In Progress Medieval-style Crossbow

[gstoneberg]

Looks great.  So good to see it nearing completion.  Can't wait for more!

George

[Dane]

Thanks, George. I am getting anxious to get this project shooting. Of course, we all know what happens when you rush these things, but still, I am confident it will be completed soon enough. 

Dane

[Dane]

In the last ten days, I have discovered I am not that good at inlaying wood, antler, or horn Which is okay, as it is a skill I now see I need to improve.

After trying inlaying the wood strips, I was not happy with the outcome, and so I got rid of them with the help of a chisel, and I then decided to inlay alternating pieces of antler and horn, a kind of checkerboard pattern if you only had one row on your board.

It simply didn't look as good as I wanted, and even though I spend many hours on this step, this morning, out came the chisel and off came the inlay work, which was nearly complete on both sides.

It was just a matter of planing down the wood and reshaping a bit. The tiller actually (I think) looks better, slimmer and more fit to fight. Nothing wrong with the pure beauty of plain wood, and the cherry against the holly table I think looks really nice.

A bit more sanding is necessary, but overall, the tiller is close to being ready to finish, which will be a coat of boiled linseed oil and a few coats of tung oil.

I made the binding block around noon today. Notice it has a flat top, and ears that pass the width of the tiller on both sides. Those ears will be used to bind the prod to the tiller, and then the flat area will facilitate binding on the stirrup with linen cord. I will be using hemp to bind on the prod, and I am now about ready to bore and chisel out the binding hole, which will be just aft of where the tiller nose begins to slope down. Hopefully, I can make the binding hole this weekend and then get the tiller finished. I still have to bore a small hole to bind the rolling nut into the socket hole, but that is a very simple operation.

More soon,

Dane

[gstoneberg]

It looks great to me!

George

[Cameroo]

Getting close to the finished product! It's looking really good.

[Dane]

Thanks, guys.

Well, the binding hole is now finished, and I have to say, there was much fear and trepidation in the making of this. My drill press vice was not big enough to hold the tiller, so I had to improvise with a scrap of cherry wood and a wood clamp on the drill press table. I drew a line down the center of the tiller, the used the highly lame method of a square and ruler and lots of monkeying around to get the tiller what I hoped would be dead on. I used a 1" fostner bit to drill the hole itself, and have seen round binding holes, oblong ones, square ones, and kind of D shaped ones. I figured keep it simple and go with the round hole and I will be fine.

The boring went well, and I am happy with the results. I rounded the edges of the hole on both sides with a half round file and then sandpaper, and then drilled the little holes for the 3/4" escutheon pins I used to "nail" on the table facing wood. If I had actually used bone plating for the table, these nails would serve an actual purpose. But, since I glued on the hollly and it aint going anywhere (and I am pretty proud of how good a glue up was, since I had to do more than a bit of hand planing of the table top to get it totally flat), the nails are just a bit of medieval bling.

Later today, I'm going to pick up some boiled linseed oil and some blueing chemicals for the sturrup and tickler. I doubt a 15th century abalest maker would have had Birchwood Casey products in his shop, but that is one of the advantages to living in the here and now

More soon,

Dane of York, Arbalest Maker lol.

[gstoneberg]

Woohoo, love it.  Finish that baby up so we can see an arrow loosed!

George

[Dane]

Doing my best, George. For certain, the finish will be complete by the end of Monday, and this week, I'll be making the string and the bastard string. The bluing I think I can get done this weekend as well. This week I'll be making a dozen quarrels, as well.

For certain, I will shoot video of the arbalest in action...no guarantee the guy behind the trigger is going to do so well. The little brass medieval rear sight I plan to make should help. Maybe lol. Perhaps one of those smurf-looking Flemish pointy medieval hat will help me judge wind velocity and direction.

So close.....

Dane

[Dane]

Before I forget, I will also be making a belt hook for that method of spanning the weapon. It is a hook secured to a leather belt, of a certain length. You lean down by bending the knees, hook the hook over the string, slip your foot into the sturrup, and then stand up to draw the string to the nut. For 175 lbs pulll, that should do the trick.

Dane

[fishfinder401]

Before I forget, I will also be making a belt hook for that method of spanning the weapon. It is a hook secured to a leather belt, of a certain length. You lean down by bending the knees, hook the hook over the string, slip your foot into the sturrup, and then stand up to draw the string to the nut. For 175 lbs pulll, that should do the trick.

Dane

instead of the hook, you could just have me pull it for you

[Dane]

Great idea....I can just lug you around and you can do the spanning. Do I have to feed and house you too?

The little beast is coming along, and the tiller is now done! Minor adjustments are probably going to be necessary, but I consider this sucker finished. For the finish, I used a coat of refined linseed oil, then about 4 layers of tung oil. The stuff is pleasant to work with, smells nice, and dries quickly. The more coats I put on, the shinier the finish, so I stopped where I did as I lliked how it looked. It feels very silky, as well.

I liked the look of the brass nails so much on the table that I added a few more to give it a pattern, and then recalled I had some 5.8" brass domed tacks. Since medieval Europe was overwhelmingly Christian, a cross pattern would look cool. Plus, I placed them on the tiller where they will help the shooter grip the bow tiller.

In retrospective, I would have made a paper pattern before dilling the starter holes for the brass tacks, so each side is identical. It looks good enough though, so I will call this step finished.

Note that today is a very cloudy, flat day, so the cherry is not as true to color as the actual bow. Flash shots are much redder, but again, not totally correct.

Last shot is my pug Davenport investigating the tiller. Not only cute, it gives you an idea of the size of this thing.

More soon,

Dane

[fishfinder401]

Great idea....I can just lug you around and you can do the spanning. Do I have to feed and house you too?

nah, just let me keep a fishing pole and tent with me and ill be fine
noel

[Dane]

Well, the arbalest is coming along very quickly now. In railroad terms, I have a full head of steam and am highballing up the mainline.

Tonight, I finished polishing, shaping, and blueing the sturrup, and blueing the tickler / trigger. I used Birchwood Casey cold blueing, and it is really very simple stuff to use. I used two coats of the chemical between buffing with steel wool, then soaking the part in oil and letting it sit overnight.

I also finished making the skein last night, which is the bowstring. Making one of these is very easy, like making an endless bowstring. I used waxed natural colored linen thread to serve the eyes, and learned the art of coxcombing. That is the little tiny series of what appears to be knots along the outside of the eye. Later, I will explain how you make one of these, but anyone who has learned to make bowsting can handle this easily. I expect as I make more of these in the future, the serving will get neater, as well. I still have to serve the string center, but this step is not quite as easy as when you serve a bowstring. That is because stringing a 12" long metal bow that pulls 175 pounds is not so fun.

However, I have a plan, and it involves a long, long lever.

More soon,

Dane 

[gstoneberg]

Looks great!  I hadn't thought about how difficult it would be to string a crossbow prod.   Keep the pics coming.

George

[CraigMBeckett]

Must ask, why the macrame knots, you refer to it as coxcombing, surely the purpose of the serving is to protect the eye and this is best done with a smooth serving, but because of the knots the inside of the loop is anything but smooth?

Craig.