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Crossbows - Everything about Building, Modding, and Using your Crossbow Gear

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» What you building?
by kenh Wed May 29, 2024 1:36 pm

» 12th Century Chinese Crossbow Chronographed
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Nov 24, 2023 3:50 pm

» Crossbow Stock
by kenh Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:19 am

» Colletiere a Charavines continuing experiment
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» Cocking - how
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» Questions around heavy crossbow lath buildin
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» Arab Crossbow
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» prod angle, and lever trigger for sale anyone?
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» flexible string
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» [solved]Skane/Lillohus crossbow thread
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» jens sensfelder
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» 400lb Windlass crossbow bolts weight and accuracy shooting high.
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» Codex Löffelholz crossbow
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» Digitar prodsc
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» Troubleshooting
by Andy. Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:29 pm

» Wood Prods
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:47 pm

» Colletiere a Charavines crossbow
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» Simplified Löffelhotz speedloader
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:05 pm

» Fiberglass H-bows
by c sitas Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:44 am

» Bad Antler
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» Anyone make their own bolts?
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» Josef alm in English
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» Qin/Han lock drawings
by kenh Fri Sep 23, 2022 8:16 pm

» stirrup dimensions?
by stuckinthemud1 Thu Sep 01, 2022 1:49 pm

» Skane/Lillohus lockbow information needed
by stuckinthemud1 Sun Aug 14, 2022 6:23 am


4 posters

    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows

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    • Post n°1

    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Empty Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows

    Post by stuckinthemud1 Fri Aug 09, 2019 2:11 am

    OK, so I am in need of a new project (in an effort to avoid building a composite bow- I am an excellent procrastinator) and would like to continue learning as much as I can about early wooden crossbows.  Just this week I stumbled over the term knottelarmbruste along with an entry that states most of the 'normal' bows of the 'country districts' were simple, cheap, and of yew (De Re Militari ).  There is also the likelihood that the Berkhamstead bow was sinewed and it seems reasonable that a goodly proportion of these yew bows would also have been sinewed.  I know of only 4 wooden bows - the Glasgow, Berkhamstead and Alcazar crossbows, four if you include the Colletiere a Charavines bow, is anyone able to point me in the direction of any other examples?
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    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Empty Re: Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows

    Post by OrienM Sat Aug 10, 2019 10:19 am

    There's the Skane, or Lillohus castle bow:
    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows 16d30e4294b37dc101d7c5b9dc87a65a

    Late 19th cent. Norwegian bow, used for killing whales:
    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Attachment

    I suspect the Berkhamstead bow might have been sinew-backed; I'm pretty confident the others were not. They are in decent condition, so if they were backed originally I would expect some remnant of the backing to still be visible.
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Sat Aug 10, 2019 2:29 pm

    Thanks Orien, I'd forgotten the Lillohus bow, I'd love to build one of those with a yew prod to the dimensions given. My limited experience with yew suggests the power achieved in some reconstructions might be far too low.

    If the bows still have sapwood I feel they were not sinewed but my theory is that if they are only heartwood then they must have been backed.
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Sat Aug 10, 2019 2:56 pm

    Another I forgot,  the  Livrustkammaren in Stockholm, Sweden , a full on wood and sinew gothic crossbow with painted birchbark finish. Its the last image on the page.

    http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7516&page=5&pp=30
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    Post by OrienM Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:04 pm

    stuckinthemud1 wrote:Another I forgot,  the  Livrustkammaren in Stockholm, Sweden , a full on wood and sinew gothic crossbow with painted birchbark finish. Its the last image on the page.

    http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7516&page=5&pp=30
     
    My favorite wood/sinew prod! I posted a pic of this one recently on the 'Yew Composite Prod, help needed' thread. I think it's a particularly nice example of a wooden composite prod, and in near-shootable condition, too. That vikingsword.com thread is a gold mine of great crossbow pics... Very Happy
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    Post by banuvatt Sat Aug 10, 2019 9:34 pm

    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Skane-11
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Sun Aug 11, 2019 7:30 am

    Hey Banuvatt,
    That drawing is so cool, just one small detail, if you angle the release peg a few degrees to align with the arc the tickler moves through, the release is much smoother.
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    Post by OrienM Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:50 am

    I made a tiny "skane" crossbow awhile back, with a little sinew-backed ash prod. It pulls about 50#, and is lots of fun to shoot. Agreed about the peg; it should be perpendicular to the tickler, not to the face of the tiller.

    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Lil_cr10
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    Post by banuvatt Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:19 pm

    I am trying to build a crossbow for my friend but it's stock it's more contemporary shaped like a rifle I thought about either doing a roller nut or a modified version of the skane lock's trigger mechanism. 
    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Plannotch
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:42 am

    No reason that wouldnt work very nicely, but if you produce a drawing with the tickler at the bottom of its travel you will see why the pin needs to be angled slightly
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    Post by banuvatt Mon Aug 12, 2019 9:01 am

    Is it true that a roller nut is more efficient because it always maintains contact with the butt of the bolt, while a skane lock some of it's energy is wasted slamming the end of the bolt?
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    Post by Geezer Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:14 am

    In a word, yes, assuming the nut doesn't weigh too much and rolls easily.  Geezer.
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    Post by banuvatt Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:23 am

    The bow I was going to use is rather light 32-36 lbs. Originally it was around 50 lbs but I had to remove weight because it was too stiff where the limbs were and was only bending in the center. For the nut I was going to use 1" delrin rod or a hardwood dowel if I couldn't get access to delrin.
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    Post by banuvatt Mon Aug 12, 2019 11:59 am

    This is a crossbow from Tod's workshop.
     Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows 12th_13thC_crossbow_1_grande.
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:34 pm

    He did another version of that one with self nocks not horn that looks a lot better. I think he said it pulls 150lb
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    • Post n°16

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    Post by banuvatt Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:47 pm

    Can you find a picture?
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    Post by stuckinthemud1 Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:01 pm

    Yes, but, I am not happy with the shape of the tiller as a 12th century design, perhaps others with more experience will correct me, but the only manuscript I can find with this shape stock is dated 1440, the 13th century manuscripts shown throughout the Viking Sword pages show a slender and heavily rounded over tiller shape   http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7516&page=4&pp=30


    Knottelarmbrüste or other wooden crossbows Imgp7523_121466219909082677182
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