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Put ebony nocks on Rudders' warbow, had to shorten a bit, chrysaling???!
nineworlds9:
Ok, so I haven't had the time to make a bow yet, busy as I am, but I have learned a lot from reading TBB vol. 1-3 already. Took on a small project for fun- installing some proper looking nocks on my Rudderbows 90/100@33 hickory tri-lam warbow. The bow originally came with very plain/boring double self-nocks for use with a stringer. I recently happened upon a very nice pair of ebony wood roughed out nocks for the low price of $6 and said WTH why not and it'll make the bow look right. Got the nocks in the mail and they were shaped halfway decent and had just a sharp cut straight 'generic' nock groove cut in them, obviously they needed fit and finish.
Ok...so original bow specs approx. 76" overall, 90/100#@33". I knew I'd probably have to cut off the tips of the bow because the tips would be too slender to fit inside the pre-drilled sockets in the new nocks. I was right so I dove in. Initially I cut off as little as possible, just cutting off the portion on each tip with the double self nock grooves.
This removed 1 3/16" from the top limb tip and 1 5/16" from the bottom limb tip...initially.
Fitting the new top nock went very well and no further wood was removed.
Fitting the new bottom nock went a little awry because the bottom limb is naturally a bit thicker than the top and the bottom nock socket was a large is it was gonna get and I ended up taking off an additional bit of wood getting my desired taper, making a new total of 2 1/16" removed from the bottom limb length...that's an additional 7/8" of wood over what was removed from the top.
3 1/4" total removed from the bow. New bow length without new nocks 72 3/4".
With new nocks fitted NTN length now 72" exactly.
Edit: grip is 5" of total length
Top limb from edge of grip to nock groove: 36"
Bottom limb from edge of grip to nock groove: 31"
I think I need to move the grip :)...that is unless the bow is spliced.
Got em epoxied on with 1 minute epoxy. Let cure overnight, then proceeded to fit string to nock grooves and adjust as necessary. Initially the sharp 'generic' grooves where at the wrong angle and too narrow, so with some file/carving work I got them just right and the string rides beautifully now.
Finished shaping the nocks to desired look and got everything clean and coated with 3 coats of hard satin lacquer. Beautiful! Let dry overnight and today proceeded to brace up again and do some shooting.
Wellllll...
Braced bow. Drew back a few times...YUP, I gained some draw weight! 5# at least. Maybe more. Shot a few arrows at a 10 yd target. Seemed to shoot same as before, but a bit faster I think.
Had wife take a pic of me at full draw (behind the ear). Hmm. Top limb bending more than bottom, to be expected..? Overall doesn't look too bad.
Well after shooting a few times I did notice something on the bottom limb that has me WORRIED. "Chrysals"??!!!! I was praying it wouldn't need re-tillering after doing the nock work, knowing I had removed 7/8" more length from the bottom vs. the top limb.
I'm just not sure if the marks I'm seeing are genuine chrysals or just 'finish' chrysals in the varnish that is on the bow. Study the pics and tell me what you think. I used paint shop to mark the end points. They appear superficial to me, very faint and I wiped some dust over a few in one of the pics to highlight them some more. Rats. I really hope I don't need re-tillering, the bow is so pretty now, but oh well... Opinions?
ALSO MADE A VIDEO OF THE DRAW:
http://youtu.be/X6L8Z4OhwwM
****Edit: going to take new pics and new video now that I've wished up and moved the grip further up. Duh. Also, sandpaper revealed those 'chrysals' may have just been in the finish on the bow...once I got through the finish I couldn't see anything. Pulled the bow back to 33" a few times and they didnt appear to come back. Perhaps a warning?? We'll see. With the new 72" length I'm not gonna draw past 31".
nineworlds9:
I know I also run the risk of increased set, but so far after two brace/unbrace shooting sessions it is the same as it was when the length was 3.25" longer. Hmm. This chrysaling thing has me worried!! Just hope its in the finish and not the wood.
Del the cat:
Pure madness :o !
Sorry to be so blunt, and I expect you've worked it out for yourself.
You should have made horn nocks to fit the slender tips rather than cutting down the tips to fit those grossly oversized ones.
What are those damn nocks made for? The top of fence posts????
I posted a nice 2 part 'how to do horn nocks' on my blog.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/horn-nock-instructional-part-1.html
Generally you are better off trying to do a whole job yourself if possible. When in doubt... don't... or try it on a bit of scrap... or ask us on here first.
The bow looks too stiff in the outer thirds anyhow... but then chopping the tips off may well have messed up the tiller...I'd guess the bow is pretty much ruined.
My advice is start making some simple bows ASAP to get your skills and understanding on the way up the learning curve.
If you want sympathy, I'll ask mrs Cat for you.... Nah, no sypathy there either ::)
On a kinder note, don't beat yourself up, I've already broke one this year and we learn from our mistakes.
Del
nineworlds9:
LOL. Del you're killin me. You make a good point. Thankfully I bought the bow used and paid a low price so not soo tragic. I currently lack the tools to drill my own nocks. Either way, impulsive and slightly misguided..perhaps :). The bows original tiller I think was suspect, perhaps I magnified the error.
nineworlds9:
Def need to get more tools and start a bow. As for this one, ill shoot it until it blows up or I could try fixing the tiller. I know the nocks looked chunky, honestly I kinda like em. John Strunk said trial and error is the best teacher LOL. Def will ask more questions next time.
Edit: just braced and shot the bow again. You know it still shoots very well, cast is great and I nailed a bull at 20 yds drawing behind my ear. The 'chrysals' do go into the wood as I feared...a scrape with a pocket knife proved it. Oh well, perhaps I need to give the bow a messed up name and shoot it until it breaks. Bow hospital recommendations to avoid this?? Lol
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