CROSSBOW

C E. Crossbows

This project I made from inspiration I got from various sites. I try to explain

with few words but with many pictures because I think it´s the best way

to learn. So whatever you read will be explained by looking at the photos.

Have a great time and feel free to mail questions I will try to answer the best I know how.

Old crossbow

This is how I make/build an old looking crossbow.

There are many different styles and models of crossbows, almost from all over the world. It's nice to make a replica but I make my own example.

I make my crossbows to suite me and what I think looks nice. I try to make them look old and medieval.

Tools

I prefer to work with hand tools, the only machine I use is a power drill.

My tool of choice is an axe and a set of knives, chisels, a couple of different saws, a set of files, wood rasps and sandpaper in all sizes.

I have a bench where I can clamp the work piece down.

Tiller

I start of with the tiller that should be made of some kind of hard wood like oak, ash or sherry. I work with birch in this example.

I work with fresh timber because it's easy to carve in, dry wood becomes to hard for hand tools.

I start of with a log approximately one meter long and fifteen cm in diameter. I make a squared beam by using an axe and a double handed knife. When that is done it's easier to design and work on the crossbows tiller.

This is going to be an example of an Italian Arbalest from 15th century.

I draw down my design on the beam and follow the lines with my axe and carving knife, I saw the pointy bits out. When I am satisfied I clamp the tiller down in the bench and continue with a rasp and different files. As the work goes on I loosen the tiller and look at it from all angles so everything is straight and even.

Finally I smooth the tiller down with sandpaper of medium grit.

Prodsocket and bindinghole

I make a socket about one centimetre deep in the front of the tiller, this is where the prod will fit. I saw it out and file the bottom flat so the prod will lay steady in it's place.

Then I make a bindinghole with a ten millimetre drill bit. I file it down to a half-moon shape with the flat side to the front. I make the hole about ten centimetre from the front and in the middle of the tiller.

This system is called bound in prod.

Tickler and nut

I use a notch lock system that I have modified to a simple style. It's a steel tickler that is locked in a deep drilled hole in the belly of the tiller.

The tickler presses up a piston of hard wood and makes the skein jump out of it's socket. The socket should be deep enough so the crossbow can be fired safely.

I use an old tinted piece of roundbar or a squared piece of steel for the tickler. I drill a hole at the end of the tickler that should be inside the tiller. I lock the tickler in place with a screw.

I have drilled the piston hole with a ten millimetre drill and I try to make the piston so it fits tightly in the hole. The stringsocket is filled down with the piston in place.

Prod and skein

My strongest prods are not attached to their tillers because a crossbow with ten joules or more in power, demands a license in my country.

I use fibre glass for my prods, it can be a round or a flat piece that is about seventy centimetre. I mask the strong colours with something that locks old and medieval like straps of leather or rope. I have also made prods in steel, aluminium and even the tip of a cross-country ski.

The skein must be in a strong material because it takes so much beating. I use linen or waxed nylon cord.

I make an eye in both end of the string, as shown in the blue pictures. Then I wrap thin waxed cord around the centre of the string, that will protect the string from fraying.

Arrow guide

fingerspring and arrows

I saw and file out a guide on the upper flat shelf on the tiller, this is to hold the arrow in centre and to guide it straight. I make a channel in the middle and straight from the stringsocket to the front of the tiller.

The fingerspring hold the arrows backend so the arrow lay still when the crossbow is aimed high, and will not fall of if I lower it. I use sheet metal that I saw or cut out with a pair of pliers and file and sand it smooth. I bend it a little like a spoon and attach it with two screws.

There are many variations of quarrels, arrows, I make mine of flower sticks that I cut in thirty centimetre length, using pre glued plastic film to make the fens. I glue pieces against each other over the backend of the quarrel and trim it with a pair of scissors. To make the tip heavy I use pieces of copper pipes that I glue on with a tip of, in this case, glass fibre.

Waxe

Now when all the pieces are fabricated I make the tiller look like it's old and medieval with antique wax.

The tiller has to be dry and that can take a couple of weeks.

I sand with fine paper to make the tiller smooth and nice, then I apply wax. On this tiller I use dark oak wax but if it's made of a beautiful wood, like sherry, I use non coloured.

Bound in prod

I let the string be on the prod when I test it in the socket, the socket should be flat, it can so be that I have to file it a bit more so the prod will fit.

The skein should press lightly across the top of the tiller. When the prod fits and sits straight I remove the skein and begin tying.

I mark out the centre and then place the prod into the socket. I put a little piece of leather into the socket that will act as a shock absorber.

I use about fifteen metre hemp cord to bind with. I begin to tie one end to the tickler and thread the other end through the bindinghole, then I go around the bow and bindingblock back to the hole and trough to the other side, and do the same again and again without slacking the cord. When the prod is tightly secured I tie the ends together.

The next step will make the binding much tighter. On each side I seizing the bunch of hemp cord into one tight bundle. For the seizing I sometimes use other cords to make a contrast.

Finally the stirrup that I place on to the bindingblock and tie it with a strong cord. I tie around the stirrup and the prod.

The finished crossbow

At a safe place I can test my crossbow.

I put my foot in the stirrup and the backend of the tiller on my chest, I draw with booth hands the skein and place it in the socket over the nut.

I place a quarrel on the table and squeeze in the backend under the fingerspring, aim and fire...