August 23, 200916 yr Well, after spending a bit of time working on it, my brother and I put together this medieval (styled) crossbow. It has a recurve 150lb prod. It was a pain making the nut/tumbler and tickler meet correctly:mad:. This one has a steel nut, but for the next one, we'll probably use delrin. I hear it is a suitable horn substitute. The pictures are mostly self explanatory. What do you think?:cool:
August 23, 200916 yr The string needs serving wraps on both the notch loop and in the middle. Serving wraps are used on bow strings to keep the rubbing from wearing out the string.
August 23, 200916 yr I think it looks pretty but you should make it so you don't use any new part composite like those screws. It kills the medieval of it. Still looks good! the_white :D
August 23, 200916 yr Author The string needs serving wraps on both the notch loop and in the middle. Serving wraps are used on bow strings to keep the rubbing from wearing out the string. We are currently buying a dacron string of the correct size that has a serving. Thanks for paying close attention!;)
August 24, 200916 yr Not bad for your first crossbow, have you shot it yet? if so how was it? did you make your own bullets (arrows) or are you buying them? welder19
August 24, 200916 yr that looks awesome.....and....i cant run that fast so i dont want to play tag..:D
August 24, 200916 yr The bow should be placed so that there is no string pressure down against the stock---the string should ride about the thickness of a 3x5 card above the wood. The nut is *not* supposed to be supported by the bolt through it, that's just to keep it from falling out when you turn it upside down. The nut runs in a "bearing race" so that you can have quite strong loads on it without the danger of the pin through it bending or binding. Is yours set up that way? You may want the tiller longer and closer to the stock. Also remember that the stock of a crossbow was not placed against the shoulder like the stock of a rifle is today. And most importantly *EVERY* state I have lived in that allowed crossbows for shooting deer in season required a positive safety and so that bow would not be legal to hunt with and the laws are quite draconian on the subject! (built my first crossbow around 1985 using the plans in "The Crossbow: Its Military and Sporting History, Construction and Use" (ISBN: 160239010X / 1-60239-010-X) Payne-Gallwey, Ralph---who was a curator at the British Museum when he wrote it...)
August 24, 200916 yr Author The bow should be placed so that there is no string pressure down against the stock---the string should ride about the thickness of a 3x5 card above the wood. The nut is *not* supposed to be supported by the bolt through it, that's just to keep it from falling out when you turn it upside down. The nut runs in a "bearing race" so that you can have quite strong loads on it without the danger of the pin through it bending or binding. Is yours set up that way? You may want the tiller longer and closer to the stock. Also remember that the stock of a crossbow was not placed against the shoulder like the stock of a rifle is today. And most importantly *EVERY* state I have lived in that allowed crossbows for shooting deer in season required a positive safety and so that bow would not be legal to hunt with and the laws are quite draconian on the subject! (built my first crossbow around 1985 using the plans in "The Crossbow: Its Military and Sporting History, Construction and Use" (ISBN: 160239010X / 1-60239-010-X) Payne-Gallwey, Ralph---who was a curator at the British Museum when he wrote it...) -I like that book. It helped in inspiring me to make a rolling nut styled crossbow. About the string touching the stock, that is what my brother said, after we made it. I had not planned on hunting with it, just target shooting (and maybe getting rid of backyard pests:rolleyes:). There is no safety on this bow. Do you have any pictures of a crossbow that you built that you would be willing to share (to use as visual aids to a few things I may be doing wrong)? I appreciate the good advise, thanks!
August 24, 200916 yr Alas, no pictures seem to have survived of it. I've even sold off my swiss army HEAVY crossbow since then. BTW you might be able to cant the bow to lift the string a bit more through judicious filing of the wood where it's mounted.
August 24, 200916 yr Author Not bad for your first crossbow, have you shot it yet? if so how was it? did you make your own bullets (arrows) or are you buying them? welder19 I have shot it a few times now. It shot very strongly. So far, we have made our own bolts. We put a REALLY heavy head on one bolt so we could see it flying, but after it fishtailed miserably, we put a smaller head on and it shot a lot straighter. I may buy some bolts, but for now, homemade bolts are doing the job. On a different note, I thought I should add his part for people wanting to use dacron strings. I learned that dacron strings should NEVER come into contact with oil. It makes the dacron "gummy" and more prone to break. This is why I ONLY wax the bolt track, never oil it.
August 25, 200916 yr Never mind. Somehow I missed the fact that there was a second page before I popped off with my questions. Edited August 25, 200916 yr by MattBower
August 26, 200916 yr Shweet!! Maybe Frosty can use it on those Alaskan mosquito's instead of trying to use that "Victorian" Mace XD Anywho, I love it!!
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.