Nocks too tight?

[Camp Creek]

Still trying to tune douglas fir arrows to my bow and getting rather frustrated.  I've reduced the draw weight so it is now 60lbs at 31" and have tried bare shafts spined from 55lbs to 95lbs and still get 15° or so of nock left, even with a 23/64" 95lb shaft and a 5/16" 70 grain point.  All arrows shoot pretty much like that i.e., I don't get more nock left with lighter spined arrows than heavier spined.  THe only nock right arrow I shot was one with no point just to see what would happen.  I think there is some systemic problem I am missing.
After speaking with one of the posters here, he asked how tight my nocks were on the string.  I didn't put any kind of scale on them, but they certainly seem significantly tighter than they need to be.  I am going to try and use fine sandpaper to open them up a bit to where they are just a little tighter than needed to hold the arrow on when hanging freely.
If anyone has some thoughts or experience on this, I am all ears.

Thanks

[Terry Green]

Nock that are too tight will cause serious issues for sure.

[Michpatriot]

Yep I have 3 different throat size nocks that I use as my serving breaks in..gotta be perfect. I have gone around that bush extensively and I think if you get them to fit with a barley audible click you will find the tune is WAY easier to see on the bare shafts. The only reason I use a tighter fit is for hunting from a stand. When I come down from full draw when having the bow pointed down I want to be able to come back to full draw without losing the arrow from the string..so if it'll hold two consecutive draws while pointing at a downward angle without needing help its tight..but I do like a looser nock fit for for just shooting. When I have sanded nocks I only leave sanding scratches in and out..so as not to be leaving crosswise scratches that will saw at my serving as much.. WORN sandpaper.. thin tapered wood wedge( just thicker than your serving) ..glue the worn paper on the wedge and trim the nose of the wedge as needed so when fully engaged in the throat of the nocks it gives the same fit nock to nock for precision repeated fit nock to nock.. So you don't end up having to fit each one so much individually. The wedge goes in to the maximum and stops in the forward stroke when it bottoms out..

[Rob DiStefano]

If yer a split finger shooter then your pointer and middle fingers will insure a loose nock will be best, but if you're an under nock shooter (3 or 2 fingers) then nock fit to string is more critical and needs to be only tight enuf to remain on the string at full draw.

[Jim Wright]

What works for me is to sand the inside of the nock to where when it's on the serving, pointing down and I flick my finger next to it, it falls off.

[Rob DiStefano]

What works for me is to sand the inside of the nock to where when it's on the serving, pointing down and I flick my finger next to it, it falls off.

That will work well with any kinda string grip. 

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Toelke traditional archery makes Nock Fit Tool for $10 works great.

[Steelhead]

 I like an emery file like folks use for finger nails for sanding nocks that are too tight.Same strokes and pressure on each side of the nock.You dont want one side sanded more than the other.The emery file allows good precision IMO.

[black velvet]

I would reserve the sting to get proper nock fit.

[MCNSC]

I agree , the string should be made to fit the nock. Not the other way around.

[MCNSC]

I ordered a couple strings from a guy, specified that they fit GT nocks. They were way too tight, he proceeded to tell me I needed to file out my nocks to fit the string. Evidently he had been quite successful in convincing folks that it was normal to make the nocks fit the string. Accuracy went to pot and bow noise went way up. One big problem is I have several bows and all the strings on them are the same size at the serving. So, if I filed out nocks they don't fit any other strings.  A good reputable string maker will make it fit properly.

[LookMomNoSights]

I would reserve the sting to get proper nock fit.

This!!!!  When I order my SBD strings,  I tell him what nock I am using.  The string gets to me and the serving is spot on.  Just enough nock grip to barely hold the arrow on the string when I face the sight window/back of bow towards or parallel to the ground.

[MnFn]

I shoot split finger, so it is not as big of an issue. But I made some arrows up recently that were too tight. They were noisy to shoot and accuracy was not good.

A friend of mine has good luck with putting nocks in hot water and spreading the nock while cooling it. I tried that but it didn't seem to work on these nocks or I was doing something wrong.

Only thing that has worked consistently for me has been sanding the nocks. I would prefer to be able to spread them and will probably try the hot water trick again.  It seems to be a better fix, and if the string wears enough to make it too loose, then squeezing them a little would be an option.

As to the original question, for a short time I was torquing the bow when I shot.  The result of that was my arrow was flying nock left. When I figured that out, I dropped down  from 85 spine down to 65/70 out of a 55# bow.

[Camp Creek]

 Thanks for all of the advice!  It certainly sounds like my nocks are way too tight. I'll try sanding them to fit the string I have so I can hopefully make progress tuning them get a string to fit so I can proceed with making a good batch of arrows.

[McDave]

Even if you don't want to make your own strings, it pays to learn how to serve them.  3 serving tools, the most common 3 sizes of serving thread (probably .019, .021, and .024) and you're pretty much set for life.  Let's say your nock fit is just a smidge too loose.  Just re-serve, and rather than tying off the serving thread at each end, run it all the way down the length of the serving, and voila, it's a smidge tighter.  Serving gets a little too loose from wear?  Just re-serve with the same size thread.  Nocks too tight on your new string?  Just re-serve a size down.  In about a half hour you're back in business with new serving.  Much easier and more dependable than sanding.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Here's a photo of Toelke traditional archery Nock Fit Tool.

[Wudstix]

I've been shooting wood arrows for a long time with heavy Dacron strings and never had a tight nock problem.  Moved to tapered shafts and switched to 5/16" nocks, but also migrated to D97 Flemish strings, still no nock fit problems.  You can see from the list of bows I shoot that my strings are usually a bit stout.  D97 and Mercury2 strands have helped.

[Terry Green]

I've used sandpaper before. No issues...

[2wfstlhunting]

I admit that this is a deviation from the main thrust of the conversation, but I have found that over time some of the nocks will become looser than I want. Sanding is certainly a way to go at it, but I worry that the less than smooth surface will then abraid the serving.  I have had decent results by holding the loose nock in boiling water for a short period  (like 10 seconds) and giving it a little squeeze. The timing of immersion and the pressure applied is nuanced and may take a few tries to get it right sometimes. 

[MCNSC]

If too loose just wrap a couple times with dental floss. Quick and lasts quite a while. Reserving would be better but the dental floss works good.