Latest build

Hi everyone, iv not been around here for a while, to much going on, just finished this bow up ready to ship. its the same style as the others, except i haven't bound on the prod, the steel wedge system, i found much better and obviously east to take apart.  This bow is made from kiaat and is 250lb at 8in.
It also has a longer tickler, giving a really smooth< easy pull.

" />

" />

" />

Nice looking work!  Is the Masai logo and text engraved?

Kenh thanks, the steel is etched, i used a very strong solution of salt water and a car battery, i used a vinyl stencil to mask off what i didnt want etched.

Again very nice work!

Todd

Very nice. What is the top wood, ebony? Where is the roller nut?
Gnome

Thanks guys, i just cant get enough of building these xbows, gnome, i give all my steel parts an acid bath, a weak mix of hydrochloric acid, i find it takes file and grinding marks out and gives the paint a nice surface to bind to, the nut was having one of those bathes at the time of taking the photos.

Absolutely beautiful!  

Top notch build, very impressive!!!

jds6

I'd like to see that steel roller nut, please. There's been a lot of discussion of the use of metal for these parts and I'd really like to see how yours works for you.
Gnome

nice finish work and details:D

Nice lines. Elegant!

Thanks guys, I do think that it might be time to build one that's closer to an original tho, may be along the lines of a maxamilion bow

That is amazing, Archer... just beautiful. Loving the metal work, which, we don't do here. 
If you want to do a Maximilian, I can send you the "outline" that we use, if you like. We gable ours, front and rear, as close as we can get to the original. It is a really beautiful bow, and I imagine, yours will be even more beautiful, if this bow is any indication.

Can't wait to see more!

Best;
Lightly

Lightly thank you, i have spent a lot of time looking at your and geezers bows, the are very inspirational and beautiful. I would really appreciate it , if you would send me you out line, the lines are great, this one i think will be for me, to go with my 400lb bow. 

Gnome sorry i forgot to answer you question, the deck is african black wood, dalbergia  melanoxalon, please dont take the spelling as correct, it is very hard and hard to come by these days, the nut is made from d2 tool steel, but mild steel will work just fine.

" />

Just incase anyone is interested in the numbers , speed is not everything, but it is always nice to no.


" />" />

Very nice work AA!

Really like to watch your progress with your crossbows and I am personally very glad the prods are working out so fine.


I for myself would consider in making the stirrup a bit lighter, I have encountered a drastic improvement in handling when reducing weight at the head of the crossbow.

This one looks pretty heavy in combination with the wedges.

Needless to say, the stirrup should be appropiate to the bows draw weight, so if you consider making a future one lighter it should not bend when spanning^^

Greetings Rizzar

Hi Rizzar, yes i agree with you, i never designed it to be so big, but there must have been a problem with the laser cutter or the software, but thats how i got it. I love the prod designs, particularly the 250 lb , im alway trying to get the most out of them, the 6mm lift i build into the tips has made a large difference.    One thing i want to try, is to duplicate them in fiberglass, with a carbon backing, one thing i havent worked out is, if i make a 6mm thick fiberglass prod will it draw more or less than the steel one and would it be able to have a longer draw length, maybe you or evo can help, or anyone. Bear in mind it will be an exact copy of the steel prod.

I am not really into fiberglass, but I would suggest it would have a much longer draw length (lower elastic modulus).

I  have no clue on the maximum tension so I would not estimate force needed to draw.


Everything depends on the fibres.
My dream project for the future is to make a composite similar all glass fibre roving bow which should be due its diameter very powerful.

I can get some .5mm fiberglass and my idea is to laminate them in a mold to form the shape of the bow, without having to work with wet glass fiber, il have to experiment with it and see what happens, the glass is the same stuff the bow builders use and might do the trick, and hopefully with some paint still look period and with better performance.

When laminating low profile layers into a mold I do not have any Ideas how to calculate anything.
You must remind yourself, that every layer has an own prestress (in german bowbuilding scene there is the word perry-reflex) which can either way improve power or disturb draw length to breakage.
I would start trying it without deflex. Youll probably loose some speed from its original geomtetric, but since the power draw should be longer than in steel the higher brace stress could get along better with your used tiller design.
I guess there are not many layers of glass in the vertical direction in the material you get??
Btw I think you won´t get along without working with glue wetted glass.


As you mentioned in Lightlys thread -since I didn´t want to abuse that one for techno discussions- here my opinions about a claplock:
Especially for your concerns, producing and selling crossbows for actual hunting purposes a claplock in its behavior should be superior to a rolling nut mechanism.

In history the rolling nut was almost completely abandoned after the claplock was developed.
It is easier to construct and has speed benefits a rolling nut never reaches (no mass that has to be revolved).
Most of the load has to be taken by the front tiller, not the mechanics so it will in every case be more convenient to trigger.
And a "wippe" mechanism is much easier to build than a gafa or cranequin.

I am considering a claplock for the next moths cause -though It is not my favored time period- I am very curious about it.

Rizzar

Rizzar the glass I can get is made by bear paw, it unidirectional , what I want to do is glue the layers together in a mold the same way a modern long bow is made, just without the wood, IV bee thinking alot about the clap lock and have done some test where I drew a bow to lock off center, when placing a bolt on the crossbow I left it abot 10mm from the string, I have found the the consistancy of arrow flight improved, and this is how a clap lock works , as for construction it is much Easier to build, I didn't like the idea of the string slamming into the bolt but mo I find it better

You can bring the bolt as close to the string as possible.

If you leave lets say .5mm to the string rest it would do its work in preventing the bolt slide too far into the string rest causing failure.

I know what you mean with laminating it together, possibly the .5 strength glass will not bring prestress when forced into the mold, but I can not exclude it.
Only way is to test it. Unidirectional should work out fine.

Thanks Rizzar, il have to do some home work and see where it goes, il probably only start work on the mould early next year, but will post the progress