Came across a claim about mary rose nocks being antler? Is this bee ess or not?

[medicinewheel]

Yes, but you might think that antler might just drop off and be found in the bottom of the bow containers if it was in fact used and stands submersion.
...

Exactly. Antler is like bone, and full skeletons of man and dog where found, but only very few items of horn survived (only with some sort of extra protection).

This is a photo I took myself of the one surviving horn nock - clearly it's not black like buffalo horn!
...

Cow horn is not black but white to dark grey; only water buffalo horn is shiny black, and that they did not have.


PS: I'm convinced antler has been used, too, if available. It's really not that difficult to work.

[bubby]

there is black cow horn, not uncommon at all

[WillS]

It seems to work just fine on Dave's 110# bow.  He posted a pic of it in the warbow section a while back.  Nocks not glued on at all, both using side nocks and bowyers knots.  With a stringer I can't see it being a problem.

Did they use stringers in the days of warbows?

Some.  There are Mary Rose bows that show clear second grooves for stringers, but there are also guys I've shot with who can use the step-through method on a 120# bow. 

[WillS]

...
Cow horn is not black but white to dark grey; only water buffalo horn is shiny black, and that they did not have.

I've used pure jet black cow horn before.  In fact on the first bow I ever made I used local cow horn and it was jet black with some very faint colour streaks running through it.

This was my first ever attempt at making a horn nock (copied the MR almost identically, but the side nocks didn't work out.  I've never got them to work!)



But that is cow horn.

[Marc St Louis]

It seems to work just fine on Dave's 110# bow.  He posted a pic of it in the warbow section a while back.  Nocks not glued on at all, both using side nocks and bowyers knots.  With a stringer I can't see it being a problem.

Did they use stringers in the days of warbows?

Some.  There are Mary Rose bows that show clear second grooves for stringers, but there are also guys I've shot with who can use the step-through method on a 120# bow.

I'm sorry Will but I still can't see it.  If the horn nock had another groove for a stringer then how would they be able to slip the nock off the bow when it's under tension from the stringer?  You would need 2 people to be able to slip the nock off a warbow of any substantial draw weight when using a bowyers knot at both ends, not very practical.

[WillS]

Yeah I agree.  It's a theory, that's all.  Perhaps some were double knots and strung without a stringer, and some were different?  When I saw the bows and handled a few, there were lots with a second groove on the top nock, and lots without which suggests different methods of stringing.

All I know is that some guys have successfully made and shot bows over 110# using removable horn nocks, Steve Stratton and Dave Pim to name two.  Both insanely talented bowyers.  There's also (I think) a thread over on PP all about it, but I've not read it in years.  I'll see if I can find it, but it might have been on the EWBS forum in which case I can't post it here.

[WillS]

I can't find anything online, so I've posted a thread about it on the EWBS forum.  Hopefully Dave Pim will answer, or somebody else who knows more.  Next time I chat to Steve I'll ask him as well.

[WillS]

Right.  According to some highly informed guys, the Mary Rose bows don't show evidence of removable nocks, but removable nocks do work on heavy warbows.  I'll have to watch some guys stringing them at the next warbow shoot to see how it's done.  For this discussion though, related to the MR bows, apparently it's a no go.