Continuing my crossbow obsession over here...I wanted to show my first attempt at a fullsized, forged prod. Unfortunately it was a bit of a semi-failure. I underestimated the thickness I'd need, used 1/4" thick stock and ended up with about a 90# draw weight. In an effort to boost it back up I added a set of saw-steel leaf springs...this sort of worked, and the finished prod appears to pull about 200# with a 6" powerstroke. I was hoping for around 300#, but 200 is adequate...if the cast seems reasonable I will likely build an xbow around this thing.
Pix:
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The forged part (front bow) is made of 5160 leaf spring, with rolled nocks, and is about 22" wide across the string. Tip rise is 1/2", and the prod is slightly under 1/4 thick by 1 3/8" wide at the center, and 3/16" x 7/8" just behind the tips. The triple layer of sawblade steel in back boosts the thickness at center up to around 1/2".
The extra leaves and steel clamps creak like crazy but do look kind of cool, I think. All in all this was good practice, and I'll know better what to do next time (use 3/8" or 1/2" stock, for starters!)
Comments, questions and advice all welcome; thanks for looking!
-Orien