experimenting with crossbows.

[BowSlayer]

looked around the workshop and found a piece of mahoghany 30" long and 4mm thick that i was saving for a laminated handle but i then thought about a crossbow. i first backed it with a single layer of FG tape and then tillered it to 20"! with a brace hight of 4" i then worked on a "stock" from an old 2x4 and made a trigger system from a cloths peg. and screw.  this was acctually an experiment and i plan on making a better one if my friend decides to give me his broken air rifle so i can use the stock, trigger and maybe scope/sight if not ill find one online or trade or something.

bow wood: mahoghany
stock wood: pine
draw weight: 45#
draw length: 18" can reach 20" 

trigger


this screw is inside the clothes peg. it holds the string loop


theese blocks at the front guide the arrow.


the view from the front. the bow was just screwed into the 2x4




string loop.


the screw in the clothes peg holds the string loop but realeases when the peg is lifted.


F/D pic


this is how the arrow holds in place


loaded arrow


me holding it


thanks for looking. let me know what ya think

[Thesquirrelslinger]

well, are you going to shoot it?
your string loop is going to wear impressively fast, and the bow will probably break in the handle because YOU PUT SCREWS THROUGH A BOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
trust me- i tried almost this exact thing. and almost got hurt pretty bad.
looks cool though. get a longer bolt.

[turtle]

I won't claim to be the most safety conscious person in the world. But that thing would scare the crap out of me .

[mullet]

You're going to put your eye out, kid.

[TRACY]

Uhhh.... Squirrel, your bolts a little short    you might want to rethink firing that thing

[Rick Wallace]

What Mullet said.  That thing is dangerous.

[wildman]

   In a word Darwanism +3 on what Mullet said. GLASSES

[Cameroo]

What the?!? Are you serious with that thing? Yikes!

[BowSlayer]

the bow seems sound i acctually dry-fired it alot when testing diffrent triggers, the bolt is made from a brocken arrow so i don't really wan't to break another one on pourpouse. this is just an experimental prototype. i am going to hopefully make a safer one soon. i might acctually not fire this thing as it is un safe. oh well

[sleek]

Son, if I even see a pic of you holding that damned thing without safety glasses on I will find your house and talk to your dad. Dude, honestly I am concerned for your safety, scared even. I work with a guy with a glass eye. Its fun to tap him on the back of the shoulder on his blind side and pick on him but seriously, you could loose both eyes. Ok, dad moment over on to the cool stuff.

That is neat. Squirrely boy has a point with the string loop wearing out from the screw rubbing it. Better to drill a hole and glue in a wooden dowel. 45# is good for a fun time with that. I think you can save the bow on that thing by removing the screws and filling the holes with wood glue mixed with saw dust. 

Take that bow ( prod ) off and carve into the stock a notch wide as the bow for it to sit into. Then lay over the back of the prod a block of wood that is maybe 9 inches long. This will be what holds the prod in place and cover the holes to keep the prod from blowing up because of the screw holes. Using string, wrap the 9 inch long board to the stock of the cross bow. You may need to provide a spot on the stock to wrap the string too, drill a hole  through behind the prod and glue in a thick dowel. The dowel needs to go into the stock left to right, same as the bow ( left to right ) and stick out either side an inch. Tie the 9 inch board to the dowel to hold the prod in place. This keeps it in place without screws and helps back it where the screws were. Your tiller looks pretty good.

[BowSlayer]

thanks for the advice sleek. ill definitly look into changing the design of this but i might also start over with a small 30" billit i have. i may rescue the bow form this and put it onto something but i think i'd rather focus on real bows insted of theese. 

[sleek]

Good idea. Be safe....

[Del the cat]

C'mon guys, there are some issues but we all started by messing with stuff.
I expect the draw weight is V low., so I'm not sure the safety glasses are actually an issue else we'd all be wearing 'em every time we drew a bow.
Every man is his own saftety officer.
Ok the trigger mechanism is nasty, but it's not far away from a workable primitive trigger.
IMO the reall safety issue is the fingers wrapped around the stock. If that does go off the string could rip off your finger nails .
I'll post a lever trigger mechanism in a minute or so.
Del

[Del the cat]

I saw this trigger mechansim on a primitive Xbow made by a great bloke called Bob at a primitive meet.
Hopefully it's self explanatory. Sort of similar to the mechansim on my primitive Xbow, and sort of related to the the clothes peg contraption!
Del

[BowSlayer]

i get the idea, you push the lever and that pushes the string. cool idea.