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making a crossbow (Read 12107 times)
Bikewer
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #15 - Mar 27th, 2009 at 11:38am
 
Well, I wish you luck.    The definitive book on the construction and history of crossbows is Payne-Gallway's old book:

http://www.amazon.com/Crossbow-Military-Sporting-History-Construction/dp/1602390...

I got a copy from the library.    

There are several problems with making a decent (that is, powerful) crossbow prod from wood.
First, you need to know the essentials of bow-making; how to choose the wood, what sort of grain structure to look for, how to tiller the bow into a shape that will work properly.
Because the bow is so short, everything is rather critical. 

Heavy bows are normally "braced" by means of a device called a false string that is clamped onto the bow arms.   This is not practical with wood; the bow can be damaged. 
Note that Europeans abandoned wood as a material for prods very early in the history of these weapons.  The best of them were reinforced with sinew, and probably only drew a bit over 100 pounds.
A steel prod in the 125 pound range will be lighter, more durable, and shoot better than a wood one.

There used to be a page up on the net of a fellow that makes prods from hickory; but the design was pretty primitive.
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HHornblower
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #16 - Apr 4th, 2009 at 6:46am
 
Have a look at these videos on Youtube:

Development of the crossbow by Mike Loades:
(Anna Komnene lived in the 12th century AD.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ykrg4rQIO0&feature=related     (maybe try that belt and claw?)

And a build-along made by someone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgKcbHOgHvw    (=part 1 of 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLTwmOrJTzA&feature=related   (= part 2 of 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qveW5SQtias&feature=related    (= part 3 of 3)

Maybe look around at sites like:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=8pp47kh4etqepqj8e4bdp3cpd...

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Hornblower
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #17 - Apr 16th, 2009 at 12:35pm
 
how would i make a trigger system out of household things
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castanon93
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #18 - Apr 25th, 2009 at 1:04pm
 
dude... use some commas  Shocked
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #19 - Apr 28th, 2009 at 3:45pm
 
sorry ,
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Et Cetera
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #20 - May 4th, 2009 at 4:43pm
 
co,mma,s ,,ro,ck, du,de,,!
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David Morningstar
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #21 - May 13th, 2009 at 9:48am
 
Good stuff on how to make a crossbow here: http://www.crossbowhunters.com/_sgg/m3_1.htm
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muddundee
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #22 - May 18th, 2009 at 6:02pm
 
I once made a crossbow using a leaf spring it was not a success as i did not re temper the  prod & it had gone too soft. I still have the nut i made for the release. Richard Middletons book Man powered bullets is a mine of excellent info if you intend to build a crossbow or stonebow. Traditionally western croosbows had very short draw with very stiff & powerful prods, Middleton has proven that these are far less efficient & slower than those with a long draw length.
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Bikewer
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Re: making a crossbow
Reply #23 - May 18th, 2009 at 6:24pm
 
I read Middleton's book too; interesting stuff.    Also Payne-Gallway's old book on the history and practice....

The Chinese went this route, as I recall; using much longer wooden/bamboo bows and achieving good results.   The only downside is that the crossbow itself must be much longer, and the whole affair is rather bulky.
European crossbows at their greatest state of development were quite compact, and could be easily drawn with a cranquin, even at very heavy draw weights.
Gallwey talks about late-period crossbows with draw weights in excess of 1200 pounds....Kind of scary.  That's a lot of energy; all the parts must be of top quality.
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