Feeling uneducated

[madcrow]

I was digging aroung thru my grandparents old milking barn pulling out zebco reels of every size, some probably 50 years old and came across an old crossbow.  The limbs are steel and so is the cable.  Anyway, no bolts were to be found.  I am wanting to make wooden bolts.  I am guessing spining them is out of the question so are they just weight and length matched?

[ojibwatbowyer]

Lets see some pics of that badboy, sounds dangerous 

[half eye]

I made some for a 150# compound crossbow......from 3/8" dia. ash and a few from 3/8" dia. white oak and hornbeam. Ya need to know if it was made for "knocks", a flat butt, or slightly dimpled butt. Also measure from the string at full cock to the point where the arrow clears the end of the stock + 1" tops for length. The ones I made for Larry shot really well and behaved nicely. Never did spine them but they was stiff for sure. A hardwood shaft 3/8" dia. and 19/20 inches long should have no spine issues. 2 things though, the shafts were sawed from straight grain hardwood and turned round in a doweling jig, and I find that black walnut is too "whippy" to use for this application. hope that helps ya some, just my experience.
rich

[madcrow]

Thanks for the responses.  Its not quite a monster.  Here is a link to one i found on evilbay ( just for reference0 and already closed).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WOODEN-CROSSBOW-KIT-/220877755775?nma=true&si=lnwOF5jEqKycyKIGar3XCkalGsw%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 

[madcrow]

13 and a quarter inches from the front edge of the stock to the back of the trigger.  Not much of a monster though, my bow scale hit just fifty pounds at full draw.  Looks like knocks will be fine.  I shot an old aluminum arrow across the field expecting it to go maybe a couple hundred yards, but walked about 300 looking for it and never saw it.  Now, how long should I make the fletching for a 14 inch bolt?

[half eye]

Far as I know crossbow bolts had short fletch and a lot of times it was like a NA two fletch with the vanes laying flat to the stock. If the stock has a grove right down the centerline ya can use 3 fletch and put the cock feather down....ya can also orient them upwards as long as there is clearance at the front of the stock to do that. You may want to check into some heavy plastic kcocks (replacements for regular crossbow bolts) I believe that they do not "snap" on but are more like open self knocks.

I'd try something in the 3 to 3-1/2 inch range first and go from there
rich

[madcrow]

Thanks Rich.  It is completely open on top like the one in the pic and does have the groove down the middle.  I may play around some today if I get time.

[turtle]

I made some bolts for a friend that had a kit crossbow that looked almost identical to the one on ebay. I was going to go 3/8 diameter but had to go down to 5/16 to get the bolt to fit between the metal uprights that hold the string back. Also had to cut thr fletching real low to keep it from holding up the back of the shaft as the groove for the fletching was real shallow. Bow wasnt very high poundage and they shot well.

[madcrow]

I cut some 5/16" dowels yesterday.  I will just adjust the self knocks a little with some sandpaper.

[crooketarrow]

  When I was a kid I had one that the bow was alu.with a stell cable. We shot all kinds of home made bolts. We found out though grandady dog wood was stiff and heavy. And it was we did worry about getting them to straight. But I don't remember one ever breaking.