Arrow Of Light Plaque - Materials

Every Cub Scout pack has their own Arrow of Light Plaque, which is presented to outgoing Cub Scouts.   It recognizes what they have achieved as Cubs.   This year I was given the task of getting the plaques ready.   While I had documentation, I'm a visual person and having something visual would have been a great help to me.   So I decided to document the process here.   

Every pack makes their plaques differently.   This first post will cover the materials Pack 557 needed to make our plaques.

Materials List:

Wood - 1/2" x 6" (wide) x 36" (length) - without knots.   Our pack used Red Oak but any other hardwood would be suitable.    We bought our wood from Eastside Hardwoods http://www.hardwoodssupply.com/   They molded the edges and sanded the wood.   This was the most expensive part of the plaques - and if you are looking to cut costs I would suggest changing the wood, wood size or the molding.    In 2011, the troop used Upper Cut Woodworks.   http://uppercutwoodworks.com/     I was unsuccessful in getting in contact with the owner, Matt Gradwohl, but he's always worth trying again.     If you have a parent who is interested in woodworking - this would be a great time to tap into that resource.    This wood will need to be laser engraved with the Arrow of Light emblem prior to staining/finishing.
Tip:  These wood measurements are longer than the original Pack 557 measurements.   Redmond Trophy was unable to laser the longer length wood, so I used Northwest Trophy and Awards in Bellevue.   If you want to use Redmond Trophy you will need to shorten the wood length by at least 2 inches - if you do this your arrows should be no longer than 30 inches!

Arrows - We bought our arrows from Northwest Archery.   http://www.nwarchery.com/  Suzanne St Charles, the owner and maker of arrows, was extremely helpful.    For 2013, these were the details of our arrows:
     11/32" Port Orford Cedar
     Clear coat seal
     24 3/4" tip to tip including Hawkeye Head
     4" Feathers
     1 Blue and 2 Yellow Feathers
     Blue Nocks
     Hawkeye Heads
Tip:  These arrows were long enough for our boys in 2013.   However if you have a cub scout who has been in Scouts since Tigers, and earned Arrow Points as Bears and Wolves plus all 20 Activity Badges as a Weblos, then this arrow will not be long enough.   You can order an arrow up to 31.5" tip to tip including arrow head.   This would leave 1 inch from the tip of the arrow to the end of the wood.   We have a 5 inch gap on the 2012 plaques.    If you have a longer arrow, I would suggest getting longer feathers (5").   Suzanne will be able to guide you in the aesthetics of the arrow if you want more details.     If you want black flecks through your feathers, you will need to order Dyed Barred Feathers, rather than Solid Feathers.  

Brass Eye Screws
We used Crown Bolt 3/4" Cup Hooks from Home Depot. 

Brass Name Plates, engraved
We engraved these with the boys First & Last Name, Pack Number and Location, Arrow of Light Date, and the words "Arrow of Light".    I ordered these through Northwest Trophy, as they did our laser engraving on the wood.  

Paint
Water-based paint.   Each different color represents the achievements of each boy.   We used the following DecoArt Acrylic Paints - available from most craft shops such as Ben Franklin's.

These are the colors we used:

Tiger                          DecoArt Americana                   Bright Orange DA228
Bobcat                       DecoArt Americana                   Ultra Blue Deep DA100
Wolf                          DecoArt Americana                   Primary Red DA199
Gold Arrow Point     DecoArt Dazzling Metallics      Glorious Gold DA071
Silver Arrow Point    DecoArt Dazzling Metallics      Shimmering Silver DA070
Bear                           DecoArt Americana                   Holly Green DA048
Weblos                      DecoArt Americana                   Navy Blue DA035
Activity Pins             DecoArt Americana                   Slate Grey DA068
World Conservation  DecoArt Americana                   Royal Purple DA150
Religious Award       DecoArt Americana                   Mink Tan DA092
Arrow of Light          DecoArt Americana                   Cadmium Yellow DA010

DecoArt's color chart can be found here:  http://www.decoart.com/cgi-bin/ColorChart.cgi?Americana_Acrylics     Sapphire DA099 has been used in the past for Bobcat.  It is lighter than the Ultra Blue Deep, and I personally think it would look better than what we currently have.

Stain and Finish for Plaque
Using a stain is optional.   It will darken the wood.   However we elected not to stain the wood, using the natural beauty of the Red Oak.   We did need to finish the wood using Polyurethane.   I bought this at Home Depot.   It required 3 coats with a drying time of 2 hours between coats.

Sandpaper
The sandpaper required depends on what level of sanding your wood has had before it arrives in your hands.   The wood from Eastside Hardwoods was well sanded.   However, I still needed to use 150 grit (Fine) sandpaper to prepare the surface.   I then used 320 grit (Ultra Fine) sandpaper between coats.

Paint Brushes
Basic art paint brushes for applying acrylic paints and a good quality paint brush designed for polyurethane.