My first self-nock

[willie]

WB

I use a jig like bow ed shows, with the slot deep enough and the  hole snug enough so that the arrow can be clamped tightly in the block when the block is clamped in a vice or wood workers  clamp.

I also use carbide grit type saw blade

[Hawkdancer]

WBadger,,
If you are near a Harbor Freight, they have the diamond needle file,  Ace Hdw carries a "rod" saw blade that is about 3/8".  I'm down in Loveland, CO.with ready access to those sorts of places, be glad to help out!  What part of Wyo are you in?
Hawkdancer

[WhistlingBadger]

That's nice of you, HD.  I'm in Lander, not near a Harbor Freight or much of anything else.  ha ha ha   We do have an Ace and a couple of lumber stores.  Willie, I just have a mini-hacksaw, and Ace only has the round, carbide grit blades for full size saws.  So, that's something to keep in mind for future purchases, but I don't want to buy a whole new saw just for building arrows.  (My family has crazy ideas about purchases that they consider more important than archery supplies--groceries, the mortgage, dental care, blah blah blah.  Screwed up priorities if you ask me, but what can you do?)

I really like the look of that jig--I'm going to have to build something like that if this self-nock thing becomes a habit.

And I think it will.  I don't know if it's the nocks, the wood (these are my first sitka spruce shafts, too; I've always used POC or poplar before), or something else, but this batch of arrows is flying way better out of my self-bow than any of my old, plastic nocked arrows.

Thanks for all the help and advice, gents.  Keep it coming! 

[Strelets]

I find that I get a more accurate cut if I use a tenon saw rather than a hacksaw.  The broad rigid blade is more likely to go where I want it, rather than wander off on its own direction. Like DC I mark out first with a triangular file and adjust until it is centred.  Having made the cut I then widen it with two hacksaw blades and file to the finished shape.  The harder the wood that you use for the shaft, the easier it is to make the nock accurately.

[dmc]

I'm not sure where I saw it first, but I've had good success with heating a nail with a blow torch, then using the red hot nail to create my string nock. I was surprised at how easy it was to melt the wood. I then did like you and added a few rings of silk thread soaked in Duco. I've never had one break.