First-ever crossbow, trying a pin and lever lock

I've been unable to find a resource that tells me how the prods should be canted (to figure out where the bowstring would be, if it needs to be angled lower than one would with a nut).
Can anyone help? I'm a perfect amateur at crossbow-making.

Geezer here, concerning prod angle and pushpin locks.  It really depends on prod shape and how how you're mounting it.  If you use one of the standard metal prods thru Alchem, Slowbows or Darkwood Armory, I recommending setting the top of the prod about 3/8 (9mm) below the top of the stock and either mounting it square (no forward pitch)or at most @ 5 degree forward pitch.  That should get you a tiny bit of down-pressure on the string. It doesn't really matter much whether you use a push-pin/notch lock or a roller lock. A tiny bit of down-pressure on the string will cost a little power, but it makes your bow quieter, and will reduce the chance of string- hop over the bolt's butt at release.  Of course mounting a string-snubber over the lock will also help greatly, but that's another question entirely.  Have fun stormin' da castle. Geezer.

Thank you very much! That was extremely helpful.
I'm going to attempt to make my own wooden prods, since the goal I set out with was "use as much of this oak tree I've cut down as Possible", we'll see how that turns out.

Hello Seckshun;   I'll pass an experience I just had with my first  push pin lock. I cut the front edge, " that's the edge that holds the string" at a perfect 90 degrees.I made the cut exactly 1/2" deep. Shot it twice. The third time I cocked it I was just setting the arrow  down. It went off by itself. This is only about a 100 pd. bow.To fix this ,I just filed the notch so that the bottom of the cut moved more forward. In other words the notch now has a very slight hook to the rear on it. I have over fifty shots on it now  and no problems.It doesn't take any more trigger pressure to fire either.I'll tell you one thing for sure --- never get careless or trust anything mechanical.I have had first run trails go bad before, it never ceases to scare the hell out of me. Just pay close attention.

Yes, cutting a little bit of a hollow to hold the string on a notch-bow is a good idea. Too much hollow will indeed increase your trigger-pull substantially, but a tiny bit of hollow, smoothed out well should give you increased security with no appreciable increase in trigger-pull.

Geezer; You know ,I'm thinking that even though I thought I had a perfect cut on that notch it wasn't. I made a tempoary catch for the string and watched it creep up and finally go off. Just one of those things, and like I said---always be on guard and careful. And  for the new fellows=--- never trust a safety.

The first crossbow i built had a hole nd peg style trigger and it went off by itself very often, the bow had a draw weight of 125 pounds and despite this it was a little bit hard to shoot, i had to really grip the trigger, not that much but still, what poundage will your crossbow have?

Onager; Mine has about the same pull weight as you mention.I cured my dryfire by cutting the slant or hollow as mention above. Since I done that , I've had no more troubles, BUT I am not stupid enough to trust it totally.For that matter, I NEVER trust any bow or gun period.

hey c sitas, i try to treat my crossbow with respect, but some times i just shoot it like it was a toy, i feel like some day i will loose my fingers x, anyway, have you shot your crossbow often? and is there any wear on the notch for the string?.

Onager; I have about 200 shots on this bow. So far no troubles. The serving is jusy barely starting to fray,but for me that's no problem . I can make a new one in about 30 minutes. The staock and pin look as though they have never been used yet. I'm sure that will change soon also.I can say , that I like a regular metal trigger better though. The long travel is not really helping my accuracy.I'm jumpy when it comes to long pull triggers.I been cocking this bow with a whippie and I love it compared to a winch.