Self-nocked wooden arrows

[LobbyMuncher]

Hello

Having bought shafts (11/32, 32" POC), flights (4"), points, thread, fletching jig and pencil-sharpener thingy from Quicks, I'm about to have a go at making some arrows. When cutting the self-nock, which way should the cut go, along the grain or across the grain? I reckon they would be stronger if the cut is along, or with, the grain - but will be harder to cut.

Many thanks

ChrisM

[jaselpool]

Hi - I put this together a while ago to help explain how to make self-nocks. Where it says 3 blades it means 3 hacksaw blades taped together. Let me know if this helps



Jason

[LobbyMuncher]

Originally Posted by jaselpool

Hi - I put this together a while ago to help explain how to make self-nocks. Where it says 3 blades it means 3 hacksaw blades taped together. Let me know if this helps



Jason

This is awesome Jason, thank you very much! I'd never heard of "inserted nocks" before, but it's easy to see why you would want them, and I'll have a go with some of the shafts. Now, I'm sure I've got some 1mm cow horn plate in the kitchen drawer...
BTW an alternative to three hacksaw blades stuck together is a B&Q tile saw (thanks Bob Bonnington!)

Cheers

ChrisM

[jaselpool]

Originally Posted by LobbyMuncher

This is awesome Jason, thank you very much! I'd never heard of "inserted nocks" before, but it's easy to see why you would want them, and I'll have a go with some of the shafts. Now, I'm sure I've got some 1mm cow horn plate in the kitchen drawer...
BTW an alternative to three hacksaw blades stuck together is a B&Q tile saw (thanks Bob Bonnington!)

Cheers

ChrisM

No problem Does the tile saw have a rounded blade? If so when cutting the horn insert slot be sure to finish off the bottom of the cut with the hacksaw blades so that you have a square fit with the horn. Any questions please feel free to PM me

Jase

[LobbyMuncher]

No, the tile saw is rounded, ideal for the final cut where you would use the round file. I'll have to use your trick of sticking together some hacksaw blades to get the flat-bottomed cut. I'll need to get some cow horn first, though.

Very nice website BTW - seems to be a common theme in this game - see Macbow's site too!

Cheers

ChrisM

[robtattoo]

I've never used horn inserts myself. I drill a 4mm hole through the shaft, where I want the bottom of the nock to be (accross the grain) then cut down the shaft with a coping saw/tile saw until I reach the hole. I then sand the slot to fit my string (the advantage of using a slightly oversize drill, is that I can actually get a 'snap' fit to the string) Round off the 'shoulders' at the bottom of the nock & the tip of the arrow & then bind for 1-2" below the nock with artificial sinew. If you're going totally primitive with no insert you MUST cut accross the grain. If you cut along the grain, the arrow WILL split (don't ask me how I know )

Here's what they turn out like, with a little 'blowtorch' tempering

[LobbyMuncher]

Absolutely stunning, Rob! Why have plain wooden shafts when you can have works of art? Where do you get the artificial sinew from?

Many thanks, both of you, there's more than enough info here to get started.

Cheers

ChrisM

[woodsplitter]

Funny thing, a few of us were discussing self-nocks last night at the club as, as an experiment, I've just made a few self-nocked arrows and used them for the first time last night. I cut across the grain but there is no insert. I bound the shaft with polyester thread and sealed that with some nail laquer. I cut my nocks down to about 5/16", but I'm not sure if that's enough as photos I've seen always seem to have deeper nocks. The only problem I had is that several fletchings came off, but that was probably because I had finished the shafts with beeswax and stuck the fletching on top of that. Also, I finished the fletching about five minutes before I left the house! The good thing is that the arrows flew as well (or as badly, depending on how I shot) as the professionally made ones. They did tend to fall off the string, though, but I think that was because there's no snap fit.
I heard that a good idea for the three-blade set-up is to invert the middle one so that it acts as a stop and you get the same depth of nock on every arrow, provided that your first cut is the same on each.

[Little Miss Purple]

Love the arrows Rob

[jb.68]

If you have some basic DIY skills, you could do it this way.






For these ones I used oak for the nock re-enforcement.


These ones are horn re-enforcement.. Well they're not really, they're plastic but once they are in and varnished, no one could tell the difference.