Well sounds like polyurethane may be acceptable finish for wood arrows. Any suggestions on cap dipping paint and also cresting paint?. Thanks in advance for info & patience (rookie).

For cap dipping I use either Bohning or I have also used spray paint. Prefer the Bohning but after experimenting with spray paint I am liking it more and more.

I always use Testors enamel model paint for cresting. IMO there is nothing better to work with.

Guys use everything from lacquers to spray paint.I have used spray paint and find it's fine just have to go easy with light coats while rotating the shaft.And let it dry for at least 3 days.Then if your using waterbased poly(floor poly is what I use)thin it 3 parts poly to 1 part water.and let it dry good between coats(3 total).Cresting I use Testors model paint.I do two coats of poly on the shaft after I crown, then crest and then one more coat of poly.Thats what I do and some guys do it different.It's a trial and error thing for you to figure out what works for you.One tip I found is the paint holds better if you steel wool it after you stain  and before you dip.

lately there have been lotsa threads on building and finishing wood arrows - check out the how-to forum and/or do a search.

i wipe on shaft colors (minwax stains and aniline dyes) and wipe on clear coats (minwax wipe on polyu).  

these arrows were done by wiping on stains and clear coats - no dipping or gasket pulling.

As lpcjon2 mentioned, there are a lot of different ways to go here. You'll want to test to see what works best for your style.

I use craft acrylic paints for both caps and cresting. Sometimes I'll use stains for the cap, either analine stain, or Rit dye mixed with denatured alcohol.

If you run a search you'll find lots of threads with questions just like yours and dozens of answers.

Guy

Rob, if you use the wipe on and not dip, do you crest where the joint(stain/dip wipe) is?  So to cover the two? I assume so.

before staining, i put a 3/4" wrap of 3m blue masking tape around the shaft at 8" from the nock end, stain the shaft on each side of the tape with different stains, allow to dry and buff with 4/0 steel wool.  one full shaft wipe of polyu, allow to dry, buff with steel wool.  remove tape, continue with 4 more wipes of clear, with buffing only on the first 2 wipes.  the clear coated 3/4" tape section gets the sharpie pen and pilot paint pen cresting.  simple, easy.

Thanks that helps.