//Update the 27′th of July – added the second and final part of this Repair-a-long.

In order to help the English readers, I will try to post in English in the future …

This is a little Repair-a-long that shows how to fix Arrows that are made with too wide a nock, without reducing the length of the arrow, and without having to Re fletch the arrow as well.

When I made my first “real” arrows, I used a File normally used for sharpening chainsaws. (I had read in a lot of posts, that you could use this to file the nock, after you had cut the nock with the three hacksaw blades taped together).

The problem with this file is, that the nock is too wide when compared to nocks used in “commercial” bows and arrows. The Chainsaw file on the left is just above 3,5  mm. wide, where a normal nock would be 2,8 mm wide. I just got a file that has the normal with for a nock (You can see in this picture the two types of files – the chainsaw file is the one on the left)

This was not a problem, when it was only me shooting in my backyard . The strings were made with an extra layer of serving-thread, and they fitted the arrows perfectly. (Beneath is the size difference of my self-nocks, when compared to a “normal” plastic nock. The plastic nock is a little bit “angled”, so it looks smaller than it actually is, but there is just under 1,5mm difference in width)

BUT – the problems started when I started shooting in a local Archery club (Frederiksværk Bueskytteforening? … ret mig hvis jeg tager fejl Steen ).

I would have liked to try some of the other archers arrows, and they would have liked to try my bows with their own arrows – but the difference in the string/nock sizes made this impossible.

I had just made about 8 wooden arrows, complete with Footings and nock-inlay (to strengthen the nock), and made to match my draw-length. I would just hate to cut off these nocks to make new nocks, and loose both the inlay and about half an inch in length. Cutting the nocks would also give me the problem of too little distance between the feathers and the string, so there would not be any room for my fingers when shooting!)

My wife actually solved the problem for me, when she suggested that I could glue in a piece of wood, and cut the nocks again. (The idea about cutting the nocks again would seem too risky, as there would only be about ½ mm of the new wood on each side of the inside of the nock, but gluing in a piece of wood, and adding plastic nocks were a doable option i thought!)

 

Yes, I know – Plastic nocks on traditional wooden arrows, complete with footings and all – but the alternative as I see it is to stop using those arrows? (If anyone know of a better way to repair nocks, please feel free to add your input! ).

First I needed to make sure, that all the arrows were of the same length. Three of the arrows were made some days before the last five, so they were a smidgen longer than  the others.

That was simple to solve - just a quick run through the disc-sander, and the length were the same. (There is a slight difference in the sizes in the picture, but this is due to the arrows not being held at the same angles)

Then I found a scrap of hardwood (Ipé in this case, as the footing is made from this as well). There was one problem though – the arrows had a little “groove” down each side of the nock, to accommodate the string when it was drawn. (No sharp edges – the bottom of the nock was filed round). This presented a problem when trying to glue the small pieces of wood into the nocks, as there would be too little wood to wood contact at the bottom of the groove.

 The easiest way to solve this was actually to file the groove a little deeper, but keeping the file at a right angle all the time.

This gave me a round but flat button to glue the wood in.

I rounded the Ipé by dragging it along the top of the belt sander, without it being turned on. (It only took 3-5 strokes to round the end of the piece of Ipé, so it matched the bottom of the nock.

Then I measured the depth of the nock, marked it on the Ipé and cut along the mark.

The little piece was wide enough to fill out two nocks at the same time, so I split the little piece in two. (And no – I did not split the Ipé on top of the belt-sander, but my working table is too light a color to take good pictures against, so I used the Belt-sander as background ).

Here is the eigth arrows dry-fitted with the small pieces of Ipé, and now I just have to glue them in place.

I know there has been a lot of discussion about different types of glue – especially when gluing Ipé, but I have had great success using Titebond II & III, as long as I remember to score the surface with a hacksaw blade first, and removing dust and oil with Acetone.

So that is what I am using this time as well (TBII).

Gluing pieces that are this small is a messy affair, but finally I finished.

And now for the hard part – waiting for the glue to dry …

This Repair-a-long will be continued tomorrow, where I hope to be able to sand the ends of the arrows smooth without damaging the feathers, and fit the arrows for the new nocks.

——–

Okay – the arrows have dried, and I am back working on them again. (Got sidetracked a little, as both I and my family have Summer vacation at the moment …)

The first I did after removing the Glue-clamps, was to shape the small pieces of Ipé, so they were aligned with the rest of the arrow. To do this, I just moved it slightly back and forward on the side of the belt sander, while the beltsander was turned off(!). (I have a fairly rough grit on my beltsander, so it didn’t take many seconds before the piece was aligned with the rest of the arrow. I did not do it very accurately, as this part would be rounded later by the tool you would normally use to fit nocks to arrows.

After having manually ground down the sides of the small inserts, I switched on the Beltsander, and used the Disc sander to remove the parts, that were too long. (I wanted them to be the same size as the rest of the arrow).

Remember from earlier, that I talked about having two “sets” of arrows, that I needed to do this repair on? … Well, It turned out, that there were more differences in the arrows, than the old ones being 1/4 inch longer than the new one. Their diameter were smaller as welll (wich were a good thing!), and the feathers were closer to the nocks than on the new arrows (wich were not a good thing!)

Because the feathers were closer to the nocks, there were not enough room to use the “Pencil-sharpener” tool you normally use to fit the arrow to the nock. I had to carefully loosen the upper part of the feathers with a razor blade, before there were enough room.

(You can see in this picture, that I actually lifted too smal a portion of the feather, as the base of the feather broke on this arrow. It didn’t matter though, as it was only part way through, and the feather held together anyway). After loosening the feathers, I could use the little Pencil sharpener tool (I am not sure what it is called in English?)

And the result was actually pretty good! … It even looked like an overzised pencil with feathers attached! *LOL* …

Re-attaching the feathers again… (A little tip is cutting the fletching tape 1/32 of an inch behind the feather, and then “bend” this little extra piece of tape up on the end of the feather. When you release that, the red part that you need to remove is fairly easy to remove now – the same trick when using a normal fletcher, where you attact the tape to the featherclamp, before cutting it off).

And even though this picture is not one of the best, it should show the fitted nock point.

The other types of arrows had different problems. The distance from the nock to the feathers were good enough, that I could use the sharpening tool without lifting the feathers – but the diameter were about a 1/32 of an inch to wide for the sharpener!

This meant, that I had to reduce the diameter of the arrows slightly, without damaging the feathers or the gold-foil at the end of the arrow. To do this, I would attach the end of the arrow to a normal drill, and use a heavy gritt sandpaper on the other end. It was actually possible to hold on to the drill with one hand, and the sandpaper with the other hand, and slightly narrowing the arrow this way.

 

It was not possible however, to take a picture at the same time … So you have to imagine the sandpaper being curled around the arrow, and me holding onto that with my right hand, and running the drill at the same time with the left hand.

This is also a very good trick to reduce thickness in arrows in general! – normally I would attach the business end of the arrow before attaching the arrow to the drill, so I do not damage the wood when I  am securing the arrow in the drill. Then just move the sandpaper up and down the arrow, and gradually use finer and finer sandpaper.

Here the arrow diameter above the foil has been slightly reduced, and the arrow is ready for “sharpening”.

Now that the diameter is slightly less than the hole in the sharpener, it is no problem using the tool. I am lucky, that the distance from the feathers to the end of arrow is just long enough, that I do not need to lift the feathers!

Afteer some hours work – All the arrows finally ready for their new nocks.

All arrows fitted with their new nocks. I normally use a Super glue, that works within seconds – and melting glue on the Business end of the Arrow.

I test shot the arrows later that evening, and there were no problems with Nock points flying off, or arrows breaking – so it seems, that the repair was a success …

And I could event fitt my fingers between the String of the bow, and the feathers without the feathers being damaged, so I am happy that I can continue using these arrows – even though I STILL does not like these ugly plastic nocks added to these traditional wooden arrows .