Lightly sand shafts first ? Water based or oil based paint ? Dip or spray paint ? Primer coat first ?

Any tips from those who do it would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ken

Shouldn't need primer Ken. Sand...yes..get all around the shaft. Last I did aluminum I used Bohning paint and dip tubes. I think automotive paint works well too. Never tried water base on aluminum but likely someone here has.

I'm going to somewhat disagree with George on this. You do not need to sand the shaft, Scrubbing the shaft with a good cleanser and rinsing in hot water is more than enough.

Bohning Flech-lac was designed for aluminum shafting. Prior to the introduction of aluminum shafts the go to paint for wooden shafts was Lacquer. Lacquer dry's fast but is brittle, which doesn't matter on wood, but with aluminum it tends to flake off. Bohning is a vinyl-lacquer, its stays flexible and adheres to the shaft, and is the best aluminum finish, however its expensive and the VOC's are quite high, use in a well ventilated area. I've never tried it but doubt that water based finishes will work.

Bob

Ken, In my opinion, save time and money and stick with dipping in Bohning Fletch-lac after cleaning with acetone until they are "squeaky" clean. You'll hear the squeak when you rub with a soaked paper towel. Then fletch with Fletch-tite. I have shafts 30 years old that are still good as new. I've tried other combos but it's never compared. FYI you WILL need to thin the fletch-lac before you dip. I use acetone to thin it but the Bohning thinner seems excellent too.

Clean with acetone. Use rattle cans of your choice ( I've had great success with Valspar from Lowes). Flat white base coat, makes whatever color you want to use really pop. 2 coats of your color, let dry for a day, clear coat with water based poly (I do 2 coats in a dip tube), let dry at least 3 hours between coats, fletch with Duco.

If you are dipping and using anything other than bohning stuff Save yourself a headache First do one yes one shaft and then try fletching it and shooting to be sure your paint and glue are compatable !

I will never argue with aromakr on arrow making....he knows his stuff.

I just did some, acetone to clean and rattle can Rustolium gloss white 3 light coats. Testors model paint used to crest.

But like George said, aromakr has forgotten more than I know about arrow making and finishing.

Yes the industry standard was-is Fletch Laq paints. These days they have waterbased as well on their website. But the good old smelly stuff is the best bar none. I also have arrows I dipped back in the 80's and the feathers are still stuck on.

Thank you all for the tips. I am in big time arrow building mode. I plan on bowhunting only this year. Probably won't need all the arrows I am building, but it's fun building them, kind of addictive.

Ken, the initial out lay of cash may seem like a lot but the tubes don't go bad, you can get a lot of shafts dipped from a quart of paint so it ends up being the least costly thing making an arrow. I always dipped the first coat white. I would thin it down to make a "primer" color. Made the yellows, reds, blues, and white brighter. Then I crested using Bohning paints. Those little bottles have gotten pricey but last a very long time. I have some I still use (gold and silver) I got back in 2010. I just thin them with the Bohning thinner.

One thing to remember with Fletch Laq products, you can use other paints, even water based over it but you can't use it over other paints. Yes, I speck from dumb experience.

I've went wraps on my carbons, but miss the cleaning, dipping process on the xx75's. Well everything but the bhonning smell.

Don't know if this has been mentioned but if you are going with a color like yellow, red, orange, any color other then white you should put a white base. The white will make any color you use brighter.

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