Cresting is something that i wanted to do on the arrows ive made, but im on a budget as im sure alot of people are. so i was looking around the local hobby lobby and came across some paints that show promise," Anitas yard and garden".Theyre a water based acrylic urethane paint, and cost about a buck per two oz bottle. pretty decent color selection too. theyre not perfect straight outta the bottle, as with most acrylics theyre a little thick and dry chalky quickly while brushing. i thinned it with some water, about an equal mix, and it thinned nicely and goes on fairly smooth.after its dried i scotchbrite the first coat then apply another. i bought forest green, and i gotta say its pretty vibrant as well. tung oil over a final coat thats been buffed with a piece of old tshirt absolutely shines, and the stuff is outdoor so its waterfast. thought id share my thoughts on it, and ill post a few pics of the stuff and a finished product as soon as i can.

I use craft acrylic paints from the home craft store and they sound pretty similar to what you're using.
I agree with your observations: inexpensive, work well, great color selection, and look good.

Guy

i have a bunch of normal acrylics that i use for other stuff but they bled a bit when i tryed a tung oil finish over them, this new stuff doesnt bleed at all and shines real nice when i buff it with a t shirt prior to applying finish. since ive picked these up i now have an excuse to build a cresting machine.lol

I got Testors from my local craft store.a 12 pack was $11.99

yea testors would be another good one.ive used it for models but never really grew too fond of it, its one of those paints that you pretty much have to let flow off the brush. my hands arent quite as steady as they used to be so those kinda paints arent my bag.lol

Get yourself a Styrofoam block to use as a rest for your hand. It works for me

i used to go the bohning route, then testors, then acrylics.  i made some really 'show piece' arrows.  

now i'm over all that 'arrow artiste' stuff.  i want serviceable but good looking arrows, not show stoppers.  

for the last coupla years i just use sharpie pens and a silver or gold paint pen.  they look just fine and the cresting adds that extra touch of 'flair' without all the fuss and bother.

i crest using a an electric screwdriver, a piece of neoprene tubing over a phillips bit, the tubing over the arrow's point or nock end.  rube goldberb, but it works too well for me.

Sharpie markers work awesome!!

those are some great looking arrows,Rob. ill probably never get anything that nice made. ive been messing around with my leftover snake skin to make a few arrows for my brother, but aside from that the only thing i use fancy arrows for is to test methods of getting consistent footings/reinforcements done. my last arrow i got done i used the 3 hacksaw blade method to cut a nock then cut a hardwood extension to match that and glued them up, then reinforced it by laminating them with coats of CA. i can get them really tight tolerances this way, so far its the best i can do. normal split footings are tough for me right now but im gonna try to do it while the shaft is still in raw squared rip form.

     not the greatest pics or even the best work but i like the way the tail colors match the fletching. i bought a power screwdriver today for a cresting machine,lol. the ones i put the most work into are for my family or close friends, me and my brother swap traditional gear whenever we learn a new skill and wanna share.

Good work Rob! Nice colors!

Ok Im off to buy sharpies!!

I've always used bohning, but I'm working on a Rustoleum cap sprayed on and Tester's for cresting. I like the idea of the sharpies for simplicity along with just the stain. It's been a while since I made a dipped and crested set of shafts and now I remember why I stopped doing it.

Great looking job Rob. That's what I need, Simplicity.

i think the thing that really jazzes up the sharpie colors is the silver pentel liner pen.

Hi Rob,

I was messing around with a wood shaft and sharpie yesterday.  Do you rub a coat of water poly over the sharpie when you are done?  Or do you just leave it alone?

QuoteOriginally posted by rappstar:
Hi Rob,

I was messing around with a wood shaft and sharpie yesterday.  Do you rub a coat of water poly over the sharpie when you are done?  Or do you just leave it alone?

NO!  don't do that, it will instantly smear the colors!  if you allow the sharpie color to 'set' overnight, you can spray on a VERY LIGHT MIST of polyu from a good 12" away.  

or do like i do - nothing.

Maybe it's old news and it's not mentioned because its more of a home-made "wrap" than a home-made "crest".


So....some blue duct tape and a can of good quality spray paint.  You can make any "wrap" you want...so long as you want a solid or fade-out wrap.

I just go for function right now.  (I'd love to get into the pretty stuff, but time is a commodity that I've got to be stingy with right now.)

Good thread though.  I'll store it away for when I can get into the prettier stuff.

ok so I've purchased the sharpies and still looking for an electric screwdirever or some other powerplant for my cresting machine but couldn't resist ro try it freehand......the results were very sloppy, but then I used masking tape and this is what it got.

 
 


I will keep looking for a motor to make a cresting machine.

Sharpie works with bamboo shafts.  I really like the Rob's idea of using electric drill with tube.

The only failure I did was using Sharpie instead of stain for the crown dip.  (I don't know what stain work well with bamboo.)  I rubbed Polyu to cover the finished arrow.  However, Duco cement seem kind of penertrate the Polyu and smear the color a bit.  But overall result is very good.

pon im not sure but if you have walmart or other chain stores they carry cheap power screwdrivers, for the tubing i used some auto vacuum tubing and it works pretty well. i stabilize my shafts by putting them through an eye hook at the tip thats screwed into a tall standing piece of wood. works pretty well. also ive started using sharpies,lol thanks rob for the tip      i found though that tung oil will make them bleed if you try to coat over it so the cresting is the last thing i do on the finished arrows.