pro Fin.  Bob Burton introduced me to this finish and WOW!  Go this route and you won't be dissappointed.

Happy hunting,
Jason

Bob got me on Daly's, and it is all I use. Probley make 100 dozen a year and no complaints at all! Dick

I really like the Daly's Pro Fin from Bob Burton, mentioned above. I've tried all the MinWax products and gasket lacquer. GL is the worst for hunting arrows (it "wraps" instead of permeating the wood to seal it), just do a search for it on this site if you don't want to take my word for it.