Hello everyone i live in a small village in Northumberland in the UK i have had an unhealthy interest in all things crossbow since i was a lad i own an old Barnett Wildcat from the 70s and i have a homemade with a shaped leaf spring as a power source it shoots reasonably well but i still have lots to learn.Thorn'
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by stuckinthemud1 Fri Aug 11, 2023 1:04 pm
» Cocking - how
by stuckinthemud1 Thu Aug 03, 2023 4:24 am
» Questions around heavy crossbow lath buildin
by stuckinthemud1 Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:10 am
» Arab Crossbow
by stuckinthemud1 Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:57 am
» prod angle, and lever trigger for sale anyone?
by stuckinthemud1 Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:54 am
» flexible string
by jasper1978 Mon Mar 20, 2023 1:25 am
» [solved]Skane/Lillohus crossbow thread
by stuckinthemud1 Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:44 am
» jens sensfelder
by jasper1978 Wed Mar 08, 2023 11:58 pm
» 400lb Windlass crossbow bolts weight and accuracy shooting high.
by stuckinthemud1 Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:53 pm
» Codex Löffelholz crossbow
by stuckinthemud1 Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:14 pm
» Digitar prodsc
by stuckinthemud1 Sun Jan 15, 2023 2:42 pm
» Troubleshooting
by Andy. Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:29 pm
» Wood Prods
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:47 pm
» Colletiere a Charavines crossbow
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Dec 30, 2022 8:54 am
» Simplified Löffelhotz speedloader
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:05 pm
» Fiberglass H-bows
by c sitas Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:44 am
» Bad Antler
by drawknife Sat Nov 12, 2022 3:48 am
» Anyone make their own bolts?
by Juniper Mon Oct 17, 2022 8:20 am
» Josef alm in English
by Juniper Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:22 am
» Qin/Han lock drawings
by kenh Fri Sep 23, 2022 8:16 pm
» stirrup dimensions?
by stuckinthemud1 Thu Sep 01, 2022 1:49 pm
» Skane/Lillohus lockbow information needed
by stuckinthemud1 Sun Aug 14, 2022 6:23 am
» need help contacting le musee Dauphinois Grenoble
by stuckinthemud1 Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:22 pm
» Low Draw Weight Build
by stuckinthemud1 Fri Aug 12, 2022 3:09 pm
» Trigger testing Rig/Jig?
by ora8i Fri Aug 12, 2022 1:13 pm
4 posters
new to this site
thornwarbler- Fresh Blood
Doesn't mean
I'm new to crossbows - Posts : 8
Join date : 2012-03-16
Location : Northumberland England
- Post n°1
new to this site
basileus- Crossbow Building Wiki
Founder & Curator - Posts : 86
Join date : 2010-06-18
- Post n°2
Re: new to this site
Hi Thom,
You might enjoy this article if you want to tune your leaf spring crossbow to the max. These too might be of some interest to you:
Basileus
You might enjoy this article if you want to tune your leaf spring crossbow to the max. These too might be of some interest to you:
- Plan for a simple leaf spring prod
- Making a steel prod from a leaf spring
Basileus
stoneagebowyer- Crossbow Junkie
I live here!
- Posts : 490
Join date : 2011-01-12
- Post n°3
Re: new to this site
Welcome aboard, Thorn.
Dane
Dane
Michael- Techno Weeny
Lets put a laser on it!!!
- Posts : 52
Join date : 2010-09-29
Age : 72
Location : Oak Creek. Wisconsin
Hey Thorn Welcome to the site Now if you like crossbows you found the home / house of crossbows Modern > Medieval. Making a Prod (bow) from an old auto leaf spring works? I made one many years ago when I was still a kid?! Be careful as this way is very dangerous. It can and will ruin your whole day. Have funfore you are with a group of great guys all willing to help. Take care now. Mike
basileus- Crossbow Building Wiki
Founder & Curator - Posts : 86
Join date : 2010-06-18
- Post n°5
Re: new to this site
Michael wrote:Hey Thorn Welcome to the site Now if you like crossbows you found the home / house of crossbows Modern > Medieval. Making a Prod (bow) from an old auto leaf spring works? I made one many years ago when I was still a kid?! Be careful as this way is very dangerous. It can and will ruin your whole day. Have funfore you are with a group of great guys all willing to help. Take care now. Mike
I used leaf springs for crossbow prods exclusively until I started experimenting with wooden bowmaking a few years back. The leaf spring leaves I use are new, not used. Now, I would argue that a properly heat-treated and designed steel prod is not any more dangerous than any other prod that stores the equal amounts of energy. I think the reason for the bad reputation of leaf spring prods is twofold:
- They're easy to make without knowing much/anything about bowmaking and due to this they've been almost always designed badly
- They store large amount of energy
Bad design combined with high energy storage is a good recipe for a disaster.
Now, there are several things to remember when making a safe and efficient steel prods:
- Ensure there are no weak points (e.g. the hole in the middle, look here for ideas)
- The width taper is proper, so that all parts of the bow bear equal load (look here)
- The steel is heat-treated so that the prod bends before breaking (look here)
- Draw length is increased slowly to see if the prod gains "set" (=bends without returning to it's original form)
- The areas around the width tapering cuts are ground or filed cold, so that the softened areas are removed
That said, used leaf springs are usually rusty to the extent they have small pits all over their surface. These obviously reduce the integrity of the bow somewhat. However, unlike with wooden bows, this is not critical. It will hold together just fine.
That said, you experiment with any bows and prods at your own risk

Basileus
thornwarbler- Fresh Blood
Doesn't mean
I'm new to crossbows - Posts : 8
Join date : 2012-03-16
Location : Northumberland England
- Post n°6
thanks guys
i've learned more in your welcome posts than i ever knew thanks alot. Thorn
basileus- Crossbow Building Wiki
Founder & Curator - Posts : 86
Join date : 2010-06-18
- Post n°7
Re: new to this site
thornwarbler wrote:i've learned more in your welcome posts than i ever knew thanks alot. Thorn
Glad to be of assistance!