Is 3/8" too narrow for the tips of a typically 100# @ 32" warbow?

[toomanyknots]

Just wondering. I am thinking this is one of those questions I already know the answer to before asking,  . I am talking about the tip right before the horn nock, with a warbow made of medium density wood like hackberry up to heavier woods like hickory and osage. I am thinking osage and hickory would do better than hackberry, which is fat and beefy no matter what weight it is. I am worried 3/8" might be too small and might actually break from being so narrow. If so, I need to grind down another bit as my 1/2" spade bit won't set straight in the chuck,  . I mean I know I can easily make a quick taper to a 3/8" tip where the nock meets the wood, but I am worried it will snap unless the string grooves are side nocks that go right to the wood real close to the skirt of the nock, etc...

[Del the cat]

Just checked my Mary Rose Weapons of Warre. the only dimensions I can find at a quick glance are measure at the actual groove of the nock (with no horn there as it's been eaten by the sea critters ) the figures are about 12 - 13mm generally (round cross section where it fits into the horn. Obviously at the base of the horn nock it would be slightly bigger as it's tapered.
Seein' as how half inch is about 12.6mm I'd say you want to be bigger than 3/8"
Ha, just read a bit more, the only surviving horn nock has an inside diameter of 14mm 
Hope this is some help.
Del

[toomanyknots]

Just checked my Mary Rose Weapons of Warre. the only dimensions I can find at a quick glance are measure at the actual groove of the nock (with no horn there as it's been eaten by the sea critters ) the figures are about 12 - 13mm generally (round cross section where it fits into the horn. Obviously at the base of the horn nock it would be slightly bigger as it's tapered.
Seein' as how half inch is about 12.6mm I'd say you want to be bigger than 3/8"
Ha, just read a bit more, the only surviving horn nock has an inside diameter of 14mm 
Hope this is some help.
Del

Yes it is, thank you. Time to grind down a new bit...

[AH]

I think that with osage, you can go small...that stuff is tuff. 

[Cameroo]

did you read adb's thread a few down on the list?  He had a laminate blow out, and I think he had about 1/2" knocks pulling about 120#.  not exactly your same criteria ( higher weight, used tip overlays rather than horn knocks). If I were you, I'd err on the side of caution.  But then again that's probably just because osage is so expensive to get up here.

[toomanyknots]

I think that with osage, you can go small...that stuff is tuff. 

All mine, regardless of wood, have been around 1/2". But they have to be, or had to be, as the pre-drilled nocks I usually buy were 1/2" wide at the base of the hole. I can't find any dimensions less than 1/2". I know Jaro's heavy bows looks very thin at the tips in his pictures, but I am sure they are probably at least 1/2". I think osage could take it too, but I am too much a wuss to try it out I am thinking...

did you read adb's thread a few down on the list?  He had a laminate blow out, and I think he had about 1/2" knocks pulling about 120#.  not exactly your same criteria ( higher weight, used tip overlays rather than horn knocks). If I were you, I'd err on the side of caution.  But then again that's probably just because osage is so expensive to get up here.

Wise words. It's pretty common here, but still if you don't have the land, it can be tough to find a good straight clean tree to get a good clean long warbow stave from. So I kinda feel the same way.

[mikekeswick]

For yew I would go for 1/2 inch but remember that yew is a very soft wood, with low bend resistance. Osage (and other dense woods) are far harder and CAN take being around 3/8ths at the nock no problem. I've made quite a few hickory/bamboo backed ipe bows around 100lb and they were all 3/8ths with no problems at all. I think the guy who had a failure at 3/8ths simply cut the nocks incorrectly..they didn't blow just because they were 3/8ths.
The maximum strain in a bow is at the center this gradually reduces the closer you get to the tips.

[toomanyknots]

For yew I would go for 1/2 inch but remember that yew is a very soft wood, with low bend resistance. Osage (and other dense woods) are far harder and CAN take being around 3/8ths at the nock no problem. I've made quite a few hickory/bamboo backed ipe bows around 100lb and they were all 3/8ths with no problems at all. I think the guy who had a failure at 3/8ths simply cut the nocks incorrectly..they didn't blow just because they were 3/8ths.
The maximum strain in a bow is at the center this gradually reduces the closer you get to the tips.

What do you think about hickory? And this is 3/8" at the base of the horn nock? My instinct is honestly telling me it il snap...

[Yeomanbowman]

The Mary Rose bow had a near universal base of cone diameter of 1/2" and, as has been mentioned, and made of yew which is less dense than many hardwoods.  The standardisation of parts that fitted together from all the cottage industries is quite marked. 
For my flight bows, I have used 10mm nocks and they have been up to 140lbs with no problem.  However, what do you want from your bow?  If it's milking every FPS from it then go with smaller nocks but if it's for a general workaday bow then are you worried about making it about 3mm smaller at the expense of a small loss in speed?  Remember, warbows are for shooting war arrows and these are by nature heavy arrows, which to some extent makes shaving of that extra bit of wood not as critical.  The hand shock with heavy arrows is less too as they take energy out of the limbs more efficiently.  The other point is that if you accidentally dry-loose your bow then nocks less than 1/2" nocks are more likely to snap.  It's a balance and neither is right or wrong just more or less appropriate for a given type of bow.