Christophe of Grey
Leathersmith/Archer
Coloring Your Shafts
I have seen some beautiful arrows on the ranges. Many of them seemed to me to take a lot of time and effort to create which may lead to the archer not wanting to take that risky shot for fear of loosing or breaking their arrow. I know of one archer who makes very period arrows. It takes him 2 hours per arrow to make. We must remember, “No good archer is in love with their ammo.” But our subject here is how to color your arrow shafts.
Let’s start with the finish. You can use any color paint that works for you. Crowning your arrows means the top third, the end nearest the fletches, is a different color than the rest of the shaft. I have used colors ranging from international orange to leaving them natural. Interestingly enough I find the natural shafts easier to find in the grass than the brightly colored shafts! If you use paint there are many good varieties sold through the archer stores. You can also use good wood paint available in the hardware stores. For clear finishes spar varnish works very well. I have also used wipe on polyurethane with good results. Wood stains can be used to add color to the shafts and some of these stains are available with the poly finish coat included in the mix. You can also use leather alcohol based stains with very good results.
How to apply the finish is part of the trick of making a good arrow. I like to apply the finish to the shafts before I cut them. That way I have a little stub end to work with. If you are using a finish in a spray can hang the shafts in a location where the over spray wont cause problems. Some watery wood stains can be applied with a sponge brush. Be sure to coat both sides of the shaft and apply as evenly as you can. Applying paint and most of these finishes, except the wipe on type, is best done with a dipping tube. You can purchase these things however, you can also make one for a fraction of the cost. Start with a full length plastic golf tube. Plug one end. On the other end cut the top half of a plastic milk jug so that the part where the twist on cap fit fits snuggly over the golf tube. Leave about half of the quart or gallon jug (cut off the bottom). On the inside, seal around the joint between golf tube and milk jug with any bath/sink sealant. You just made yourself a very functional dip tube! Now charge it, archery speak for fill it, with finish of choice. Dip the shaft in and slowly remove it. Hang it to dry. This home made dip tube works better than some of the store bought ones as you don’t have to recharge it as often. After you have applied your coloring agent apply at least two coats of clear coat finish.
An alternative to all this dipping, painting and wiping is to coat your shafts with boiled linseed oil. This finish works really well and lubricates the shafts so they come out of archery butts easier. HOWEVER, apply the finish after you have fletched the shafts. If you put the finish on first, your fletch cement/tape will not stick very well and you will be loosing fletches. Use a cotton swab to apply the oil between the fletches.
Jazzing up your shafts is again a personal choice. Crown dipping was mentioned above. There are tapes on the market for doing this to make the job easier. You can also get fine felt tip markers in a variety of colors and “doodle” on the shafts. Cresting means painting color bands on the shaft for easy identification. However, cresting is NOT period (for the period freaks in the crowd). In period the archers would put their mark just ahead of the cock vane. That way it was known whose arrow actually killed the game and that archer got the largest piece of meat from the kill (hunting here, not battle field!).