Hello everyone, I figured I would introduce myself. I am interested in building a crossbow (duh), a medieval-ish one. I have no archery experience to speak of, not since high-school gym class some thirty years ago. However, I am pretty handy.
Just so you know that I am unlikely to hurt myself or others I'll say a little about my tool using experience. After high-school I took a two year degree in Gunsmithing at Trinidad State Junior College. (It's a real school, not an online course, started in 1947 by P.O. Ackley, lots of NRA courses etc. ) I didn't end up working as a gunsmith, I went into house carpentry instead, which I did for 5 years. I've worked as a boatbuilder in Maine for the past 15 years, doing primarily wood and cold-molded construction but some glass and carbon-fiber. Boat-building is a varied occupation, you do a lot of everything. I've been blacksmithing, welding and knifemaking as a hobby for the past ten years.
ANYWAY...having said all that, I don't know the first thing, really, about archery, cross-wise or other-wise! I've read enough to have some probably amusing misapprehensions.
I'm thinking of a fairly primitive crossbow with a wood prod and the little notch and peg type trigger (I don't know what it's really called) not a rotating nut type. My biggest questions are about making and tillering the prod. I don't know what weight to shoot for, I guess a hundred pounds, nice round number .
I'll spend plenty of time reading up before I start peppering you guys with questions!
So, thanks for reading this long introduction, I hope to have fun here and learn a lot.
Just so you know that I am unlikely to hurt myself or others I'll say a little about my tool using experience. After high-school I took a two year degree in Gunsmithing at Trinidad State Junior College. (It's a real school, not an online course, started in 1947 by P.O. Ackley, lots of NRA courses etc. ) I didn't end up working as a gunsmith, I went into house carpentry instead, which I did for 5 years. I've worked as a boatbuilder in Maine for the past 15 years, doing primarily wood and cold-molded construction but some glass and carbon-fiber. Boat-building is a varied occupation, you do a lot of everything. I've been blacksmithing, welding and knifemaking as a hobby for the past ten years.
ANYWAY...having said all that, I don't know the first thing, really, about archery, cross-wise or other-wise! I've read enough to have some probably amusing misapprehensions.
I'm thinking of a fairly primitive crossbow with a wood prod and the little notch and peg type trigger (I don't know what it's really called) not a rotating nut type. My biggest questions are about making and tillering the prod. I don't know what weight to shoot for, I guess a hundred pounds, nice round number .
I'll spend plenty of time reading up before I start peppering you guys with questions!
So, thanks for reading this long introduction, I hope to have fun here and learn a lot.