Cross bow

[wood_bandit99]

My most hated weapon is the cross bow. I cringe every time I hear the word. Unfortunately, I know a guy that wants one. He wants it to shoot decently fast(probably wont hunt with it) so my questions are how much weight should it pull at what draw length? How long should it be? What wood should I make it out of? ( I don't want to spend much as I am not getting anything out of the trade. I want to build something quality but don't want to use good staves or anything worth something. Maybe a board??) thanks

[Joec123able]

Forget it. You can't make wooden crossbow prods they can't hold up to being stuck at full draw and will take tons of set being held at full draw. A wooden cross bow prod wouldn't last long at all you're going to have to use steel as a crossbow prod

[toomanyknots]

Forget it. You can't make wooden crossbow prods they can't hold up to being stuck at full draw and will take tons of set being held at full draw. A wooden cross bow prod wouldn't last long at all you're going to have to use steel as a crossbow prod

I've seen a bunch of primitive cross bows with wooden prods posted on here?

Edit: Here's an awesome one with a wooden prod, made by Del the cat: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=28795.0

Here's another cool one with a wooden prod: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=37130.0

[huisme]

I've seen it and done it, though mine was terrible and broke because I couldn't tiller to save my life at the time. I can be of no help, but I can tell you it's possible.

[Joec123able]

Forget it. You can't make wooden crossbow prods they can't hold up to being stuck at full draw and will take tons of set being held at full draw. A wooden cross bow prod wouldn't last long at all you're going to have to use steel as a crossbow prod

I've seen a bunch of primitive cross bows with wooden prods posted on here?

Edit: Here's an awesome one with a wooden prod, made by Del the cat: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=28795.0

Here's another cool one with a wooden prod: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=37130.0

Yea I've made a few wood crossbow prods my self they wear out to quick

[Ifrit617]

Del's crossbow is still going strong as far as I know. Maybe yours were just underbuilt or tillered poorly? I have personally built one out of maple backed Osage that pulls 70 pounds at 10" and has a 30" prod. It has shot tthousands of bolts and is still going strong.

Jon

[KellyG]

I think Boo would be a good choice for such a thing, but really don't know.

[Joec123able]

Del's crossbow is still going strong as far as I know. Maybe yours were just underbuilt or tillered poorly? I have personally built one out of maple backed Osage that pulls 70 pounds at 10" and has a 30" prod. It has shot tthousands of bolts and is still going strong.

Jon

You're probably right

[sleek]

Lets think about this for a second ( without me knowing anything ). I see folks with modern cross bows walking the woods with them cocked back at full draw for hours. Modern materials allow this. With a wooden bow, on a hunt, I would imagine that you wont do that or else the prod would break or take set. So Just cock it back when you see your pray approach. For a non hunting situation, I dont think it will remain cocked for longer than it takes to get the sites on target. So set wont be a problem there. Just use the bow differently. Simple. Right?

[Del the cat]

Del's crossbow is still going strong as far as I know. Maybe yours were just underbuilt or tillered poorly? I have personally built one out of maple backed Osage that pulls 70 pounds at 10" and has a 30" prod. It has shot tthousands of bolts and is still going strong.

Jon

You're probably right

Yup, but it doesn't get a lot of use.
The problem with a wooden prod (and Xbows in general) is the short draw length. You end up needing a high poundage to get a decent fast bolt from it.
Of course the temptation is to go longer on the prod to get a longer draw and then you end up with something that looks silly and loses the advantage of a small compact weapon.
I'd suggest going as long as you feel looks sensible and use a deflex or deflex reflex design to maximise the length pf power stroke.
A backing or binding of some sort for safety is a good idea. The thought of a prod exploding at eye level isn't fun.
I keep meaning to experiment with a laminated prod, maybe Boo Yew, as it's a good way to use up off cuts... but like the rest of you guys... too many projects, too little time
Del

[toomanyknots]

The best backing for a wooden cross bow I would think is gonna be sinew, and preferably reflexed when applied I would think. Sinew is resilient as heck and can be hot boxed back into reflex, etc. Speaking of that, has anyone ever read of the use of sinew on traditional cross bows? I read in some book I had out from the library, definitely can't remember which one, but I remember reading in this book that the cross bows used around the times of the hundred years war were actually backed with "tendon" as the book called it, (probably cattle tendon I guess). Which seems funny, but also makes perfect sense. Hide glue is strong stuff, probably strong enough to stick to metal. Can anybody validate this?

[BOWMAN53]

i think i might give this a try, i had a piece of yew that just broke and is now to short for a bow but would make a good prod, ill sinew back it as well for safety

[toomanyknots]

One quote:

"It is likely that the crossbow used by the Normans in the conquest of England, had a stout bow of solid wood."

Source (and also some cool info on composite prods being used on cross bows):

http://books.google.com/books?id=wXVPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA62&dq=tendon+crossbow&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1x0zUorPJu_I4APc9oBw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=tendon%20crossbow&f=false

[missilemaster]

I personally wouldn't go with a wood prod. Even if its sinew backed, theres a ton of compression force on the belly side, not to say it cant be done, as we have seen. I built a crossbow a while back with a steel prod, 300# @ 12 ".  I would recomend doing the same. Try to get leaf springs from an oldr vehicle.

[bubby]

check this out http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36504.msg481123.html#msg481123