My homemade flemish crossbow

Some technical data: 
Total length (with stirrup): 85 cm 
Length of stock: 75 cm
Total weigth: 3,3 kg
Weigth of goatsfoot: 0.9 kg
Steel bow parameters: 
Length of string: 64 cm
Width in the center: 35 mm
Width near its ends: 23 mm
Thickness in the center: 8 mm
Thickness near its ends: 5 mm
Draw length: 17 cm
Draw force: approx 120 kg

Feel free to rate, comment and ask questions )

It looks very good, and the background feels just right.  Nice work!  Geezer.

Maximum range: 175 meters with 65 gram bolts

Thanks Geezer )

Nicely done!

Looks great, can you tell me what is the draw weight?

Manuel Salazar
Guadalajara

Manuel -- It's in the first post ---  He called it "Draw Force" and estimates it at 120 kg or about 250#.

Hi again! I am thinking of making a natural horn nut for my crossbow, to replace black Delrin one ) I dont care much of the type of horn, whether it will be historical anthler or moose or buffalo... The problem is that my nut is quite big and should be like 42 mm (1,65'') diameter. It also is fixed on the steel rod that takes all the force of the bow.  I searched a bit in the Web but didnt find such thick horn or bone material. Question: can anyone help me? Where i can obtain it?
Thx for your attencion!

...by the way I tried the Moscow Hide and Fur, but they don't receive orders from outside USA (

Very nice work! Question, is the width of the nut the same as the stock? I thought of doing something similar but wasn't sure if it would work.  I'm a complete newbie when it comes to carpentry of this caliber so I'm trying to figure out the easiest yet still quality way to build one.  
Excellent job on the prod and string.  Heck the whole crossbow looks great

Generally speaking, on medieval-style bows the roller-nut is NOT the same width as the stock.  With the Flemish type, it's only slightly narrower.  Ralph Payne Gallwey's original Flemish pattern had the nut only marginally narrower, being held in place by inlet lockplates about 1/16 in. thick. The fatter German style crossbows have a relatively narrower nut.. perhaps 2/3 the width of the stock at the lock.  By and large medieval nuts are about an inch to an inch and a quarter wide, and anywhere from 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter.  Again, it depends on bow type, place made and draw-weight.  The roller is usually made of antler.  Geezer.

Ahh thanks Geezer. Good info

Ralph Payne Gallwey's original Flemish pattern had the nut only marginally narrower, being held in place by inlet lockplates about 1/16 in. thick

Not quite... Gallwey writes the following: "The lock-plates, one on each side of the stock, are of steel, 1/8 inch thick". Mine are close to this value. 

So do the lock plates sit flush with the stock?

So do the lock plates sit flush with the stock?

Yes. I made the  recess on both sides of the stock by drilling a lot of holes in it, all being the same depth of course ) Later I just removed all the left wood and it was done ) I understand now that i could have made the lock plates more complex in their shape, making them more attractive. Like in Gallwey's example. But i wasnt sure if i could have done the recess that will replicate this complex form. Also, my version differs from Gallwey in the fact that my crossbow doesn't have an iron nor delrin nut socket. All the pressure on the nut (that isn't the draw weight of the bow as some might think, but much lesser) is therefore applied to nut's axis, that is fixed by lockplates. This construction is more simple, cuz you dont have to make a socket )

Excellent! I learn new things every day I come here!
thanks

No problem,  there aren't really a lot of people who are interested in medieval crossbows, so we must share our knowlegde to each other )

By the way the blackening is made by soaking iron parts in coca-cola for a week or so )

Hello Pilot, I have a question, and it concerns the color of your hardware. I've done my share of early black powder and mountain man reenactment . A lot of early times stuff was rusted. Therefore it looked redish . The rust was just polished down nice and fine ,and oiled . I finished all my guns this way.It was called browning. Now the question , what would have been done in medival times to treat the metal furniture. Not trying to be funny but, I know they didn't have coca cola. I was wondering what was the accepted way.

Well, when i finished this crossbow i became terrified with the rust problem. The stock, initially covered many times with only linseed oil, quickly became dirty. This is because the rust from metal parts was transported to the wood, as i touched both with my sweaty hands in hot weather ) so i decided to blacken the metal and covered the stock with modern yacht laquer. As for your question, i know only rumors of how they did it in medieval times. One of the best methods, and that is really perfectly working, was applied by my friend on his mail. You just cover metal with thin layer of linseed oil, then "bake" it in the oven for some time (dont remember exactly for how long). Temperature is 200 c if i remember correctly. This thing starts to smell awfully during the process, but when i saw and touched his mail, it seemed like some modern pro blackening.

Another one is soaking in vinegar, that works almost the same as coca cola. But smells like **** ) hope it helped )

As long as We are discussing this can some one chime in on what the method was  for medival cross bows.How did they take care of the metal?

I dull all of my metal parts with a mix of bleach and vinegar.  Dip them in and they will start to rust IMMEDIATELY!  Rinse them well under running water.....repeat as needed....then rub down with petroleum jelly and wipe if off until you see no rust color on the paper towel...

To prevent rust.....I wipe down the metal parts with a mix of tallow and beeswax...

I am making a similar one, (the second one). I have many questions but for today only two. What do you use to pull the string?, cranequín?, windlass?, and the second one. what kind of yarn did you use for making the string?

Manuel Salazar
Guadalajara

I use the so called gafa, or goat's foot lever. It can be seen on the photos of my crossbow, although I can post more detailed pictures of it. My steel bow has 120-130 kg draw weight, and I have to apply 15-20 kg of force to the handle of gafa to cock the crossbow.  Although its quite a lot, the cocking with gafa is much quicker and more convenient than with windlass or cranequin. The latter are used for heavier bows, like 200-500 kg. 

The string is a "brownell b-50". It works excellent for me.  Historically, hemp or linen was used.  At first I tried that, but it kept stretching after 10-20 shots, and this happens to a lot of crossbowmakers. My opinion is that we miss some ancient technology of making a quality strings out of natural materials. 

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