Simple DIY Arrow Cresting

Simple DIY Arrow Cresting

Crests are rings or bands of paint, often brightly colored, applied to arrows usually for the purpose of personalization. Like wraps, cresting may also be done to make arrows easier to see, differentiate arrow types in your quiver or add an aesthetic touch to them. It’s also possible to buy stick on “wraps” for cresting.

This is typically done with a cresting machine, and they are quit pricy.
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I wanted to crest a few arrow but I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money to do it. I won’t be doing a lot of arrows, so simple and cheap works for me.

I scrounged around the house and shop and found some paint brushes and a few different colors of paint, and headed to the shop to see what I could rig up.

This is a pretty simple approach, but it works well enough for me. 

I just slide the end of the arrow into the chuck. I didn’t need to tighten it so much it damaged the ends, so there was no need to cover them.

I started with a C clamp to hold the trigger on the drill, but ended using this type. It worked a little better, on this drill anyhow.

The other end of the arrow was placed on the rollers from an arrow roller I had made. I’m sure a simple block of wood with a v cut in it would works as well.

This is also a great way to tell if your arrows are straight. Its a good time to get them straight because it’s easier to crest them if they are nice and straight.

After that it’s just a matter of trial and error to see which brush works best and how to apply the paint. A paper towel handy to wipe of the brush once in a while when it get over loaded with paint. Applying different pressure on the brush helps spread out the paint

At first I marked the lines with a sharpie, but figured out it really wasn’t necessary. I could follow the pattern that I had drawn on a piece of cardboard just fine.

The biggest mistake I made was not making sure the pattern was in the same spot on every arrow when I started.