crossbow #3, pistol #1

This is the plan drawing for a simple pistol crossbow I came up with:



and this is the build so far, a weekend project from a couple of weeks ago that got put on hold because the 1" black delrin rod I ordered from Amazon still hasn't shipped yet. I substituted a walnut nut which has done ok for some initial test firing.



It's a steel prod, well, two of them sandwiched together, currently, and the stock is cut from a single piece of Red Cumaru. Strange wood, that. Worked OK for this piece, though. I still have to make the bolt retainer and fancy trigger guard, and of course the nut whenever I get the Delrin rod (or a lathe, whichever comes first)

For being a weekend piece it definitely looks good and looks like a fun shooter.

That looks great same prod i have for my current build. Love how you put the two prods on top of each other, was it hard to get the plastic end on? How does it shoot any idea on how many pounds the draw is?

neerit

The draw weight is pretty high, very hard for me to draw just with my hands, but the power stroke is a little shorter than it could be, I think. I didn't have any specs on using this prod and didn't want to overstress things. It was a little tricky getting both ends in the plastic tips, but the plastic seems forgiving so far. That bit of it was an experiment just to see if it would work, my plan is to cut down a couple of these prods for a real leaf spring effect, I think that would give it more snap. I'd like to replace the plastic tips with something nicer, bone or antler or something. So I still have some work to do, but I'm at the stage where I know it will be worth it, having fired it the first few times yesterday.

Really sharp little weapon. I was thinking, a fatter bow string will make it easier on your hands to draw the bow. You do loose some efficiency, though. I just strung and was testing that 200# crossbow, and I managed to hand span it with a very heavy string I made from linen. I don't think I could have with a thinner string.

Dane

Gnome this is very tidy, I love the idea of cutting down and leaf springing 2 of these prods together.

How do you find the trigger pull? This is very similar to the trigger I am thinking of running in my next pistol build. Is it a little stiff with the 2 prods together?

The release pull probably is a bit stiff, but I'm kinda used to that. Since this was meant to be a quick build in order for me to get some experience with the prod, I kept the trigger mech simple. My next pistol will probably be a more modern design with a more efficient trigger. I also plan to make my own strings, as I don't think the provided ones will stand up long to the abuse I have in mind!

Been wanting to get to this topic for a while now...really tired, but it's now or never, because I'll be dead asleep in a few minutes.

Great looking pistola', Gnome. ...and a Doubled-Up prod>...haha, you're a sneaky guy.

I've done same exact thing, only with with the bigger prods (no way of cheating with the tips there, haha!)...also had the idea of making a compound with those prods...but first about the tips...those things break and they don't tell you in the manual how to prevent it (I mean why would they? ...how would they sell replacements?)...basically what you do is squeeze a little silicone caulk into the tip, put it on the prod, and wipe of the excess.

Now to the doubled up prods...stacking is an old trick, but you can take it a little further and actually make a compound using the V shape of the prods stacked like a mirror image...think I'll get some old pictures out.







See what I'm getting at? Anyway, don't know if you like the idea of compounds or not, but thought I'd drop by and leave some fun project ideas on top of the "Job well done!"

Any thoughts about puting a little spanning lever or some other spanner on this guy?

And as always...love the hardware and the sketches! What app do you use, looks very nice and crisp.

Ivo

I'm a printer and graphic artist by trade, I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, mostly. I used to dabble in 3D imaging, I'd like to get back into that sometime. I like compounds, one of my favorite toys is my old left-handed Browning wood and composite compound bow, I've been putting holes in things with that for over 20 years. Sooner or later I'm bound to do a compound crossbow. I go through kinda manic design phases ranging from "elegant simplicity" to "wouldn't a bottle opener be handy right there?" Cams and pulleys and extra cables pop up a lot in that latter phase.

I've got a design in the works right now that would put these steel prods over and under the bolt track with a pin between the tips to hold the string end on a rotating cylinder, conversion to a compound setup wouldn't be too many steps beyond that, if I can get that prod setup figured out.

Oh, and I do have some ideas for a cocking lever, I've worked out the geometry but I'm still working to slather on some "cool factor."