Does anyone here know how to make a decent crossbow bolt? What are the fletchings made of? The bolt itself? Where can I find some metal/wood heads for the quarrel?
How does one decide how to make the quarrel to fit the crossbow?

This all depends on everything else to do with your crossbow.  I use Chinese style crossbows with at least foot long draw lengths, so the quarrels are fletched using feathers and are basically short arrows.
  However, I have and shoot several short European-style crossbows.  The quarrels I use are the same length as the bolt groove plus an inch (to be able to fit the head without it interfering with the workings.)  I have fletched bolts using feathers, waxed paper, and three layers of thin cotton cloth sewed together.  They all work, but you need to either centre the fletching well on the bolt, or spiral it well (to achieve a rifling effect and greater accuracy).  I find that feathers work best at range, as they are lighter, and the lift will carry the bolts better than the thicker, heavier fletch will do.
With regards to bolt heads:  I use quite a lot of blunt heads, because they are easy to make and completely free - just a wooden knob on the end of the bolt.  Other heads I've used are wooden blades (like south Pacific arrows), bamboo, flint, flattened tacks and nails, and a few bone heads from beef joints.  I don't know about other kinds I'm afraid.

Mine are 13 inches long which takes up about 3/4 of the groove in the bow. They appear to be made from dowels and are tipped with traditional field point ( Target points).
These are the field points design to be used on wooden solid shafted arrows. Basicly shot of glue inside and press the shaft insside of them.
they have two feather fletchings and handle being launched from a 125 pound 14th century replica bow fairly well.
on fitting the quarrels to your bow i would just recomend trying a wide variety of bolts and finding out what suits you best. I'm thinking of going to a slightly wider diameter (and heavier) quarrel for mine but that's a ways away from being reality

Marc Adkins

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Where do you get your field points? I havent gone to a hardware store lately, so I have been using half-inch nuts on the end for weight.

Search "crossbow" theirs a 20 some odd page discussion.

" Honestly I bought them already on the bolts from a fellow reenacter way back when when i had more money than common sense."


ah those where the days. Now that i have a car and must put gas in it i seem to have more of every thing but money

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They wouldn't happen to sell field points in the aisle with knives/paintball guns? I don't know if Superwalmarts have an archery section. Ours doesn't seem to.

More or less, no. Most of the employees at our Walmart that "help" are my age. If I can't find it, they can't. I just haven't been there many times or knew that they sold arrowheads. The major defect of Walmart is that quantity can't replace quality, no matter how cheap it is, some expensive things pay for themselves.