Obtaining horn nocks

[zeNBowyer]

Hello,
   Working  on bamboo  arrows, would  like  to  put  in  some  horn  nocks  but  I  think I'll wait  for the  time  being  on  fashioning  my  own  as  this  looks  like  a  pretty  tedious and time  consuming  task, after  looking  at  self  nocks  I  have  a  question  about their safety,  I'm  thinking self  nocks  aren't  nearly  as strong  as  horn  nocks,
 can   anyone  suggest  a  good resource  for  horn  nocks  for  bamboo  arrows,
thanx 
ZB

[mullet]

 Just the opposite. I've had more horn nocks blow on me then self nocks. I traded all my Horn nocks off, I had too many break on me. To much depends on the horn grain orientation when it was cut and shaped. And I'm starting to wonder if some of those that look like plastic nocks from the Phillipines are ground, horn and polymer mixed and poured in a mold. They are just too uniform.

[Pat B]

I've never had a cane self nock fail. I do use a sinew or thread wrap just below the nock.
  If you want horn nocks, I believe 3Rivers sells them and they are a PA sponsor.

[zeNBowyer]

Hmm that's  suprising,  being that  bamboo isn't  a dense  grained  wood I'm  suprised the  nocks  don't  fail more,  and  it  would  naturally  seem horn  would  stand  up  well  if epoxied  in  properly,
not that  bamboo is  weak  but with  a wall  as  thin  as  the  sides  of  nocks, hmm...

[Josh]

pound for pound, bamboo is as strong as steel.    I have never had a self nock fail either.  -josh

[mullet]

 Zen, All I can say is Nock yourself out(pun intended). I'm just speaking from experiance and it sounds like you don't know a lot about the strengths of bamboo or wooden self nocks wrapped below with sinew or thread. I've never had a boo or wood nock break. I have had horn, bone and plastic break. Ask PatB, he saw two plastic nocks break, shooting an osage bow in one day. It hurts like hell.

[zeNBowyer]

Yes I am new to bamboo arrows, I'm not questioning the strength of bamboo, the strength and quality of bamboo is why I am trying them, but the force on a nock is tremendouse, this is one reason why other materials are used for nocks  instead of just filing a slot on wooden arrows, to prevent breakage/damage/injury, most suppliers I see are selling hardwood dowels to provide a dense strong material for cutting nocks, I have worked with horn which is much more dense and harder than wood, I'm wondering if the problems you have had with horn is the material shattering or the epoxy failing;
  David McKnight you work with bamboo-could you give us your opinion on nock materials for bamboo?
  And thanxs for the opinions already expressed, I would like to get multiple reports on the performance of nock material,
ZeNBowyer

[boo]

Id stay away from the horn nocks. Ive used them for the first time this year and out of the dozen i have, seven have broke. After further inspection i found three of the five remaining nocks had cracks in them and easily broke with a little side pressure from my thumb nail. It sucks to dry fire your bow. If you want to, you can use a 1/8'' drill bit to drill out each end of the arrow, then glue in a 1/8 '' dowel. I glue in about 1.5 inches of dowel on each end, but its not necessary at all. The cane or boo arrow can handle it alone.

[ZanderPommo]

i too have been having trouble with horn nocks easily splitting, and bone nocks chipping

sinew and hide glue add extreme strength to the nock, bamboo is tough, but splits easily, this reinforcement solves the problem 100%
JMHO

[knightd]

I have made a few cane arrows with horn nocks.. I will not make any more with them.. The horn and bone nocks are prone to spliting.. It isnt worth risking breaking a bow on a dry fire because of the knock.. I have never had a self nock on a cane arrow break from shooting it..

[zeNBowyer]

Allright then, thanxs  for the  comments, very  suprising to  me  personally,  and  aesthetically  (they  really  are  beautiful  looking!) ,
but function  always  comes  first  in  my  book:)

[markinengland]

A while back I was looking at buying 500 or more horn nocks from the supplier mentioned to sell alongside my shafts. I was puzzled when mention was made of a mold. I supplied a drawing but expected some variation with a hand made product, but it seemed this was not possible. While it is possible to heat and form flat horn with moulds I couldn't understand how a nock could be mould formed. Perhaps this is now explained and it is a good thing I never placed the order?

I have now broken a few bamboo arrows at the point (hitting hard things side on) and at the fletching (trying to fit through too small a gap between trees) but never a nock. The only broken bamboo nock I have had was shot off.

A little binding just below the nock is all that is required if the nock is cut at a node. If the nock is not at a node I would glue in a wooden or bamboo plug, cut the nock and bind.

Mark in England

[mullet]

 Mark, the first time I saw something made with a mold I got ripped off buying to oriental statues that I was told were ivory. It turned out they were crushed bone and polymer. Now I'm real sceptical when I see hand made bone and horn products that are all uniform.

[Hillbilly]

I have made many, many cane/boo  arrows with self nocks and shot them thousands of times, and have never had one break. I can't say the same for plastic nocks like everybody commonly uses, I've broken several of those over the years. As long as you wrap below the nock, it's not going anywhere. Cane is magic. I've made a few antler inserts just for pimping purposes, and they are tough. But selfnocks in cane work great.

[Cromm]

Oldways are the best ways.
If you want to change the colour of the self nock like a plastic nock you can paint them then wrap them.