Central European Crossbow, just starting

First topic message reminder :







Hi, gang. Here are a few pictures of my latest project. The tiller is being constructed by laminating two 1.5" maple planks together. So far, I have the tiller profile roughly cut out, the nut socket is drilled into each side, the tickler channel is chiseled out, and the nut binding holes and tickler pivot pin hole is drilled. Next step is to laminate the tiller and begin shaping.

I don't expect this project to take nearly as long as the first crossbow I built. I am expecting this to be in shooting form by early, early spring, if not sooner. Maple is one of my favorite hardwoods, and I expect this tiller with all the nice curves of a Central European bow to be easy on the eye. I have a 190# prod set aside for this weapon.

More photos soon enough. Comments are welcome.

Another exciting expisode!

For those reading this thread, thanks. For those reading this thread and saying yuck, thanks for not saying anything.

Here are a few more photos. The tiller is much closer now, and less lopsided. The binding hole is almost bored all the way though, and I will finish that next time. My drilling setup would give a real machinist the fits no doubt. You may notice the nose of this tiller is a bit long, but I thought it would be nice looking design-wise. The "muzzle"end of the tiller is also cut to its basic length, and next step there is to make the prod socket.

And so it goes. This project had been a lot of fun thus far, and I expect it will continue to be fun.

stoneagebowyer wrote:Thanks Ivo. One of the biggest challenges if finding the time to get into the shop. The S.O. (wife) sometimes views regular life as more important than the good stuff. But once a project gets to a certain point, it seems to take on a velocity of it's own, as this project has....

*Velocity*...haha, I like that!

Looks great, and the curl is really starting to show! I can tell this is going to be a pride and joy.

Again, Best of Luck!

PS:

stoneagebowyer wrote:And dont forget, you dont get to see the failures and mistakes I make all the time, too.

Haha! So you are a member too, huh?

Why..My favorite club - "Staying out of trouble, or just not getting caught?"

Yes, I am a member, perhaps a charter member. Remind me to tell you about the time I had a book of paper matches and a full can of gasoline sometime.

I didn't expect any curl, so that is just a little added something from the crossbow gods.

Dane

Last night, I did some work on the quarrel rest, as well as layed out the location of the prod socket. Working with bone is not my favorite activity, but it seemed to go along nicely. I still have a lot of work to do to the dovetail slot the rest will slide in and out of, and I need to get this step done so I can begin thinking of fitting the bone table surface pieces. This rest is kind of big and chuncky.

Dane

I did a bit more work today. Basically, I made the prod socket, the binding block, and finished the dovetail groove for the quarrel rest. i am NOT happy with that part, and am wondering how to fix the issues I have created. More on that soon. Here are some pics.

Dane

A few more shots. I'm beginning to lay out the bone scales that will cover the table. I've only rough trimmed them thus far.

Dane

Everything is looking great. And the complex stuff is starting to set in, doing a great job there too!

I did a bit more work today. Basically, I made the prod socket, the
binding block, and finished the dovetail groove for the quarrel rest. i
am NOT happy with that part, and am wondering how to fix the issues I
have created. More on that soon. Here are some pics.

Which part are you talking about not coming out as expected? Is it the dove tail for the bolt rest insert?

It seems to be very similar to what firearm guys do to install front sights, by using a template/jig.



I try to make/use as many jigs as I can when I do stuff(probably why it takes me so long to do a project), but that way you are guaranteed a good fit and repeatability of the process when the creativity bug bites again.

If it's not that part, then speak your mind and we'll brain storm it all together with the guys.

Actually - "Not sharing the bitter bits" is my biggest mistake, I also make alot of mistakes and keep them to me' self, when really I probably would have created a base for many good contributions a lot more and a lot faster to the forum and my own progress by simply saying what is.

As my good friend says - "Saying what is - without compromise."

Ivo

PS:

[Edit] I think I see now what you're talking about. The prod socket seems
not deep enough, but you already cut the dovetail for the sight and
making the socket deeper could run pretty close to the dovetail -
weakening the stock in that area? [Edit]

Yeah, the dovetail for the quarrel rest. It is actually a matter of my being lazy and not going out and getting a decent triangular file, or not being able to find my old one. I will just pick up a new one this coming week. I have enough other things to do.

Thanks though for the offer to troubleshoot the issue. Very cool of you.

I dont think the intergity of the area will be impacted by deepening or widening the dovetail at all, so that is one less thing to worry about.

A wise old man once said to me "repeatability is fine, young feller, but one of a kind is priceless."

Finally, a few photos as I start filing on the tickler to get it all nice and smooth and ready for bluing.

Just as I expected. I picked up the correct file this morning, and the dovetail slot is in good shape. I am thinking of making the quarrel rest from some sort of pretty hardwood, maybe degame (lemonwood), osage, cherry, bacote or even lignum vitae. That wood worked fine in Merlin's staff, and maybe the magic can help me hit my targets .

Here is the slot. Not perfect, but acceptible to me considering how I felt the other day. Dane

Last bit that is on my mind. This clears the way to start gluing on the bone table surface. I was going to pre-drill holes for #18 brass escutcheon pins, a look I like, although I am not sure how or if these are evident in historic bows. Instead, I'll glue down the surface bone, then drill and tap in the pins, as I will want to spend some time filing and sanding the bone surface and not worry about the pin heads getting in the way. Hopefully, I can start this step today, as well as work on the tickler. The sturrip blank is waiting for me, and I will want both of those ready to blue at the same time. I like hot browning finished such as you see on plains rifles, but the bluing looks nice and contrasty against the various wood and bone tones. Dane

"I was going to pre-drill holes for #18 brass escutcheon pins, a look I
like, although I am not sure how or if these are evident in historic
bows."
I have seen a fair number of Germanic bows with pins holding bone-top bits in place. They tend to be rather larger than no. 18 pins, but in principle, you're on solid ground... and yeah, they look real nice.
Geezer.

Thanks for the message. I appreciate it.

Dane

I am going to knock off for the night, but I completed a few very important steps.

My big concern was that with the bone plating, the top surface of the crossbow would be too high, and thus interfere with the operation of the nut. In other words, the bolt would be riding too high and the notch in the nut would have to be so high, the little horns (or whatever you call them) would be insufficient. I am not sure I am putting that correctly, but in any case, I had two options; 1, sand down the bone to half their thickness, or work down the top of the tiller.

That seemed the most logical approach, and easiest, so in to the vice went Mr. Tiller, and out came Mr. Farrier's Rasp, with cabinet scraper as Wing Man. If you havent used a good, sharp cabinet scraper, you have no idea what an amazing tool it is.

I was pleased with how quickly and easily this went overall. I tested the flatness of the table top by placing bone pieces on top and eyed the edges, and my worklamp helped in seeing light peeking between the bone scales and the wood. I still have bits of touching up to do, but now I am trimming each bone piece, and making sure the joints between the various pieces are completely straight.

Whew.

Dane

Well, the bone glueup has begun. I picked up a couple of cheap bicycle inner tubes and cut them into strips, and also used wooden handscrew clamps. I am not sure if this is the best way to do this job, but it seems to work with minimum stress or hassles. My biggest concern is making sure that they wooden surface is truly flat, so I don't end up having gaps between the tiller and the bone scales. Now that I have this started, the rest should go relatively quickly. The glue I am using is two-part epoxy. Dane

More gluing. After ensuring a good fit on the surface of the wood and between adjacent bone pieces, I used two-part epoxy and the inner tubes to glue on the next three pieces. The inner tubes are way more hassle-free than regular rubber bands, and their width makes it easier and faster. I just tie them on using a half knot, then wrap, then tuck under the nearest other inner tube.

Dane

Wicked!

I can easily see you doing something like this eventually...



Honestly I thought I'd be the first one to do a buildalong so nice...haha! You got balls man (...pardon my French)

Think it's time to have a talk about making a sight for this beast? *went to look for the topic*

Also...Hope you gots a few metal files handy, this thing will definitely need a curvy bolt clip.

Ivo

Thank you, man. I appreciate that.

Sights....bring 'em on. I am very open to the idea of a rear sight.

Here is a shot of the rawhide strapping I got from Black Bear Haversack Trading Post, a vendor Mac suggested. Great price and fast delivery.

And, here is a bit of oddness. Last night I had a dream where I met the two main characters from the film Natural Born Killers. I showed the Woody Harrilson character the crossbow tiller in the same state it is in now, and he approved with an evil smile. I wonder what my shrink would say, provided I had a shrink?

Dane

The rest of the bone pieces are now glued on, and waiting to cure.

That raw hide looks pretty nice. It's a bit thicker than what I have been using, and that's all to the good.

Mac

Thanks about the rawhide, Mac. It was your source suggestions, after all, and a good call.

Here are some shots of the table surface as I work down the bone with rasps and files. I use a farrier's rasp a lot, and that really helps me hog off the extra bone. Cutting the scales closely to size before hand would save a bunch of work, of course.

I think these next two photos really put into focus how subtle and not so subtle errors can creep into your work. I actually didn't catch this at first, but after laying on the bone at the nose area, I could clearly see that one side of the tiller was not the same as the other. Lopsided, so to speak.

The first photo shows the pencil lines I drew to redefine the edges as seen from above, and the second one shows the new edges. Other issues are being corrected as I continue the work. I am leaving the area fore of the dovetail for now, and perhaps some sort of stylistic treatment can be done to give it a bit more panauche.

Dane

Nice... really nice!!!

I had a similar-and different project posted in the neighbor topic... That 'two half building' would be great for my 16-17 century crossbow(I used than many times making airsoft woodstocks).

Thanks, Flippy.

Okay, guys, here it is so far. Overall, I am pleased with the hours of rasping and filing and sanding. There are still a few areas that need to be addressed, but now comes my plea for help. In the areas where the glue line wasn't perfect, I had some crumbling of the bone, leaving some rough gaps. I am wondering how to address and repair this. I saved a bunch of bone dust, and can always make more if necessary. Would a mixture of dust and glue to fill in these gaps work? As in life, the mistakes and errors challenge us to learn.

Dane