Shooting down an idiot!

[Del the cat]

I just stumbled across this old video and I though it might tickle you guys.
On an archery forum back in 2013 someone asked if spine was important when sourcing material for crossbow bolts.
I said no, as there is no sideways force to flex the bolt. Some know-it-all bawled me out for giving "dangerous advice" and said a bolt could buckle under the force.
So, I said I reckoned I could make a bolt out of paper that would shoot from my 50# @ ~6"bow pistol.
Was I right, did it work?
I've just put it up on Youtube:-
https://youtu.be/zPzYazBqa9Q
Del

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

And that's how you shut'em down, good work Del, lol.

[penderbender]

Haha that's awesome.  Cheers- Brendan

[Buffalogobbler]

Very cool Del!
It's shocking to find out that an internet know-it-all really doe's not know it all.
Keep up the good fight!

Kevin

[Outbackbob48]

Del, Atta boy

[JW_Halverson]

Perfect for hunting paper tigers.

[agd68]

I don't want to sound stupid given Del just shot a notebook from a crossbow but would wood be safe to shoot from a crossbow ?

[Zuma]

Del, I am sorry because I can't watch videos but as you must
know most hunting cross bows are 155 lbs plus.
Do you really think you could make a oragomy bolt to function
as a hunting weapon  with a stone or steel tip? I haven't tried it
but I would think a bolt of paper unless fashioned  with some glue
or like substance would waffle with a 100gr tip and 200 lbs of force
behind it. As a tid bit, why would you call someone an Idiot because
they have a difference of opinion?
Thanks Zuma

[Del the cat]

Del, I am sorry because I can't watch videos but as you must
know most hunting cross bows are 155 lbs plus.
Do you really think you could make a oragomy bolt to function
as a hunting weapon  with a stone or steel tip? I haven't tried it
but I would think a bolt of paper unless fashioned  with some glue
or like substance would waffle with a 100gr tip and 200 lbs of force
behind it. As a tid bit, why would you call someone an Idiot because
they have a difference of opinion?
Thanks Zuma

You are missing the point.
There was a question on a forum* from someone who wanted to use commercial (not wooden) arrow shaft to make crossbow bolts.
He asked if spine was important...
I said no, it isn't.
I was then attacked as giving "dangerous advice" and lectured about a load of physics that wasn't really appropriate when discussing a crossbow bolt (e.g Euler buckling, which is more relevant to structural columns)
The guy wouldn't listen to reasoned discussion, so I said I though the demonstration with a paper bolt would show if Euler buckling was a relevant factor.
I fully realise that the bow pistol isn't a full weight crossbow and I'm NOT suggesting that bolts be made of paper.
It was simply an experiment to discover if Euler buckling was relevant, and I think it demonstarted it admirably.
I called the bloke an idiot because:-
a) He would not argue in a logical manner answering points methodically.
b) He would not commit to agreeing the experiment was fair or relevant.
c) He would not comment at all on the results of the experiment.
In other words, he wouldn't put his money where his mouth was.
Over my working life I have met some people who are overqualified to the point of uselessness. The have all the theory and maths but no actual understanding of how or when to apply it.
Having effectively called me out, he wouldn't then stand up and complete the job. I'm quite happy to be called out and if I'm wrong I man up and admit it. The truth of a matter is what is important to me not scoring points, but to call someone out then run is IMO pretty pathetic and worthy of being called an idiot or worse.
Del
*Just for the record, the forum involved was Archery Interchange UK, which has a usefule "ignore" feature which allows you to put in the name of a user whose posts will then not be shown on your screen. Needless to say the guy in question made the ignore list.

[Del the cat]

I don't want to sound stupid given Del just shot a notebook from a crossbow but would wood be safe to shoot from a crossbow ?

Wood is safe to shoot from a crossbow... or at least it was in the middle ages when they had crossbows with draw weights in excess of half a ton!
C'mon you can make aeroplanes and ships out of wood!... Well you can make almost anything as long as it doesn't involve too high a temperature! (So the wooden space rocket isn't going to happen soon )
Yes the bolt needs matching to the bow, but more in mass than in terms of spine.
Of course it would be possible to construct an unsafe bolt out of any material if it is made thin enough.
I've shot 11/32" diameter wooden bolts from a 250# draw weight crossbow, you can see the crossbow here:- 
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/9196
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/9255
Del

[Zuma]

Thanks for the clarity Del. I do need to get a satellite connection and
join the living. So much is done via video. I have made wooden crossbow bolts
with stone tips. They work ok if you compensate for drift. Pretty stout .5 inch dia. oak.
I should try them in the crossbow I made from a cairrage leaf spring. It doesn't have
near the oomph of my comercial one.

Zuma

[Marc St Louis]

I used wood bolts for the sinew backed HHB crossbow I made and wrote about several years ago, it pulled well over 100#.  The bolts weighed 500 grains and it was shooting about 170 fps.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

In the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) we only use wooden bolts in our target crossbows and some of them are quite heavy indeed. In fact when one of the handbow archers breaks an arrow it's not uncommon to find a crossbowman inspecting it for potential re-purposing, lol.

[loon]

And since they are shorter, stiffness matters even less...