I have an old 1930 Roy Case horn nocked longbow that I need some help with. When I got it initially many years ago it was missing the top horn nock. I had a very talented,local bowyer,many of you might have heard of him,his name was Gene McGlashin(sic) make me a horn nock for it and he glued it on. It looks great but I have since acquired an original horn nock made by Roy Case that I would like to put on the bow as I believe it would be proper for such a wonderful piece of history. I am a collector and share items such as this at local archery events. I know some may say just leave it but my desire is to have the bow be 100% made by Roy Case. Does anyone here with knowledge of working with horn nocks know of the best way to remove the replaced horn nock,hopefully without damaging it,and putting the new one on? I don’t know what Gene used initially when he put it on but unfortunately Gene is no longer with us. I really want to put this “new” original Roy Case made horn nock on my 1930 Roy Case made longbow but don’t want to damage it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Gentle heat would be your first option. Your dealing with a sort of fragile situation.

What JusPassin said. But you may end up having to grind it off. It maybe on with an epoxy.

Grind it off, don't use heat. I would bet my next paycheck Gene used an epoxy and that stuff isn't meant to come apart. And, heating up the tip of a wood bow enough to release the glue isn't good for the wood or its finish. Use a bench top belt sander to get the bulk removed and then grab a few half round rasps to get the rest off. Go slow.

Thank you so far for your recommendations. Very much appreciated.

Johnny, you may also want to message 2 bears, Ken Butler, on this site and ask him. He has repaired many bows and his comments may be helpful or reinforce what has been said here already.

Phil might know someone that has experience with this,,John Strunk may be of some help.

Just go slow and gentle, your dealing with a very small amount of wood under there, not much bigger than an arrow shaft.

I haven't removed horn tips where I wanted to save both. Horn is pliable with heat. You can boil it & shape it. Most glues loosen with heat. Personally I would try soaking the horn in very warm water. Stand the bow on end in a jar or what ever and pour the water up to the level of the horn. I would keep doing so for several hours & try twisting on the nock by hand. Then I would hold the bow next to the tip so as not to over heat & use a heat gun on the tip. Keep wiggling & testing the nock. If that don't work you have 2 options. Pick which you want to sacrifice. Cut the tip off on both ends, reshape & install new horn nocks. You can drill out the horn nocks later. OR Rasp off the nock & install new one. You will probably get in to the bow tip & alter it some anyway. I think they will come off with patience. If not you can do it either way & no one will ever know the difference. Good luck, >>>----> Ken

You're talking the old carved style horn nocks right? With the end of the bow wood cone-shaped like a pencil point? I've done it. Mine were epoxied on. I wasn't concerned with saving the old horn nock so I ground most of it off relatively quickly on a belt sander, just until I got to, or near the glue line, then used files to get the rest.

You may have to do some careful shaping and mating of the two pieces before gluing on the new one. They should be well fitted before glue up. It helps to put some transfer color down in the horn, you can use a pencil, then fit it on the bow, give it a wiggle, and it will transfer color to the wood at the high spots. Scrape wood there. Do this until you get pretty good coverage and it sits solidly, then clean with acetone or alcohol, let it dry completely, then glue it on.

I bet you can get it off with steam from a kettle. Wrap the bow and cover your hands with gloves. Keep the steam on just the horn. It wouldn't hurt to try before carving on it.

Well, it might hurt. Steam can scald you to second degree burns in an instant. - lbg

I bet you can get it off with steam from a kettle. Wrap the bow and cover your hands with gloves. Keep the steam on just the horn. It wouldn't hurt to try before carving on it.

Well, it might hurt. Steam can scald you to second degree burns in an instant. - lbg

Thanks for the additional tips. I am willing to sacrifice the replaced horn nock that Gene put on the bow. It is on the top limb but the lower nock is original to the bow and was made and put on by Roy Case himself. It is important that I keep the bow as original as possible and that is why I want to replace the nock installed by Gene with an original horn nock made by Roy Case. Then the old 1930 longbow would be pretty much 100% Roy Case made. I definitely don’t want to mess it up.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here