Tight Nocks.....GFA

[Roger Norris]

I have the great fun and privilege of working the Asbell booth each year at the Kalamazoo Expo. While there are moments of hard work, it's mostly sitting on a stool with Fred and BS'ing about everything under the sun. I'm pretty good at shutting up and just listening. The entire weekend guys come by....both new aquantences and guys Fred may have known for 30 years. Lots of stories, lots of things to hear and learn.

Fred and I got on the subject of bow tuning. I mentioned that by no means am I a "pro" at tuning, and often shoot a longbow and carbon arrows, because that combo tunes so easily (for me).

He mentioned that years ago, when he owned Bighorn Bows, every once in awhile he would get a guy who could just not get his bow shooting right. He said that he would tell them to bring it by or ship it back with one of their arrows, and he would see what he could do. He told me that almost EVERY time this occurred, the problem was too tight of a nock on the string. He would open that up, and the bow was fine.

Just one of those things I'm going to remember....

[bluemoonrising]

Thanks for the info--but I'm having a little problem in the opposite direction, at least while hunting. Maybe, you and the gang can help. I shoot aluminum 2018 or 2020 Legacy arrows. They shoot well but are a little too loose while hunting. The mouth of the arrow nocks are too wide. The skinny strings are a real pain. Any suggestions other than fatter strings would be appreciated. Peace!

[Roger Norris]

I would briefly dunk the nocks in boiling water, and gently squeeze them until they are holding how you want. I wouldn't mess with the string.

[TOEJAMMER]

Reserve with the appropriate thickness serving to fit the nock or double serve if that will tighten it to the needed thickness.  You can also just wrap the nock area with dental floss to thicken it.

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally posted by TOEJAMMER:
Reserve with the appropriate thickness serving to fit the nock or double serve if that will tighten it to the needed thickness.  You can also just wrap the nock area with dental floss to thicken it.

Yup, much easier to reserve one bowstring than to muck around trying to reform a dozen nocks to match each other in throat gap (impossible IMHO).

[Steve O]

Blue, just reserve it with a thicker serving. No need to buy a fatter string.

Roger, you are right...I was able to slide over there while Ron LaClair and Fred were holding court. I had a question about Flemish strings  vs. endless loop strings and it was very interesting to get the answer of a combined 120 years or so of experience and historical perspective.

I never ever would have guessed flemish strings were considered the "cheap" string back in the day!

Having time to visit is about the only benefit of bad weather for Kalamazoo.

Originally posted by TOEJAMMER:
Reserve with the appropriate thickness serving to fit the nock.

That is what I would do!

Bisch

[bluemoonrising]

Thanks--Guys!!

[Ray Lyon]

Originally posted by Steve O:
Blue, just reserve it with a thicker serving. No need to buy a fatter string.

Roger, you are right...I was able to slide over there while Ron LaClair and Fred were holding court. I had a question about Flemish strings  vs. endless loop strings and it was very interesting to get the answer of a combined 120 years or so of experience and historical perspective.

 

Steve, not sure why you'd leave Fred's experience number out of your math equation.......