Tight Nocks

[Javi]

I just reserve the string to fit the nocks... takes 5 minutes...

[South MS Bowhunter]

Terry, here the tool.

 http://www.3RiversArchery.com/Arrow+Building+Nocks++Nock+Tune_c52_s56_p0_i991202_product.html

[SS Snuffer]

What works best is a cup of hot water from the microwave and a nail the same size as your serving. Dip the nock in the hot water and then put the nail into the nock and let it cool.

[Terry Green]

Thanks South MS

[bkyrdshooter]

I use a drill bit in a hand drill that matches the size of my string or just a tad under to take a little bit off the insides of my nocks to fit the string where they just easily tap off the string. Takes no time at all to do a dozen.

[bfrbmj]

Terry-  It is nock tune as South M.S said, easy to use, more expensive than sandpaper but takes the margin of human error out of it for me.  It has different widths along its edge and just a couple of swipes can get you any type of fit you like.  And it just files the edge not the throat.
Brian

[BowHuntingFool]

I have a question, I'm curious as to why you guys don't have the serving fitted to the nocks?? Why mess around with sanding boiling every nock??

Thanks!

[GingivitisKahn]

Originally posted by BowHuntingFool:
I have a question, I'm curious as to why you guys don't have the serving fitted to the nocks?? Why mess around with sanding boiling every nock??

Thanks!

* Seems like every nock you buy is made for very skinny strings
* Some of us like fat strings
* Not all of us build our own strings
* Some of us may shoot two or three or ten different sorts of arrow / nocks and it would be impractical to have a custom string for each.
* It takes moments to boil and stretch a nock.

I'm sure there are other good reasons.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by Brently:
I shoot three under and use a loose nock.  When you slide your three fingers up under the arrow it will push it up against the nock and hold it in place.  That is just the way I do it and it works for me.

^^This^^. I kept catching myself pinching the nock when I shot loose nocks split fingered.

[Knapper]

Most of the times I find that you can also either increase or decrease sting diameter by changing serving diameter the I do not have to mess with the nocks.

[Greg Skinner]

Plastic nocks for wood arrows respond well to the boiling water treatment. The nocks on carbons don't, which means the sandpaper option.  Since I mainly shoot GTs or CE's I prefer to build and serve my strings to fit the nocks because I use the same arrows in several different bows. I like them all interchangeable, and if I pop a nock off, I just pick another from my spare package and slip it in.

I have found that I do much better with a snug enough fit so that I don't have to worry about the arrow falling off and subconsiously grip the nock, causing pressure and erratic flight.  Viper pointed out that nocks that are too tight don't normally cause problems unless there are other tuning issues and I have generally found that to be true.  The problem with sanding out the nocks is that there is no way to tighten them up after the string wears in a little - better to have them too snug than too loose.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by BowHuntingFool:
Call me the odd man out here but If my nocks were to tight on my string I would reserve the string so they fit proper! If you dunk em in boiling water or sand em down they wont be consistent, been there done that! Much easier to "fix" the string than every nock you have on your arrows!

I have to agree with Joe. I'd much rather make the string correctly in the first place than sand down nocks or dunk them in boiling water because the string is the wrong diameter.

[tradshooter]

If it is a matter of to tight on one string and fine on the others I would re-serve the string. Do you use the same number of strand strings? If not, you may find (if you sand or boil) you are to loose on the other string. Whatever you do, I would shoot one string in with several hundred arrows then save it as your spare, then duplicate a second string as your primary string. That way your nocks will be consistent if you have to replace the string while hunting. Just some thoughts.

[Terry Green]

I don't think it matters how you do it really....just what you are use to.  I'm not a string maker...or reserver...I order strings straight from the bowyer.....or contract them out to be made the same by sending the string to a string maker....I always have a spare with me.  I sand mine, and that's just the way I do it...if you want to reserve that's just another option....not an argument.

Again, I don't care how you do it...doesn't really matter, just that your nocks are not too tight.  And I do believe that nocks that are too tight CAN effect arrow flight.  Maybe not in your back yard, but in real hunting situations where you may be contorted a bit it can.  

This has been common knowledge for decades.

Nocks that are too tight will make your bow louder.  Least they always are quieter for me after I get them like I want them.  And, nocks too tight will rob a bit of performance.  The last thing you need is an arrow hanging on for dear life after the bow returns to brace. There is NO advantage to that.  

[Charlie Lamb]

Agree with Terry!!! What's important is that your nocks aren't too tight not how it's accomplished.

And for what it's worth, the snap on type nocks didn't come along until the mid sixties. Before that it was open throated nocks like the Speed Nock (Mercury type) and the Mid Nock.

My early chrono testing showed a marked speed difference between a "regular fit" snap nock and an open throat "speed nock".... my point being that the tighter the nock the more it's going to affect your arrows performance both speed wise and how it interacts with the bow.

[Friend]

Been using the boiling water technique for both closing and opening nocks for quite some time.

Like it.

Not only do I submerge the nock ears for 20 seconds, I close down or open nock by utilizing a gage pin or drill bit and hold for 20 seconds.

This option works well for me since I sometimes end up having to change throat openings between my bows and my sons.

[CAT22]

Thanks for the info, all. I ended up sanding the nicks until they all seemed good. I also used an old trick I had used with my wheel bow when I'd get a new string and loop. I rubbed Vaseline into the fibers of the serving. I know, and many mentioned, that the serving would break in some. So I left the nocks just short of perfect and lubed it up. For those that said performance and accuracy would be compromised, I cannot believe the difference. I have no chrono, but I didn't need one to tell. I gained speed for sure. Accuracy was much better as well. Funny as this may sound, but for all the reading, work on form, follow thru and just plain shooting, correcting my nocks has made the biggest difference. I feel like I've been cheating myself for a while now. Important lesson learned. Thanks, all.

[Terry Green]

Good to hear...looks like this topic stirred some interests as well.  Lots of other's checking nocks now.

[Sharptop]

Terry, after you showed me about sanding knocks at Solana 2010 I noticed a big difference in my shooting. That is one of the things I hadn't seen in any videos or articles and I think its real important.

I suggest those of you who might question the idea, sand a few down and shoot them head to head with tight nocks and see if you notice a difference.

[Terry Green]

Carl....every year at Solana someone has seen me fine tuning a nock with sand paper while waiting to hunt out at the pavilion....and they ask the same thing you did....what are you doing?

You are correct...no one talks about nocks being too tight and the problems they can cause in the 'media'.