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

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5 posters

    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!!

    huntsmanlance
    huntsmanlance
    Fresh Blood

    Doesn't mean
    I'm new to crossbows


    Fresh Blood Doesn't meanI'm new to crossbows


    Posts : 30
    Join date : 2010-10-13
    Age : 57
    Location : Moore, OK

    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Empty Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!!

    Post by huntsmanlance Tue May 03, 2011 12:32 pm

    Hello, i have been a member for awhile but havent posted before. I have been doing medieval archery for quite awhile but recently decided to try out crossbows. I am in the SCA...ive noticed quite a few other members are also. I am in the Barony of Namron in Ansteorra.
    When i decided to make a crossbow i looked around everywhere i could find to understand what to do and how to do it....and the learning process was "fun" with all of the mistakes! Laughing
    Here is a picture of the bow i came up with

    http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2662931700105385144uVcQBR?vhost=good-times

    http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2395534290105385144TzcgQP?vhost=good-times

    The bow has around 150# draw....i dont know how to get an accurate measurement but i used a barnett fiberglass prod and set it at their draw weight length. The stock is red oak and bocote and has a simple lever release. When i was making the bow i tried to design it so it would take away as many of the variables as possible....like groves for my thumb and fingers where i grip it, a cut in where my cheek rest against the stock so i am holding it the same everytime i shoot. The piece that holds the bolt is rounded on the bottom and has a stop for my 11/32" bolts so the bolt cant move after loaded and stops it from going past the string.
    I also took the bolts and played with the lengths and weights for 20, 30 and 40 yards so i was aiming right under the bullseye instead of useing one standard bolt and having to aim at the dirt or way above the targets at 20 and 40 : ) It was a real pain in the arse! but has really raised my scores in only a very short time.
    Now after i have built this one i have started thinking about the next....and how can i make it even better? I would definately like to use a metal prod but have seen and heard of problems with a good maker. ( i have seen some post about a certain seller and im pretty sure it is the same person! ) I just didnt know who to trust that sells them.
    I am wondering about the clap locks but from what i have read the roller nuts are better but i didnt go with a rollar because you have to set them each time before you load and we have speed rounds and i need all the speed i can get! LOL
    What i dotn know but was thinking about was couldnt you put a positive stop so that the nut wouldnt be able to travel far past the release and use a spring to make it go back into the locked position after shooting???

    Lastly....and im sorry for the long post! but where can i get good parts in the future...prod, rolling nuts, clap locks and such?

    Thanks all and i look forward to talking to you all in the future!!!
    Lance
    mac
    mac
    Master Weaponsmith
    Master Weaponsmith


    Posts : 561
    Join date : 2010-12-23
    Location : Near Philly USA

    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Empty Re: Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!!

    Post by mac Tue May 03, 2011 3:56 pm

    Huntsman,

    With a bit of practice, you can get pretty fast resetting your nut. The trick to keep your thumb on top of the nut while you shoot, and reset the nut while you are watching the bolt fly. Without taking your eyes off the bolt, you can reset the nut while you are taking the tiller from your cheek to the spanning position. In a few hundred shots this will seem natural and become a fluid motion.

    Mac
    huntsmanlance
    huntsmanlance
    Fresh Blood

    Doesn't mean
    I'm new to crossbows


    Fresh Blood Doesn't meanI'm new to crossbows


    Posts : 30
    Join date : 2010-10-13
    Age : 57
    Location : Moore, OK

    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Empty Re: Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!!

    Post by huntsmanlance Tue May 03, 2011 4:55 pm

    Thanks for the help Mac....ive never used a roller nut so have noooo idea about how to use them. After more reading on the forums i now understand why you need a strong though light weight material for a smooth shooting roller nut.

    Ohhh and you make some gorgeous armor!!!
    mac
    mac
    Master Weaponsmith
    Master Weaponsmith


    Posts : 561
    Join date : 2010-12-23
    Location : Near Philly USA

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    Post by mac Tue May 03, 2011 5:00 pm

    huntsmanlance wrote:
    Ohhh and you make some gorgeous armor!!!

    Thank you!

    Mac
    Todd the archer
    Todd the archer
    Crossbow Junkie

    I live here!


    Crossbow JunkieI live here!


    Posts : 581
    Join date : 2010-02-25
    Age : 61
    Location : sellersville,pa.

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    Post by Todd the archer Tue May 03, 2011 6:54 pm

    Yeah metal prods seem hard to get at least in a timely manner. Here is a soure for affordable fiberglass prods. They are listed as 150 pound prods but the one I got scales at 120 pounds with a 10" power stroke or 13" draw length.

    https://ssl.zoovy.com/topgearleathers/c=moYIXQR20BvV8rd2jIRl86zV4/s=crossbows2u.com/product/C495-518/Fiber-Glass-Limb-for-150-Lbs-Crossbow-Prod-Bow--Free-String.html

    I don't have any experience with a claplock release but I do make my own roller nuts from wood (walnut) that are 1 1/2" in diameter and 1 3/8"-1 1/2" wide.

    Todd
    huntsmanlance
    huntsmanlance
    Fresh Blood

    Doesn't mean
    I'm new to crossbows


    Fresh Blood Doesn't meanI'm new to crossbows


    Posts : 30
    Join date : 2010-10-13
    Age : 57
    Location : Moore, OK

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    Post by huntsmanlance Tue May 03, 2011 11:01 pm

    Thanks for the link Todd, that is certainly better than the price i paid for the barnett replacement prod! You said that you have one so what do you think of the quality? and how do you measure the poundage?
    Basilisk120
    Basilisk120
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    Post by Basilisk120 Tue May 03, 2011 11:04 pm

    Howdy and welcome to the forum.
    Let see for prods and parts there is Alchem Inc http://www.alcheminc.com/
    The Link is also on the lower left side somewhere. Haven't bought anything from them so can't say how there stuff is other than it exists
    Also down there is Elk Ridge Archery. They do have Laminated prods for sale. I have one of there prods, picked it up at Estrella War a couple of years ago it wasn't cheap but it is nice and looks good. There are a couple of options.

    Todd, That looks like a sweet deal for a crossbow prod. of course that means I now have even less of a reason to work on some of the projects I have planned.
    Todd the archer
    Todd the archer
    Crossbow Junkie

    I live here!


    Crossbow JunkieI live here!


    Posts : 581
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    Post by Todd the archer Wed May 04, 2011 4:06 am

    Lance, the the fiberglass prod I refered to seems to be decent quality just overly optimistic about the draw weight. I use a spring scale that goes to 100 pounds. On prods over 100 pounds I pull down and measure the draw to 100 pound to figure the weight per inch of draw, then calculate the total draw in inches to come up with total draw weight. Not 100 percent accrurate but very close.

    I also have a prod from Elk Ridge Archery. A very nice prod, but considerably more exspensive. Mine performs well. They are designed for a longer power stroke (9"-12") and as a result are wider (34 1/2") than the imported prod (27").These measurements are tip to tip at brace.

    Metal prods may be more traditional but don't perform as well due to their heavier mass. Also this makes the crossbow front end heavy. not saying this bad just making an observation.

    Todd
    Ivo
    Ivo
    Admin
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    Post by Ivo Thu May 05, 2011 8:41 pm

    Hi,

    Didn't get a chance to welcome you proper, so I'll try to make up for it with a helpful tip. Smile

    Measuring the draw weight.

    If you have ever looked at the end of a crane, or if you have ever
    used an engine hoist or a come-along, or if you have ever looked at the
    rigging on a sailboat, then you have seen a block and tackle at work. A
    block and tackle is an arrangement of rope and pulleys that allows you
    to trade force for distance. In this edition of How Stuff Works we will look at how a block and tackle works, and also examine several other force-multiplying devices!

    Understanding the Block and Tackle

    Imagine that you have the arrangement of a 100 pound (45.4 kilogram) weight suspended from a rope, as shown below:
    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Bt1



    In the above figure, if you are going to suspend the weight
    in the air then you have to apply an upward force of 100 pounds to the
    rope. If the rope is 100 feet (30.5 meters) long and you want to lift
    the weight up 100 feet, you have to pull in 100 feet of rope to do it.
    This is simple and obvious.

    Now imagine that you add a pulley to the mix, as shown below:
    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Bt2



    Does this change anything? Not really. The only thing that
    changes is the direction of the force you have to apply to lift the
    weight. You still have to apply 100 pounds of force to keep the weight
    suspended, and you still have to reel in 100 feet of rope in order to
    lift the weight 100 feet.

    The following figure shows the arrangement after adding a second pulley:
    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Bt3



    ­This arrangement actually does change things in an important way.
    You can see that the weight is now suspended by two pulleys rather than
    one. That means the weight is split equally between the two pulleys, so
    each one holds only half the weight, or 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms). That
    means that if you want to hold the weight suspended in the air, you
    only have to apply 50 pounds of force (the ceiling exerts the other 50
    pounds of force on the other end of the rope). If you want to lift the
    weight 100 feet higher, then you have to reel in twice as much rope 0-
    200 feet of rope must be pulled in. This demonstrates a force-distance
    tradeoff. The force has been cut in half but the distance the rope must
    be pulled has doubled.

    The following diagram adds a third and fourth pulley to the arrangement:
    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Bt4



    Hello All....New here, pics of the crossbow i made and questions!!! Bt7
    In this diagram, the pulley attached to the weight actually consists of
    two separate pulleys on the same shaft, as shown on the right. This
    arrangement cuts the force in half and doubles the distance again. To
    hold the weight in the air you must apply only 25 pounds of force, but
    to lift the weight 100 feet higher in the air you must now reel in 400
    feet of rope.

    A block and tackle can contain as many pulleys as you like,
    although at some point the amount of friction in the pulley sha­fts
    begins to become a significant source of resistance.

    The method is quite simple and similar to the basic DW measurement taken off of a bow on a tillering board, but might require a bit of careful preparation not to have anything snap under pressure(we are talking about # over 100lb). So...Basically a strong tiller is to be fabricated to secure the prod > The bow is drawn by pulling a rope through a series of pulleys and the end reading is recoded off of the spring scale at the end of the rope.

    Since pulleys break down the total weight > the reading is then multiplied by the number of pulleys and you're set.

    Also...I would suggest mounting the prod on the top of the tiller rather than using a floor mounted loop to secure it. The problem I imagine is that with a floor mounted prod you will also be lifting the pulleys on top of the prod poundage and that will give an inaccurate reading...so... Prod up - Pulleys down. Smile

    I definitely got to make a video...or even a few videos and add them to the New Member links...Thanks for asking.

    Welcome to the group, enjoy your stay. Very Happy

    Ivo
    huntsmanlance
    huntsmanlance
    Fresh Blood

    Doesn't mean
    I'm new to crossbows


    Fresh Blood Doesn't meanI'm new to crossbows


    Posts : 30
    Join date : 2010-10-13
    Age : 57
    Location : Moore, OK

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    Post by huntsmanlance Mon May 09, 2011 10:40 pm

    Thank you for posting this Ivo! And nice to meet ya!

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