My Medieval Arbalist project

First topic message reminder :

It's pretty quiet around here. Time to throw some fat in the fire. Some of these are basic but it would have been helpful to have seen some like this when I first started 'lurking'...

With all of the junk and tools I have I do not own a propane torch, so I made this little 'quickie' mini-forge that utilizes charcoal briquets and injected air from my compressor... worked fine to form the tickler!



Here is where I am with it as of now. The string groove is not going to be made in the nut until I receive the string to see what the diameter is first. Going to have to do the carving on the tiller before binding the prod to it. ...Thinking now on maybe carving a dragon.







[EDIT] Discussion on fabricating a roll-nut block assembly >>> Link











Noticed the photo of the nut block sitting on the tiller is "bas-ackwards"

Tinker

Okay Tinker, let's relax and not take ourselves so seriously. A good friend of mine once said that it is impossible to see the other writer's eyes. And that is what is fundamentally wrong with the 'net.

Please be assured that you have not offended me and if I have somehow offended you, then I am sorry. But it is you who is asking the questions and I'm only trying to help you out.

If I were you I would simply take a piece of 2" x 4" and cut a fore-end exactly as shown on Alchem's 'site, or trace around the one you have already made from that beautiful piece of wood and then lash the prod to it as prescribed and see what it looks like. To tell you the truth I have never heard of anyone having the problem you describe and illustrate, but I cannot quite put my finger on what the solution might be from here.

Keep smiling,

Pavise

Keep the enthusiasm and keep the good stuff coming. Believe it or not I'm at such an early stage with medieval crossbow designs, I'm learning from a learner. I can talk modern crossbows all day long but I'm in kindergarten here.

Tinker wrote:Regerald; Would that only apply to a prod that was straight across tip to tip? Alchems prods have a 1/2" tip-rise. Would that make a difference to the angle you speak of?

This rule apply for prods with a tip-rise as well.. But as a "center" you have to mark a level of a string perpendicular to a prod surface. At list I understand it in this way.. Here one picture from a book:

In ideal case, string is slightly touching a track at any point of a draw length.

The nylon block release assembly appears to have no damage from the stop. Smooth as silk. This is a 100# prod.













Thanks again to everyone who helped... Tinker

OOOH Shiny That is one spectacular looking crossbow. Hopefully it shoots as well as it looks.

You may have answered this earlier but are you using a wippe to Cock the bow?

Well now Tinker, that is one fine piece of workmanship and a lovely crossbow you have made. I decided to back off for a few days and see whether you would resolve the issue you had with the prod angle and it appears as though it all worked out okay.

I am also a master firearms instructor and examiner and every so often I get a student or two who will read far too much into what is being taught. I have even had police officers, soldiers and other "experienced" participants disagree with the teaching manuals and who rewrite the text and or the questions, only to then get the answer wrong during their test. These are what we instructors call "Techno-weenys" and if they would only pull their necks in a bit they would find that things can be easier all round.

Pavise

"The reward in having anything comes best when shared with others."

Haha!

"Hit-you-in-the-face" stands up to it's name and looks fantastic while at it!

Great time...beautiful crossbow...but what about the prod? did you fix it? I assume you did, since it's all tied down neatly, so just checking.

Great build, now all you need is some bolts for it.

PS: I'm a "techno-weeny" at times, but turning the tables is easy....In my case it was the "Principals of eccentric cam operation"... very difficult to put into words, yet sooooo much easier to build a few props and observe what
happens.

You may have answered this earlier but are you using a wippe to Cock the bow?

Actually, when I shot it yesterday I found myself using the old, "Two thumb grunt and push system"! I read somewhere that a man could hand cock up to about 140#
... 100# is plenty for me Baby

I decided to back off for a few days and see whether you would resolve the issue you had with the prod angle and it appears as though it all worked out okay.

On Monday I spoke with Jim Koch at ALCHEM. He explained that the prods sometimes warp slightly when heat-treating, therefore they may vary in the mounting angle. (A VERY helpful and pleasant gentleman I might add) Therefore, the suggestion to make a 2x4 mock-up prior to starting on the actual stock would be a wise decision. As it worked out here a 90 degree mounting puts the slightest string pressure on the table.
By the way; The more you disclose of yourself, the more we have in common ('been there-done that') ....Except I am probably old enough to be your Grandfather! Want your Gorilla hug now or later?

... now all you need is some bolts for it.

I was going to shoot that thing come hell or high water. It was gnawing on me to see if the release was going to survive or self-destruct so I was not going to let the lack of a bolt hold me up. I dug up a 3/8" hickory ramrod from the muzzle loader junk-pile and proceeded to construct a 342 grain projectile with a maple fin and a .38 caliber casing for a blunt tip. (We used to use them on arrows when I was kid) The fourth shot at my pistol range back stop at about 20 yards went clear through the 1/2" chipboard. When the bolt was retrieved I figured the fins would be gone, but they were not even dinged. The bolt found an area that had been shot up with .38 wad-cutters and bored its way through.... Going out today and build a wicked medieval harpoon for the shaft as a display.
On the 'to do' list is to get a fletching tool ordered. Thinking Grayling with the bolt adapter; but not certain if it should be ordered with straight, right or left fletch. Sure like to find some 3/8" shafting but don't see any. Ideas?
BTW, LOVE the new Icons

Tinker

'Except I am probably old enough to be your Grandfather!'

And that would make you about 140 years old and you would also know twice as much as me.

Pavise

"Better to be a has-been than a never-was."

Tinker wrote:
I was going to shoot that thing come hell or high water. It was gnawing on me to see if the release was going to survive or self-destruct so I was not going to let the lack of a bolt hold me up. I dug up a 3/8" hickory ramrod from the muzzle loader junk-pile and proceeded to construct a 342 grain projectile with a maple fin and a .38 caliber casing for a blunt tip. (We used to use them on arrows when I was kid) The fourth shot at my pistol range back stop at about 20 yards went clear through the 1/2" chipboard. When the bolt was retrieved I figured the fins would be gone, but they were not even dinged. The bolt found an area that had been shot up with .38 wad-cutters and bored its way through.... Going out today and build a wicked medieval harpoon for the shaft as a display.
On the 'to do' list is to get a fletching tool ordered. Thinking Grayling with the bolt adapter; but not certain if it should be ordered with straight, right or left fletch. Sure like to find some 3/8" shafting but don't see any. Ideas?
BTW, LOVE the new Icons

Clever idea with the .38 brass for blunts. I was thinking of trying something similiar for a particular project. I was just going to use 11/32" shaft for that. There isn't that much difference a little glue on the outside edge to make a smooth transition. But you could always get some 3/8 dowels. I was thinking of getting some nice hard would dowels to make some bolts out of, some thing that would match the new crossbow.

As for the fletching jig, I think that a straight clamp would be the most adaptable. You can always put a slight angled offset to the fletching with it if you need to.

You can actually order all kinds of archery tools, building materials, shafts, etc. all in one place online >>> http://www.3riversarchery.com/

BTW, There is a good read on Thecrossbowmanden.com that touches the subject of shaft vs. track vs. string >>> TheCrossbowmansDen: Track Dimensions

The bright light from the flash really makes the hair (tiger-stripe) on it's back really stand up...


Tinker

I'd be interested to learn how the nock end of your wooden bolt stands up Tinker. And are you going to put a bolt clip on that crossbow or just rely on a snug fit between the nut claws?

Pavise

Pavise wrote:I'd be interested to learn how the nock end of your wooden bolt stands up Tinker. And are you going to put a bolt clip on that crossbow or just rely on a snug fit between the nut claws?

Pavise

At this point, I think a bolt clip would be an annoyance. My intention was to 'flat sides' the 23/64" shafts as I allowed the groove in the nut claw to be narrower for that purpose. Figure I will fabricate some sort of jig to make both sides uniform and consistent bolt to bolt. As far as to how the wooden bolt butt will stand up, "I have no idea". (I do know however that a drop of 'Hot Stuff' cyanoacrilate will permeate end grain and make it tuff-as-hell. That was what the maple fins had been soaked with that shot through the backstop with no damage)
The hickory shaft I made the bolt I was shooting from does not seem to show any butt-battering and it was uncoated, but of course it isn't cedar. I am going to get an order off for 'bolt-makins' as soon as I get confirmation on the Grayling fletching jigs abilities. [Grayling GOP160]

Tinker

I have a whole bunch of Port Orford cedar 11/32" select shafts that I bought years ago for my longbow arrows and I intend to make some more crossbow bolts/arrows/quarrels from them. I have previously hardened the ends by scorching and have made fletchings from wooden craft sticks cut accordingly, and from thin chrome tanned leather splits or horse-hide. These are glued into shallow grooves cut to exact length and depth in my milling machine jig. The latter can also be done with the aid of a Dremel tool rig made for the job.

I've also been thinking about pressure treating wooden shafts with resin etc., in order to make them more rigid and suitable for heavier weight prods. A lot of the wood and lumber we get these days has not lived long enough or under harsh enough conditions to provide what was available to the "bolters" and arrowsmiths of old. The late Robin Allen used to make some beautiful wooden bolts that were tapered and then fletched with leather and fitted with his cast bronze bodkins. But then he used to make a lot of beautiful things in that Den of his.

Pavise

The vanes were thru-installed by cutting through the shaft with a slitting saw, then 'Hot-glued' with cyanoacrilate. I'm sure that is why the bloody thing shot through the backboard with no damage. (I have a small Palmgren milling attachment I can use on my lathe for limited milling operations)
A trick of the muzzle-loaders is to fill a tube with coal oil (kerosene) and soak the rod, submerged, for a couple months. Doing so makes the rod more tenacious. Might be an idea with a bolt, except it would most probably prevent any kind of a glue bond being made on it. Might make one hell of a fire arrow...

How's the crossbow project going?

Moon wrote:How's the crossbow project going?

....Morphed into an Excalibur Matrix 355