I was surprised to find from Vicky at 3 Rivers that they gasquet lacquer then crest and no seal is put over the crest. Bob at Whispering Arrow I think seals over his crests.

What is your opinion? (And thanks).

Paul

I was asking myself this very question earlier today as I worked on a half dozen. Cant wait for some ideas...

I Crest then seal.

I seal over my crest with water base poly.
I have done it both ways, but always had
my colors smear after lots of shooting.
I also only do a 7-8" crown dip instead
of the 10".

I do both.  I know, obsesive compulsive, and all that, but I do 2 coats of gasket laquer, then crest, then two coats of water based poly then 2 more coats of laquer.  I also use Bob's Pro Fin and follow the same formula for that.

I always seal the shaft first, because it gives a smoother surface to crest on. I usually don't bother applying finish over the crest, but I can see that it would protect it from damage and make it last longer.

What Whip said. I seal with 3 coats than crest and than another coat over crest. Shawn

I have never seen anyone seal over a crest..Always seal then crest.
Usually there are multi coats of poly, so if you consider the first coat a sealer, then 2 to 3 of poly with steel wool in between then crest.
For those who crest first, are you aplying more than one coat of sealer and do you find the paint in the sealer dipping tube?

seal then crest... When done cresting you can get any kind of spray on sealer and just give it a light dusting to protect it from rubbing and smearing.  Works for me.

If you do not seal over the crest, how do you stop it from smearing and getting buggared from shooting? Shawn

Whip,
My complaints with Pro Fin is it had a yellow tint to it and my white crown looked like a smoker's smile    

Paul

Many ' hot ' products will melt some paints...that's why you see so many going with water based poly as it is not a 'hot' product to make some types of cresting paints run.

When I messed with wood arrows I sealed first, crested, then covered the crown or it would smear badly, as others have stated. If you want your arrows to look nice more than a week you need to seal before to give a good surface to apply the cresting, then after to protect, as many have already stated above.

Legolas, when I built arrows in the 80's/early 90's I always hated that 'yellowing' effect that some clear seals cause, and looked long and hard to get away from that. Now there are so many products available with no smells, no yellowing, it's THE GOOD OL DAYS NOW!!!!!

Crest your arrows first,Seal them with minwaw water based poly. Dries crystal clear and most all flething glue sticks real well to it.

I seal my personal arrows with 5 or 6 coats of epoxy acetone(Massey finish)crest and dip twice with GL. Arrows 5 years old look as good as the day when I made them.

Eric, thats a great idea! The epoxy finish is totally waterproof, and your cresting will stay nice and sharp under the GL which is NOT waterproof...fantastic idea!!! I gotta go read jay's book and see the formula for that Massey finish and start trying that..I'm making up a batch of woods to go to Africa with and this would be a great finish for them.

Ray, the ratio is not too important. I use baby food size jars and use 1/3 of a tube(two part)  two ton epoxy and enough acetone to dissolve the epoxy, probably a 4 or 5 to one ratio. As long as I keep the GL coats thin I don't get any cracking in the GL. I crest with folk art water based paint from wally world so none bleeds into the GL.

What is 'GL'?

I always crest before sealing; except when I forget. The cresting machine is a great reminder to straighten in case one slipped through that part.

gasket lacquer, BOBINTN

are you sponge brushing that on, Eric...or what?