Original design drawings for the Horton crossbow. Making a crossbow with your own hands is not as difficult as it seems Show crossbows in full face

Are you interested in medieval culture? Do you want to get a fashionable accessory, impress your friends with an exclusive souvenir? Decided to give an unusual gift to a loved one? Then you can easily make a magnificent crossbow right at home! It is this type of sporting weapon that is now rapidly gaining popularity, and people are happy to purchase it for themselves as a souvenir, a catchy design element. Why do you need a bow, what to do with it? Here are just a few of the most common ways to use a crossbow.

  • An excellent solution is to use a crossbow on shooting ranges. Here is what an archery lover says: “You can arrange marksmanship competitions with friends, shoot at targets with pleasure, organize role-playing games. A bow will always come in handy for such a hobby, it will allow you to develop attentiveness, the ability to concentrate, and respond quickly.”
  • Nowadays, crossbows are increasingly used for hunting. It is enough to load an arrow into such a bow and shoot accurately to become the happy owner of a partridge, a hare.
  • Crossbows are also in demand as sporting weapons. There are professional athletes who regularly take part in competitions and constantly train. They also often make bows with their own hands.
  • The bow can be made the central detail of the interior. Designers note its versatility: “The crossbow looks amazing in any room. In the corridor, he has a particularly formidable look, meeting everyone who enters the house. In the hall, he emphasizes the solemnity, focuses on the character of the hosts. In the bedroom, the bow hints at a passionate relationship, the power of love. In the kitchen, a crossbow might well be hung next to a hunting painting of game.”
  • Increasingly, people are acquiring, making crossbows with their own hands to please their acquaintances, friends, colleagues with an unusual gift. Such a souvenir will be surprisingly original, will definitely come in handy and will evoke vivid emotions. It is especially appropriate to present a present to a man.

Now that you know how useful an onion is, how it can be used in many ways, it's time to familiarize yourself with the basic principles of its manufacture. How to make a crossbow at home, what you need to know so that it looks good, shoots well, can become a worthy weapon, souvenir and accessory? We'll find out very soon. The algorithm will help you, useful recommendations.

We make a crossbow with our own hands

You will need a good selection of wood. You can not take conifers, too old, dry branches. The crossbow consists of three main elements. It is necessary to make a high-quality trigger, stock and arc. Act strictly according to the algorithm, do not confuse the steps. You will succeed!

  • You need to make an arc. It is advisable to take yew, hazel or ash for her. The board should be flat, without slant and knots. Make a thickness of about 2 cm. A piece of wood must be dried, kept for several days, and then cut evenly. The length of the arc is approximately 75 cm, the width can be made about 4 cm, the arc should gradually become thinner towards the edges. Thickness from the edges - 1.5 cm.
  • Now you need to make a bed. For it, you will need hardwood, which is quite hard. Take a board of such a size and shape that it is convenient to hold it in your hands. Remember that from one edge you need to make a special groove where the arc will be inserted.
  • It's time to machine the groove for the arc. You need to make a hole for fastening from a rope at a distance of ten centimeters from the cut groove for the arc. Now insert the arc into the groove, and then fix it there with a rope. Now attach the bowstring to the ends of the arc using the cuts made for this. Stretch the string as you would while shooting. It is necessary to designate a point that is as far away as possible. Now determine the optimal size of the crossbow - it should be equal to your forearm in length.
  • A responsible task is the manufacture of the trigger for your bow. Previously, pin type locks were made. You will have to familiarize yourself with hallmarks such a mechanism. When you have already made a mark at the place of the maximum tension of the bowstring, you need to drill a hole through there. A transverse recess must be made in the box, in its upper part. Then fix the lever at the bottom of the crossbow. Most often, the axis is made of wood, and attached with wire.
  • Now the bed and the lever must be folded together. Fasten the elements with a rope. The lever should move on the axis with minimal friction.
  • Now you need to make a small pin, thanks to which the bowstring will be pushed out of the bow. The pin should be round, it is better to make it from oak. The pin will pass into the recess of the lock freely, without getting stuck due to the fastening. When the lever is raised, the plane of the bed and its upper edge should be equal. It is the pin that will push the bowstring.
  • For the arrow, you will need to make a special chute. The recess extends from the top opening of the lock to the leading edge. The gutter must be laid at a shallow depth, approximately like a quarter of an arrow.
  • Then it's time to work on the details. All elements must be walked with sandpaper. Sometimes parts are covered with egg white, after dissolving it in water.
  • Secure the arc in the groove using a strong rope. See if the lock works well. All elements must be finally adjusted so that the mechanism is as strong as possible.

A copy of an ancient crossbow is a very interesting thing, both in terms of appearance, and when shooting from it. Now let's talk about how to make a crossbow at home so that it really looks like ancient weapons. Nowadays there are many modern crossbows, but their cost is quite high, and I want to hang on the wall in the bedroom exactly the current copy of the ancient crossbow.

Now let's take a step-by-step look at what is needed to create a wooden crossbow. Few tools are needed.

  1. Well sharpened knife.
  2. Drill.
  3. Hacksaw for metal.

Material preparation, or How to make a crossbow out of wood

To make the product look and shoot like a real weapon, you need to make it from suitable wood:

  1. poplars.
  2. Ash.
  3. Pines.
  4. Oak.
  5. Maple.
  6. Acacias.

These trees are perfect.

The crossbow consists of two main parts - the bow and the stock. If we make weapons with a capacity of up to 20 kilograms, for a bow you need to find an even branch five centimeters thick and a meter long. If the power of the crossbow is planned to be more than 20 kilograms, then it is better to take a blank 10 centimeters thick and a meter long. For the crossbow bed, we select a branch with a diameter slightly thicker than the blank for the bow. If there are branches on the sawn material, in no case should they be completely cut off. You just need to shorten them so that the length is from three to five centimeters. If you cut off the knots completely, they will immediately crack, and the workpiece will be spoiled.

Drying of harvested wood

Before you make a crossbow with your own hands, you need to ensure that the material dries gradually. To do this, you need to cover the saw cuts with varnish so that moisture does not come out through them too quickly. Slices on knots are also covered. If this is not done, then due to rapid evaporation, the tree will crack, and this is undesirable. After that, the blanks should lie for a month in a dry and dark place. The longer the tree dries, the better.

Primary processing

The material is ready, we can proceed. Let's start with the bow. We examine the annual rings of the tree. Where they are thinner, the north side, that's what we need. In this place, the structure of the material is much denser. Now you need to cut the workpiece in half and take the north side for the product. After everything is done, the tree must be allowed to lie down for another week so that the remaining moisture comes out.

Making a crossbow bow

We start making a bow, during which we will see the structure of the tree and learn how to make a crossbow at home using ancient technologies. So, let's get started, you need to cut the layers of the tree, where its core is present. If you leave it, then there is a risk that longitudinal cracks will go. After we measure the middle of the onion and begin to cut off the excess material, making the onion. When processing, it is necessary to ensure that his shoulders are the same. We check for bending all the time. As soon as the shoulders begin to bend even a little, you need to make a trial bowstring.

A trial bowstring is a strong rope, on which there is one loop on one side, and several, located at different distances, on the other. They are needed in order to measure the bend of the bow limbs. The more material is cut off, the more they can be bent, while changing the loops to the nearest ones. By pulling the test string constantly, it is easy to track whether the bow is even after processing the bow. After all, if you look only visually, you can make a big mistake. The density of the tree is not the same in all places, so a seemingly perfect bow can bend unevenly. Sometimes it happens that a thick section is a weak point, and a thinner one, on the contrary, does not bend. In order not to make a mistake, you need to constantly check the bow. Only by studying all the nuances, you can make a working copy, understand how to make a crossbow with your own hands, and fully display the power and beauty of the ancient weapon.

Making a crossbow stock

In front of the bed, you need to cut a two-centimeter recess where the bow will be located. After we mark 30 cm from the edge, a bowstring and an arrow will walk on this surface. We level this plane if it has bends or branches. After you need to measure the place for the gutter 1 cm thick and 0.5 cm deep, then cut out the holes for the bow and the trigger. It is better to do this with a chisel or a carpenter's cutter, and in order to understand in detail how to make a crossbow, drawings to help.

Trigger mechanism

Take the simplest hold, called a nut. It is a cylinder that rotates freely on an axle. On the one hand, its hooks for the bowstring, on the other - an emphasis for the L-shaped trigger. If the crossbow is up to 30 kg of tightness, the descent can be wooden. However, if the power is greater, it should be made of metal.

Making a bowstring

You need to take a board and insert pegs 1 cm thick. They should protrude 3 cm. The field of which, from one to the other, we wind a nylon thread in a circle. When the thickness of all the threads is about 5 mm, it is necessary, without removing from the pegs, to wrap this skein around once in a circle so that all the threads are tightly wrapped. After that, near the peg, we collect two halves of the bowstring with our fingers and wrap it again, but already much denser, until the next peg. So, we get a bowstring with two loops. A diagram of how to make a crossbow will help you understand everything. Everything about her is very clear.

We collect the crossbow and pull the bowstring

First you need to attach a bow to the stock, then we mount the trigger mechanism, after that we pull the bowstring. You can’t just pull it, so you need to use the trial. Next, you need to pull the crossbow. When the bow is bent, we hang the bowstring. After that, the test is removed. Everything, the ancient weapon is ready. Here's how to make a crossbow at home using only the simplest tools.

Making a toy mini crossbow

For fun at home with the kids or for fooling around with friends, you can make a mini crossbow from improvised materials. What is needed for this:

  1. Two wooden skewers.
  2. Carpenter's cutter or knife.
  3. Scotch.
  4. Wooden clothespin.
  5. Bead.

Scheme, or How to make a mini crossbow from what can be easily found at home

  1. We take wooden skewers and cut off the sharp ends from them. After that, we tie them together at the edges. This will be the crossbow bow.
  2. We take a bead, mark two segments on it, equal to the length of the bow of our miniature weapon. After we cut off these two parts and connect them together with adhesive tape. This is the stock of a crossbow. Tape the bow on the front.
  3. After that, we pull the bowstring on the crossbow.
  4. We delay it and look at what distance to set the hook. They will serve as a clothespin, or rather, its spring and one half of the wooden part.
  5. On the bed of the crossbow we cut out the necessary grooves so that it becomes instead of the missing part of the clothespin. We collect our hook.
  6. The crossbow is ready, we press the clothespin from above, thereby unclenching it, we pull the bowstring along with the arrow and clamp it. To shoot again, press the top.

We figured out how to make a mini crossbow, and now we can go ahead and create weapons from pencils.

Create a crossbow from pencils

For this you need to take:

  1. Four pencils.
  2. Seven rubber bands
  3. Ballpoint pen case.
  4. Scotch.

Shall we start?

  1. First you need to take the pencils and connect them two by two together. You can use rubber bands or tape. This will be the bow and crossbow bed.
  2. In front of the bed, we wind the bow from below.
  3. From above on the bed we tape the body from the handle with tape, this will be the guide for the arrow. It can be made from the core of the same pen.
  4. Now we put one elastic band on the ends of the bow, and we tie their edges with threads or tape to make a single bowstring. Now we grab the bowstring with the enclosed arrow, run it into the guide from the handle body and release it.

Here's how to make a pencil crossbow that shoots great.

Let's start creating a paper crossbow

This requires:

  1. A4 sheets - 9 pieces.
  2. Popsicle sticks - 4 pieces.
  3. Scotch.
  4. Durable nylon thread.

How to make a crossbow out of paper that will shoot pencils?

  1. We put three sheets of paper in front of us lengthwise. We bend from left to right. Cut in half along the fold line. It turns out six sheets, the width of which is 10.5 cm and the length is 29.7 cm. We divide them into two piles of three sheets.
  2. Using a pencil, we twist one, and then the second stack of sheets into tubes. Their length should be 10.5 cm, and the diameter should be slightly thicker than a pencil. So that they do not unwind, we fasten with tape.
  3. We insert into one end of the tubes a popsicle stick a third of their length. We break off the protruding part. On the free side, we insert a whole stick of popsicle also by a third. These are the shoulders of the bow. Now you need to bend them in the center of the paper tubes in half.
  4. We take five more sheets of paper, twist them with a pencil, this will be the bed of the crossbow.
  5. We wind the shoulders of the bow to the resulting tube in front. It is necessary to evenly wind them in front of the bed of the product. Here's how to make a crossbow at home out of paper. Now he needs a hold, a trigger and a guide.
  6. We tie the thread to the shoulders of the bow and pull it to understand where the hook will be. Having decided, we cut through the bed in this place. After that, we cut off a piece of the stick 3-4 cm in size and insert it into the hole so that it protrudes 5 mm from above and is a trigger from below.
  7. And the final touch. We make a tube 3 cm long so that a pencil can freely pass into it, and we fasten it with tape in front of the crossbow above its bow. This is a stele guide. That's it, now you can pull the string, put, for example, a pencil into the guide and shoot.

Here we looked at the creation of a copy of an ancient crossbow. However, it was also interesting to create throwing weapons from improvised materials, as they say: on the knees. From paper, they even showed how to make a crossbow out of pencils, and a mini-weapon that turned out to be quite powerful for its size. So it’s worth looking at the world more broadly and always improvising, only in this way you can achieve excellent results in deeds worthy of admiration by people around you.

Make a crossbow with your own hands, you won't regret it!

The crossbow belongs to small arms. The principle of shooting is similar to archery. Nowadays, crossbow shooting is a fairly popular sport. But the cost of a crossbow starts from a few tens of dollars. Therefore, many adherents of the crossbow try to make it with their own hands, at home.

Pull it only if you need to. Wilbur shook his head, grinning. "I think soon one of us can tell you more, you don't have to talk like a hunter." "Hope so". Mia took the crossbow and the tremble and walked over to the small alcove at the back of the room where her bed lay. When she returned, Wilbur had already cleared the bowls.

Even if you do it just for me. "Now don't think about anything." Mia chuckled at him, ignoring the suffocating feeling in her stomach. Wilbur got up. You will see. The church will send help. Or, if you decide to write this letter, your father will be back soon.

Consider what components the crossbow consists of:

  • Bed;
  • Trigger mechanism;
  • bowstring;
  • Arrows or bolts.

What do you need to make a crossbow out of wood with your own hands?

Minimum set of tools:

  • Very sharp knife;
  • Drill;
  • Bulgarian with a disk for wood or a regular hacksaw;
  • Hammer;
  • Plane;
  • Chisel.

To craft a crossbow, you need a piece of wood. The tree is desirable to take:

"If there is". Mia couldn't help herself. Wilbur accepted her remark gratefully. "I hope my father will do everything to protect us." Wilbur looked at her seriously. Mia walked over to him until her nasal tips were almost touching. She then placed her hand on his forehead and gave him a gentle push.

Wilbur laughed in surprise as he stumbled backwards. Wilbur grinned and waved his hand before turning around and leaving the hut. Mia went to the door and watched him disappear at night. It was the right answer to his stupid face. The serenity of this evening did not last long. The days were weeks that were cold and overcast. As winter approached, the mist extended its gray arms farther and farther from the lake to reach the village before the weak sun could carry it back to the shore.

  • hazel,
  • ash,
  • poplar.

You can also use birch or oak. The wood of these trees is more resistant to moisture, viscous, does not splinter and is beautiful. The wooden blank should be about 900 mm long and 30 mm thick. Coniferous wood must not be used.

To make a crossbow, the wood must be properly prepared. Only from the “correct” wood will the crossbow shoot for a long time with great power. Having cut a tree trunk or a branch of the required length and thickness, the saw cuts must be painted over. This is done so that the moisture from the wood comes out gradually, and, therefore, the wood will dry more slowly and evenly. Clogged branches will be laid away from sunlight. They stay like that for about a year. A year later, the bark is removed from the blanks, and it dries for another week. And only after all these procedures have been completed, the branch is sawn lengthwise, and they begin to manufacture a crossbow. From the two parts of the branch, they take the northern one, guided by the annual rings. On this side, the fibers lie closer to each other, which means that the material will be stronger.

On a cold morning, he even made it to Mia's cabin on the hill. Mia kept her crossbow near her bed at night and took her time to practice her safety. During all this time there was no church huntsman. Soon the merchants' carts were completely lost, and more and more fishermen were squeezed, moaning and whispering around the market place. Mia gave in and wrote to her father. Ten projects crushed her before sending a brief and formal request for help.

Not long after this, Postreiter did not return to the village. Within two days, the story that Gitrog ate from rumor to narration became fact. Mia thought that the poor fellow didn't want to make the difficult trip to some remote village before the cold. He probably decided instead to spend the winter in Durnau.

photo.correctly carved tree for a crossbow

On the board, draw the shape of the future base and cut it out with a grinder or a hacksaw. Make a groove for the arrow on top. On one side, a groove is cut to secure the arc. If knots or chips appear during work, they must be processed with a sharp knife, and then with sandpaper.

However, there were many rumors about Gitrog, for which Mia did not find such a simple explanation. Three more sheep disappeared before the first snowfall. Every time the fence was destroyed in a different place - as if someone was trying to use the resilience of his horse. Or, as Mia reminded herself, the frightened sheep had simply broken through at various points along the fence. The last time she heard that the fence had burst at night, but when she ran out of the hut, crossbow in hand, there was nothing to be found but split wood and a distressed bleating.

After that, she finally intervened to ask a local carpenter to help her strengthen her horse's fence and pay off the money her father left her. Although she hated spending something she didn't deserve herself, she knew she was lucky to have such a nest egg. The fishermen, who have been driven from the lake since the start of the season, have struggled to find a livelihood with the snow. Many trusted their neighbors' willingness to help, but the village's sparse fields barely provided enough food for everyone. The number of battles in the village administration has increased.

The second step is to make the arc. For her, take a board with a thickness of 20 mm, and a length of at least 750 mm. The board must be taken even, without knots. The board must be well dried, kept for several days, and only then trimmed. The width of the arc is approximately 40 mm in the middle, towards the edges its width decreases to 15 mm.


The curses on Githrog grew louder. More and more villages retired early and early in the evening to their homes, shutting their doors and nailing down their windows as the stubborn fog grew thicker and denser than ever before. Wilbur seemed to be right when he thought his father was going to do something. As the winter became more severe, armed men and women began patrolling the streets. Some carried torches and blades, but many carried only a dung fork or a butcher's knife. They always wore heavy coats, the hood of which was drawn deep into their faces - on the one hand, as protection from the cold, but also as a uniform.

photo.string of a homemade crossbow

An arc for a powerful crossbow can be made from a UAZ car spring petal. Using a grinder, cut an arc out of the spring. Its dimensions are as follows: length 850 mm, width from the ends to 15 mm, and in the middle 30 mm. Next, using a whetstone, bring the thickness to 8 mm in the center and 4 mm on the periphery. Drill holes for fastening with a drill bit

Mia didn't know what the baker should do with the Bread Knife against Gitrog. It gnawed at her until one afternoon she made the mistake of asking Wilbur for it. "We'll be careful and alert when we see something." Wilbur looked irritated, his lanky design dripping with moisture from the rain.

"I'm just wondering if it's actually useful." Mia wondered why he refused to take off his coat and boots. "Some of us have to worry about something else." Wilbur crossed his arms over his chest, and Mia thought as he overhead. Do you need to walk around and swing your fishing rod to protect people? The words were already there before her heart begged her, but please be silent.


We are preparing a groove for the arc. We make a hole for fastening from a rope, at a distance of 100 mm from the cut groove for the arc. We insert the arc into the groove, and fix it with a rope. Or you can make a metal frame that will cover both the stock and the bow. The next step is to fasten the bowstring to the ends of the arc, using pre-made incisions for this. Stretch the string as you would when shooting. Thus, we will find the most distant point. After that, we determine the optimal size of the crossbow, which is equal in length to your forearm.

You have only a superficial understanding of what we are doing to protect the village and keep the people alive, and everything you do is derisive. The truth in his words scraped her off like sandpaper on her heart, leaving her bloody and shattered.

"Why are you still here, Mia?" Mia looked at the stern line of her mouth, at her wrinkled forehead and cold, questioning eyes. Her stomach rumbled with laughter of anger and sadness as her throat burned. Wilbur continued, "Why didn't you show up at Shields headquarters to take the test and leave us like your father did?"

We will make a bowstring from lavsan or fastflight. You can use thin wire. Wind the threads stretched between two nails, and at the ends we make loops for putting on.

We wind the threads up to a thickness of 5 mm. Then, without removing the threads from the studs, we wrap the threads once so that they are tight to each other. After that, at the first carnation, we collect both halves of the bowstring, and again tightly wrap it up to the second nail. As a result, we got a bowstring with loops at the ends. The middle part of the bowstring must be wrapped very carefully, since a very large friction force acts on this part. The cut threads must be well coated with glue so that all the threads are monolithic. We stretch the bowstring with a stirrup made of wire. Having fixed the bowstring, we adjust the degree of its tension. If the bowstring is too thick, then the strength of the shot decreases, and if it is too thin, it will break. Therefore, you need to make a bowstring of medium thickness. You can make a bowstring in the likeness of sports models.

Wilbur laughed, and Mia's heart sank. She had never heard of him and she was full of joy and dagger. You knew there would be snow before your birthday. You knew that after that, the passage would go through the passage. If you really wanted to take the exam, you would have already gone. His words were as cold and biting as the cluttering cold air. You are afraid. Be afraid that you can no longer remember all these rules and play you.

Mia grabbed a bundle of wool and threw it at him. Take it. Wilbur reached for the cat on his belt, but Mia pushed him hard. I said, "Get out of here!" Keep your father's money. "You mean you don't need it." It was her fault that he knew exactly how to hurt her.


photo.crossbow trigger

An important step is necessary to make a homemade powerful crossbow

And so, we came to the most critical node of our design. We will make the trigger mechanism of the crossbow. It will be a pin type lock. To do this, drill a through hole in the place of maximum tension of the bowstring. Make a transverse recess in the upper part of the bed. The next step is to fix the lever at the bottom of the crossbow. The axis is made of wood, and fastened with wire.

Wilbur turned around with the wool under his arm and tossed the purse behind him as he stepped through the threshold. Coins fell out and spread across the floor. Despite the cold, she was sweating. This was the third time today that she had to change the water for her sheep and break the ice that had formed in the Trgen River. In addition, all the other assignments and homework that she had to do, she barely had time to breathe. The sun was already sinking below the horizon, throwing a few last faint rays into a sky filled with lead clouds.

The wind howled as she returned to her hut and dragged her through her cloak into the marrow. At least it's not snow, she thought. Two hours later, she was looking out the window as a white whirlwind slowly enveloped the landscape. What a fitting end to a cold and miserable birthday.

Another type of trigger is called a walnut. It consists of a cylinder that freely rotates around its axis. On one side it has hooks for the bowstring, and on the other side, an L-shaped trigger rest. If the power of the crossbow is up to 30 kg, the cylinder can be made of wood, and with a power of over 30 kg it must be made of metal. Make the "nut" that will hold the bowstring out of a piece of iron without welding to make it stronger.

She hoped to get into the village, hoping to find her way to Wilber's house. They didn't talk to each other after their fight. The passage of time weighed heavily with each passing day, maintaining the silence between them and widening the gap that now separated them. Although she has little hope, she believed that her birthday might have forced Wilbur to visit her, as he always did.

She sighed and pressed her forehead against the windowpane. She didn't know when she left. She only knew that something had triggered her some time later. The fire had been burned to warm glowing embers, and outside the pale moonlight outlined the landscape as sharply as with scissors. The storm was clear and the stars sparkled in the sky. But why did she wake up?

We fix the bed and the lever with ropes so that the lever moves with minimal friction.

For an arrow, the groove should be located from the top hole of the lock to the leading edge. The depth of the chute is equal to a quarter of the diameter of the boom.

The wooden crossbow is ready. Now let's work on the details. First, we will process all the details with sandpaper. After that, they can be coated with protein mixed with water. Then check how the lock works. Make sure the mechanism is as strong as possible.

There was a loud explosion in front of the hut. Mia shuddered and with a furious heart. She listened and looked into the silvery semi-darkness - all feelings were sharpened, thoughts were delusional. She took a deep breath and leaned back. Her head rested sleepily on her hand again. It was probably only a frozen tree as its resin expanded in the cold.

Suddenly, Mia jumped up, reached for her crossbow, flung herself on her cloak and ran outside, fear and terror lying around her like bands of iron. The sound did not frighten her. Silence followed. Without bleating, the sheep was afraid. Even when she ran out into the snow, she didn't hear anything. She held the crossbow ready to fire and slowly approached her, getting closer to the handle.

To give the crossbow beauty, open the wooden parts with stain and varnish, and the metal parts with black paint.

Now let's move on to the arrows. You can also make them yourself. To do this, you can make blanks from a regular board. Then these blanks must be carefully planed. Wood is recommended to choose light. In the manufacture of the tip, nails should not be driven in, since if it hits the target, the arrow may split.

The sight of her suggested to her the frozen blood in her veins. The entire side of the horse was in ruins, the fence poles were torn off the ground. Scattered boards lay in the snow, and as she still watched, one of the supporting posts in the dugout, whose trump card had collapsed. Mea approached slowly, still excited and hopeful even though she already knew what she was expecting. When she stepped cautiously, her fears were confirmed.

Not a single sheep is visible. Instead, blood and viscera covered the ground and smeared the few remaining boards. A cold wind blew through the wreckage, and the biting smell of innards hit her. The crossbow fell to the ground as she pressed the sleeves of her coat against her mouth and tried to calm her stomach.

We examined the method of making a conventional "medieval" crossbow.

The crossbow is blocky. It can also be made at home. It is made of fiberglass, 10 mm thick.

First done fiberglass arms. To do this, you need to cut from 30 to 40 strips of fiberglass or Kevlar. Glue them together with epoxy glue and lay under a press until completely dry. After 24 hours or more, these structures must be leveled and well cleaned.

As she caught herself again, the strange shape of the snow caught her attention. She cursed that she hadn't brought the torch and moved slightly to the side to move her shadow. Bright moonlight fell on a huge footprint in the fresh snow. The imprint looked like a large foot with floating pools and three claw-like spikes at one end. As she looked down at the pencil, she saw further impressions of that sight between the sanding marks and the bloodshed.

Mia's heartbeat roared in her ears as she stared into the distance. A wide trail of tracks and thirteen prints led from the pen to the forest by the lake. Fraud threatened to take over. He ate her herd. And that meant he was far enough away from the lake. And that meant he was probably in the village too! She should have told Wilbur. She had to apologize. She started with her boots crunching in the snow on her march to the dim lights in the distance when a stubborn voice in her head stopped her.

photo.mounting a homemade crossbow

The bed, as in the previous case, is made of wood.

Blocks are made of aluminium. Better if they are on bearings. Great for this purpose, the middle parts of the wheels for roller skates. Axes for them need to be taken with a diameter of 5 mm. They can also be taken from skates. Fasteners are made of steel or other durable material. If, when making the shoulders, the ends are made thicker, fastenings are not necessary. The next step is to install a trigger mechanism with a trigger and an arrow holder on the crossbow. All this is connected with bolts and washers. In block-type crossbows, the bowstring is somewhat longer and is pulled differently. It seems to cross, and the arrow flies with redoubled energy. A thin cable is used as a bowstring, which can withstand sharp pressure when fired.

If the threat from the monster, and not from the person, is guaranteed, the hunter must follow the monster and render it harmless. Keep him away from villages and cities - avoid the panic and chaos of frightened innocent people. Mia stood there, her breath frozen to pale clouds as she was torn to the point of what she was supposed to be doing. Surely she couldn't handle something like a Jitrog. In order not to warn the village, she seemed incredibly stupid. She had to talk to Wilburg, or rather her father.

Kalim and the elders knew what to do. But could they help her? And even if: what could they do? The gaze of bakers and peasants armed with bread-knives and marbles appeared before their inner eyes. Mia looked at the crossbow in her hand. The silver shone in the moonlight. She ran her fingers over the runes engraved on the side. She reached up to her hip and placed her hand on the handle of a long dagger. The familiar blade was used much more often than knives, but its cutting edge of cold wrought iron was meant to slay ghosts and witches.

Read how:

In order to conduct aimed shooting from a do-it-yourself crossbow at home, you need to adjust the stock. It must be adjusted taking into account the trajectory of the arrow flight. The bed should be at an angle of 5-6 degrees. Better yet, decide on the firing distance and shoot the crossbow made, after each series of shots, changing the angle of the stock.


photo.homemade wooden crossbow

The trigger mechanism can be anything, but so that it does not work prematurely, under the force of the bowstring. The string should, after the shot, return close to the bed, but without much friction.

Video instruction on how to make arrows for a crossbow

Video instruction on how to make a toy crossbow

One of the most popular types small arms is the crossbow. And although hunting with such a device is prohibited in our country, there are still many who want to acquire such a “toy” in order to shoot at targets. At the moment, you can buy such weapons on many sites or in stores, but such a purchase will be very expensive. It is much more profitable to make a crossbow with your own hands at home, and you will find out what is required for this.

Preparation

To date, there are many varieties of this sporting weapon. First of all, these are classic models familiar to us from historical films and block crossbows - modern weapons equipped with complex mechanisms. The last option to create houses will be quite difficult, so let's focus on the classic.

What parts does a crossbow consist of:

  • Trigger mechanism;
  • bowstring;
  • Crossbow stock;
  • Bolts and arrows.

Making a crossbow at home will be much easier if you immediately stock up on all the necessary materials and tools. For this you will need:

  • Well sharpened knife;
  • Hammer;
  • Drill or brace;
  • An ordinary hacksaw, which can be replaced with a grinder with a wood disk;
  • Plane;
  • Chisel.

How to make a crossbow with your own hands

In addition to the tools, you will need a piece of wood 900mm long and 30mm thick to make this ranged weapon. In this case, fit:

  • ash;
  • hazel;
  • poplar.
  • birch.

First of all, you need to prepare a wooden blank. To do this, cut the branch of the desired size and paint over the cuts. This is necessary so that the liquid from the wood comes out slowly and evenly. Please note that the wood must lie in a dark place for at least a year, only in this case the weapon will shoot with special power. After that, the bark is removed from the workpiece and left to dry for another week. Further, the log is sawn into two parts and from the northern - the most durable, they make the actual crossbow.

Draw the stock of the weapon on the board and cut it out with a hacksaw or grinder, then make a small arrow chute on the top of the workpiece. From the front side, cut a groove in which you will fix the arc. If knots or chips appear on the bed during the process, then remove them with a knife and treat the place with sandpaper.

How to make an arc

This part will require a flat board with a length of at least 750 mm and a width of 200 mm, a thickness of 60 mm. We dry the workpiece well and stand for several days, and equalize it. The width of the part in the middle is 40 cm, and narrows at the edges to 15 cm.

At a distance of 100 mm from the cut groove for this part, we create a through hole through which we stretch the rope - it will become the main fixator for the crossbow arc. Then we insert the part into the groove and firmly fasten it with a rope, as shown in the lower figure.

This detail plays a rather significant role in the “lethality” of the weapon, and to create it you will need the following materials:

  • kapron threads;
  • wooden plank;
  • two nails without a hat;
  • rubber glue.

First of all, you need to make a special machine for weaving this part: take a rope and measure the length of the bowstring. After that, saw off a board with dimensions slightly larger than this parameter. Next, mark the length of the string on the board and drill two holes in these places - this is where you need to insert your nails.

Take a thread, tie it to one of the nails, and leave a margin equal to the length of the bowstring. After that, start wrapping the threads evenly around the nails (lavsan ones are best). Continue this process until the base of the string reaches 5mm. To do this, you need to make 5-6 full turns. Try to keep the threads evenly stretched.

Next, wrap the base several times near the nails on both sides with wrapping material. This will give you loops at the ends. You can understand how to do this from the diagram above. Don't forget to wind the middle of the bowstring, because this part suffers a lot from friction. Tie the cut ends of the threads with a marine knot and grease well with glue so that the whole structure is strong. After that, you can pull the bowstring on the arc and adjust the degree of its tension.

How to make a trigger

The simplest option would be a pin-type lock, which we will choose for our weapons. Pull the bowstring to the maximum distance and drill a through hole in this place. Also make a small transverse recess in the upper part of the crossbow bed. Now fasten the lever at the bottom of the part. Make a wooden axle and secure it with wire.

Fix the stock and lever with ropes so that the latter moves with maximum friction. The depth of the “ammunition” groove should be equal to 1/4 of the volume of the arrow, and this recess must be “cut through” from the top of the lock to the front edge of the crossbow.

How to make arrows

In order to get ammunition for your small arms, it is not necessary to run to a sports store, because they can be easily made at home. To do this, you will need several ordinary wooden blanks that need to be well planed and processed with fine sandpaper. For arrows, it is better to choose light woods, in which case the shooting will be more accurate. As for the tip, if you don’t have special ones, then sharpen the tip of the arrow - it will be quite possible to shoot at targets with such ammunition. You should not drive nails into the head, because in this case there is an increased chance that the arrow will be able to split when it hits the target.

Be that as it may, you should remember that in our country shooting from crossbows is equated with the use of firearms. So if you want to make such a device, then in no case do not use it for its intended purpose. Treat the crossbow as a beautiful souvenir, and then there will be no claims from the law against you.

How to make a crossbow

Throwing-type long-range weapons are often not subject to prohibitions and regulatory documents. However, "wild" cans and bottles are not the only possible target for hunting.

Therefore, let's look at how to make a crossbow at home.

Step by step instructions on how to make a crossbow

Between firearms and throwing, between slingshot and sniper - there is an inverted bow - an elegant long-range weapon within 250 meters. Penetration is within the limits allowed by the constitution Russian Federation(picture 1).

The law does not consider this type of hunting tool as cold or firearms. The only restriction is as follows: a crossbow made from improvised materials should not have a shoulder tension force of more than 43 kilograms. After overcoming this mark, the master is likely to meet with the outfit of the guardians of the law. Consider this point before you make a crossbow with your own hands.

In general, this is a relatively accurate, reliable, cheap to manufacture and, due to the specifics of the design, an absolutely quiet weapon. An excellent tool for quiet hunting or defending land rights. Historically, this invention dates back to the 5th century BC. Contrary to popular belief, it did not replace the bow, but complemented existing tactical solutions. Learning to shoot from a device is simple: just pick it up at least once. It looks like a gun with a trigger - cock and shoot. True, then you should pull the rope over a new one, and put the bolt in the stock, but this is only practice.

Modern models have the following mechanisms for cocking the bowstring into a combat position:

  1. Manual: you in normal mode, without the use of mechanical devices, insert your foot into a special pedal located in front of the arch (or stand with both feet on the arch, resting it on the ground) and pull the string to the stop, passing it through the locking mechanism.
  2. Mechanical: the design of a gear and a toothed rod (pump loader, auto-reload, etc.) is built into the crossbow, which pulls the bowstring instead of the shooter. True, you still need to apply force and rotate / twist / move the levers / handles, but to a lesser extent.
  3. Outlandish-archaic: breaking, rotating or folding vertical frame. Facilitated process of setting the bowstring.
Figure 1. Crossbow - very unusual view weapons

Both subspecies - both manual and mechanical - can be implemented with your own hands, but for the sake of simplicity of narration, we will skip the complexities of the second method and talk about the first.

The scheme of a crossbow made of wood is known, well studied and amenable to modernization. Given the specifics of the simplicity of design, the crossbow was chosen by artisans and craftsmen. Do-it-yourself drawing of a crossbow does not involve significant technical bells and whistles. Therefore, its manufacture does not require narrow-profile qualifications or specific tools. The main thing is the correct selection of materials, verified processing of parts and consistent assembly of the entire structure.

If you were wondering “how easy is it to make a crossbow?”, We answer: this is a relatively simple, but painstaking process. If you are familiar with the process of home repair, installation of mezzanines or repairing a bath, remember this experience. Below we will give instructions on how to make the easiest crossbow at home.

Device features and main parts

What is this rifle made of? There are three main components in the classic variation, followed by solutions with increasing complexity (stocks, grips, components, Picatinny rails, etc.). Our instructions on how to make a crossbow do not involve the installation of optical sights or other technical bells and whistles (Figure 2).

The main detail that concentrates energy for shooting is the arc. Due to the tension of the rope along it, it can transfer kinetic energy to the projectile. Around this "capricious lady" the whole structure revolves. The main materials for its manufacture are metal and wood, but there are also more exotic solutions, such as glass reinforcement or butter knife blades. The requirement for the arc is flexibility, rigidity and plasticity. So, for example, a solid steel frame will not work as a bow, while an automobile spring or a saw blade is fine.

To make a crossbow frame from wood, pay attention to such species as hazel, birch bark, acacia, ash, yew or bean. Before cutting the frame, you should hold the log in a dry, dust-free place for about a month or two. A fresh log does not have the required qualities to pass the processing procedure.

How to make a stock for a crossbow? Choose a durable wood, the same yew, beech, ash or oak. Hazel and conifers will perform well. The further process depends only on the flight of fancy and your skill.


Figure 2. Main structural elements

The main controller of the mechanism is the trigger block. It is he who holds the bowstring until the lever is pressed. The cocking mechanism of the crossbow is made of a solid block of metal, less often it is a recess inside the stock with a cylindrical pusher rod.

The above methods are not the final solution. Despite the fact that the crossbow is a single-shot design, there are workarounds. The most common way is to do repeating crossbow by making a special store for storing and supplying shells.

Varieties of crossbows

Consider the basic configurations (Figure 3).

The simplest: material: wood; intended use: historical reconstruction, recreational shooting; production time: assembly - 1 day, preparation - from 30 days. Ease of replacement: simple, one log; number of shells at a time: 1; wear resistance: high; repair complexity: medium; bowstring: hemp, flax, hair, veins.

To make a wooden crossbow, you will need an ax, a sharp, strong knife and ingenuity. And another month of time to dry the wood and process it. It is much easier to make arrows for a crossbow - carve an even cylinder from wood with a section diameter of 0.5-0.7 mm. Roughly speaking, no thicker than the index finger. Their correct name is bolts. These are short, pointed projectiles with a low mass. Visually similar to regular bow arrows, but with a different geometry. The plumage for them should be made of hard plastic or carved from wood and planted on wood glue.


Figure 3. Regardless of the type, you will need a blueprint to make a weapon

Composite: material: metal; intended use: hunting, window dressing, aggressive defense of the territory, live shooting; production time: assembly - 2 days, preparation - up to 7 days; ease of replacement: difficult, specific part needed. Number of shells at a time: 1, the ability to install an additional store; wear resistance: high; complexity of repair: easy (depending on the design); bowstring: steel cable with a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, high-strength ropes.

For urban areas with high rates of free parts in use, this is a good solution. Knives, saws, springs, steel fittings - a complete abundance of details. For industrial regions, refinement on the machine due to ingenuity is also implied. Of the tools, a hacksaw, a needle file, a drill, a polishing wheel, a cutting wheel (grinder) are very useful.

It is realistic to implement a block crossbow with your own hands: just find blocks and a rope for a solid bowstring in the grocery store. The very principle of construction is similar to that of a wooden counterpart, the key difference is that the shoulders are not plastic, but have increased strength. Impact force stored in spring mechanisms, less often in the frame itself. It is better to order composite models, their production requires high qualification.

A similar category includes a spearfishing crossbow, made more like a slingshot. In such a design, energy is stored on elastic elements (springs, rubber cords), without arch arms. The next subtype is pistol. In short, this is a smaller counterpart of the blocky and classic, made in the form of a pistol. The range of a pistol-type shot is small, but it wins in compactness. If you want to try to make a crossbow weapon, it is better to start with smaller variations, make a small prototype model, and then move on to larger designs.

Material selection and preparation

Before proceeding to the instructions on how to make a crossbow out of wood, prepare the materials in advance. Look around the neighborhood and try to remember which of the necessary tree species grow in the area (Figure 4).

We repeat that at home, a wood crossbow can be made from the following species: birch bark, acacia, oak, ash, yew, hazel, beaver or acacia. Most often, these species are found in local forests and forest plantations. If there is a nearby coniferous forest, we recommend looking for spruce and pine forests. Particular attention should be paid to maple groves. After finding the central maple daddy, look for straightened saplings and pick up one with a thickness of 5 to 15 cm. The search radius around the main tree is from 40 to 50 meters.

Learn the ax factor, or better yet, the chainsaw factor. Try not to harass the forest area too much. Having cut a log for yourself, do not rush to carve a crossbow out of it. First, it will need to be dried and then processed. The term for drying in a warm, dry room is from two weeks to two months. Cover all the cracks, pores and other irregularities with oil paint and throw it on the mezzanine.


Figure 4. Weapons can be crafted from wood and metal

If it is impossible to get wood directly from the forest, order a bar of the breed you are interested in via the Internet. A variable advantage will be the time savings in processing the wood, the operators can often clarify the dryness of the beams and the way they are processed. But this negates all the romance of traveling and finding the right driftwood.

Working on the shoulders will take the same amount of time as creating the stock. Both processes require basic woodworking tools - a planer, knife, ax, files. The bed can be decorated with carved patterns or adjusted with shapes to fit own hand, here it is whatever. There are no restrictions on the use of materials, both components can be made from the same breed. It is recommended to cover the beam with special solutions to prevent corrosion and decay, as well as wood varnish. The blank of the shoulders should also be treated with protective solutions, but not varnished.

The next item is what to make a bowstring for a crossbow from:

  1. You can also make a bowstring from scratch from Dacron or Kevlar fibers, but for this you will need to knit the rope yourself (Figure 5).
  2. Of the finished models, attention should be paid to durable varieties of ropes: cord, polypropylene, nylon, hemp, hair. Of these, only the last two are vulnerable to moisture.
  3. The golden rule is to focus on the ability to stretch: it should be minimal.
  4. The edges of the rope attached to the shoulders should be treated in a special way, but not tied. To do this, the cord is wrapped around the workpiece to obtain a shape, then the end is applied to the base and tightly wrapped with a smaller diameter thread.
  5. The recommended margin is 5 cm. Along the way, each layer of the winding is covered with heavy-duty glue (anaerobic, epoxy, hot-melt adhesive), and at the end the whole structure is tightly wrapped with a piece of felt. Any knots fray the rope, worsening its quality and increasing the chance of breaking under loads.

The final stage before the shooters is to make arrows for the crossbow, or, as they are also called, bolts. The manufacture of consumables requires blanks from solid wood or even branches. If you have woodworking equipment, cut the bolts from the bars in several pieces. They can also be printed on a 3D printer, but such shells will not last long. Get two sets of bolts - with soft tops and without.


Figure 5. The bowstring must be strong, but elastic enough

The former are perfect for reenactment and role-playing battles, the pointed type tip should only be used for hunting. The point for hunting is made of wire, tin or aluminum. Keep it light! For plumage, separate blanks made of wood and plastic will be required.

Manufacturing of shoulders and bed

Let's say you have everything you need on hand. How to make a crossbow with your own hands, at home, point one - carve your shoulders. They are made from a single piece of wood, not separately. The workpiece must not have defects, knots, etc. Inner part the arc should have a semicircular relief similar to the letter D, the outer one should be flat.


Figure 6. Shoulders of a crossbow are usually hewn out of wood.

Initially, the shoulders are carved like a slightly bent plank, after which they can be processed and bent already during assembly. The shape is diamond-shaped, beveling towards the ends of the arc, the bevel angle is small. Take a closer look at the growth rings on the log: it is desirable that the entire structure of the shoulders be on the same layer. To make a powerful hunting crossbow, use a more resilient wood. In general, the safety margin and performance characteristics should be enough for medium-sized game (Figure 6).

Shoulders are fixed in two ways:

  1. The first is winding. It is performed both by drilling the bed, and by making a carving in it, followed by winding the rope on a fixed piece of wood. The main point is that the shoulders are not drilled, retaining their structure. But this is a laborious process that requires time for tight winding. For reliable fixation, it is recommended to use the rope through the ring that presses the frame in the middle.
  2. The second is fixation. For wooden ones, it is implemented in a tricky way: a conical groove is made at the end of the bar with a wall inclination angle of 80-85 degrees, shoulder-width. The frame is squeezed into this recess, after which it is compressed by the winding. The implementation of the winding is as follows: at the bottom of the log, another groove is made, rectangular. A timber beam 5-10 cm thick is taken, a rope for winding is fixed on it, after which this anchor should be pulled to the recess and driven in there. The beam should be wound 5 cm earlier than the groove itself, in order to be able to fix the shoulders with its tension.

Steel shoulders are calmly fixed both by the listed methods and by ordinary bolts (Figure 7). How to make a crossbow arrow at home?

Three execution options:

  1. Simplest- the presence of a circular saw, a drill with a wide nozzle, and a vise. On the circular, dissolve the timber into small bars, no more than 2 cm thick. After that, you process it with a planer until the primary roundness is reached. Next, fix the workpiece in the nozzle of the drill and, starting the rotation process, pass through the cutter fixed in the vice. An alternative to this indecency is a wood lathe.
  2. Average, calculation for luck and straight pieces of wood. You will need a knife for turning rounded shapes. An alternative is the processing of small bars sawn on a circular saw.
  3. Difficult- sharpen a straight branch.

Figure 7. Arrows must be perfectly straight

For plumage at the back of the bolt, make a thin, even cut with a hacksaw. Find a wide plastic cap (plastic paint bucket, flat sheet of plastic from the store) and cut out the blades for the bolt. You can fix them by also making holes instead of sawing the whole part. The dimensions of the trigger for a crossbow are different, you should mainly rely on monolithic types of levers. They can be made both from metal and from rigid and thick wire.

Trigger Mounting

The last part remains: the trigger mechanism (Figure 8).

There are three variations on how to make a trigger for a crossbow at home:

  1. Dedovsky, wooden: a certain number of centimeters are measured from the end of the stock (depending on the capabilities of the bowstring) and, having set a notch, make a rectangular recess of half a millimeter. It is recommended to take a distance of 15-20 cm from the tension shoulders. Next, drill a hole in the center of the recess. After that, a flat board should be fixed at the base of the bed from the side of the arc, exactly adjacent to the previously drilled hole, but from below. A cylinder similar in diameter to a hole is fixed in the plank. Then it's a matter of technique: the bowstring is lowered into the groove, it is pushed by the rod from below, after which it sends the bolt flying. Such a cocking mechanism for a crossbow is well suited for home-made in your spare time on the weekend.
  2. Sophisticated, aluminum: we sell only if we have at hand tools for working on metal: grinder, cutters, lathe, files. Requires the creation of a special part. The crossbow trigger device looks like this: a small aluminum disc, with a hole in the center and two grooves. Its shape is modified, on the upper part at an angle of 90 degrees a sawtooth tooth with an even recess in the middle is made. Parallel to it, a cutout was made in the lower part for a similar clove, but without a groove. The mechanism takes the load, preventing the bowstring from spraying, resting on the trigger. For a shot, one press is enough, after which the lever of the locking part will pop out of the groove, the blocker will rotate along its axis and release the bowstring.
  3. Artful, mechanical: more than one piece at a time. Complex structures with force transfer. In a simplified version, they represent the following trick: an intermediary part rests against the trigger of the crossbow, which in turn blocks the creeps of the part holding the bowstring. We advise you to think over the drawing in advance before implementing this option.

Figure 8. The trigger mechanism is the basis for the successful use of weapons

If you swung at the power, then you probably thought about the springs. A spring crossbow requires a well-oiled cocking mechanism that can withstand greater loads than a wooden one. It will require the assembly of a starting block made of metal with leverage.

Assembling a crossbow

When all the details are in hand, it remains only to assemble a homemade crossbow together. Please note, if you want to make a butt for a crossbow, then start doing this at the stage of forming the blank.

Start by creating a bed, roughen the surface with a bar for evenness. Make a channel with a length of 15 to 25 cm, form a groove at its end for the trigger mechanism and drill a beam through and through in this place. You can saw through the channel both with a hand saw and with a special cutter, at the end having processed the groove with a file for smoothness.

Further, in the front part of the bed, a recess is made under the shoulders, followed by a recess on the lower part. The second groove should be located 5 cm earlier than the hole in the groove. How to make a trigger for a crossbow - take a board with a thickness of 4-5 cm, drill holes in it according to the plus (+) principle.

The vertical hole should match the diameter of the hole in the middle of the groove. After that, insert the cylinder into the board, drill, fix. The trigger guard can be secured by tying it to the locking bar. In some cases, use an elastic band to secure the bracket. The string is pulled last.

In the end, you should get a good shooting crossbow, try to use it well.

A master class on making this weapon is shown in the video.

27.06.2019

In this way, you can make a bowstring for a crossbow. If your goal is the question of how to make a crossbow, then the bowstring should be given Special attention. On this site you will find a lot of useful information for you on how to make a crossbow with your own hands.

For a good quality bow, you need a good quality bowstring, which we will now make. But people interested in making a real bow will definitely pay attention to these recommendations, unless of course they are going to buy a bowstring in an online store.

To wind the bowstring, we need a nylon, silk or nylon thread. All this can be purchased at fishing, hunting, hardware stores.

But too thin a bowstring will cut your fingers when firing a shot. These are the contradictions that await you when choosing a material for a bowstring.

At the ends of the bar, we drill holes along the diameter of the sticks at a distance of the length of the future bowstring. If thin, then ten, twenty or thirty turns, depending on the thickness, see for yourself, but the bowstring must be at least two millimeters in diameter.

In order for the arrow to immediately lie in the middle of the bowstring when shooting, we put on tight rubber rings opposite the bow shelf between which the arrow will be inserted. All our almost professional bowstring is ready.

With the help of the bowstring, the tension of the shoulders and the acceleration of the arrow pass, so that the quality of the bowstring affects many of the characteristics of the crossbow. An important requirement for the bowstring is that it does not stretch during use, and the durability of the bowstring will depend on what material it is made of.

It is not difficult to make a bowstring for a crossbow itself, such threads as: lavsan, dacron, kevlar, deinema, SVM, fastflight and others made of synthetic fiber are suitable as a material. After the machine is made, you can start making a bowstring.

How to make a crossbow at home

On the middle part of the bowstring, you need to make a transverse winding again, because. it is the most subject to wear and tear.

One more step on the way to how to make a crossbow is done, it's time to move on to the next one. The design of the crossbow consists of three main parts: the bed, the arc and the trigger. If you want to make a crossbow with your own hands, start from the blank for the arc. It is on its size that the parameters of the remaining parts will depend.

How to quickly make a crossbow with your own hands, video and photo

The crossbow belongs to small arms. The principle of shooting is similar to archery. Nowadays, crossbow shooting is a fairly popular sport. But the cost of a crossbow starts from a few tens of dollars. Therefore, many adherents of the crossbow try to make it with their own hands, at home.

Consider what components the crossbow consists of:

  • Bed;
  • Trigger mechanism;
  • bowstring;
  • Arrows or bolts.

What do you need to make a crossbow out of wood with your own hands?

Minimum set of tools:

  • Very sharp knife;
  • Drill;
  • Bulgarian with a disk for wood or a regular hacksaw;
  • Hammer;
  • Plane;
  • Chisel.

To craft a crossbow, you need a piece of wood. The tree is desirable to take:

  • hazel,
  • ash,
  • poplar.

You can also use birch or oak. The wood of these trees is more resistant to moisture, viscous, does not splinter and is beautiful. The wooden blank should be about 900 mm long and 30 mm thick. Coniferous wood must not be used.

To make a crossbow, the wood must be properly prepared. Only from the “correct” wood will the crossbow shoot for a long time with great power. Having cut a tree trunk or a branch of the required length and thickness, the saw cuts must be painted over. This is done so that the moisture from the wood comes out gradually, and, therefore, the wood will dry more slowly and evenly. Clogged branches will be laid away from sunlight. They stay like that for about a year. A year later, the bark is removed from the blanks, and it dries for another week. And only after all these procedures have been completed, the branch is sawn lengthwise, and they begin to manufacture a crossbow. From the two parts of the branch, they take the northern one, guided by the annual rings. On this side, the fibers lie closer to each other, which means that the material will be stronger.


photo.correctly carved tree for a crossbow

On the board, draw the shape of the future base and cut it out with a grinder or a hacksaw. Make a groove for the arrow on top. On one side, a groove is cut to secure the arc. If knots or chips appear during work, they must be processed with a sharp knife, and then with sandpaper.

The second step is to make the arc. For her, take a board with a thickness of 20 mm, and a length of at least 750 mm. The board must be taken even, without knots. The board must be well dried, kept for several days, and only then trimmed. The width of the arc is approximately 40 mm in the middle, towards the edges its width decreases to 15 mm.


photo.string of a homemade crossbow

An arc for a powerful crossbow can be made from a UAZ car spring petal. Using a grinder, cut an arc out of the spring. Its dimensions are as follows: length 850 mm, width from the ends to 15 mm, and in the middle 30 mm. Next, using a whetstone, bring the thickness to 8 mm in the center and 4 mm on the periphery. Drill holes for fastening with a drill bit


We are preparing a groove for the arc. We make a hole for fastening from a rope, at a distance of 100 mm from the cut groove for the arc. We insert the arc into the groove, and fix it with a rope. Or you can make a metal frame that will cover both the stock and the bow. The next step is to fasten the bowstring to the ends of the arc, using pre-made incisions for this. Stretch the string as you would when shooting. Thus, we will find the most distant point. After that, we determine the optimal size of the crossbow, which is equal in length to your forearm.

We will make a bowstring from lavsan or fastflight. You can use thin wire. Wind the threads stretched between two nails, and at the ends we make loops for putting on.

We wind the threads up to a thickness of 5 mm. Then, without removing the threads from the studs, we wrap the threads once so that they are tight to each other. After that, at the first carnation, we collect both halves of the bowstring, and again tightly wrap it up to the second nail. As a result, we got a bowstring with loops at the ends. The middle part of the bowstring must be wrapped very carefully, since a very large friction force acts on this part. The cut threads must be well coated with glue so that all the threads are monolithic. We stretch the bowstring with a stirrup made of wire. Having fixed the bowstring, we adjust the degree of its tension. If the bowstring is too thick, then the strength of the shot decreases, and if it is too thin, it will break. Therefore, you need to make a bowstring of medium thickness. You can make a bowstring in the likeness of sports models.


photo.crossbow trigger

An important step is necessary to make a homemade powerful crossbow

And so, we came to the most critical node of our design. We will make the trigger mechanism of the crossbow. It will be a pin type lock. To do this, drill a through hole in the place of maximum tension of the bowstring. Make a transverse recess in the upper part of the bed. The next step is to fix the lever at the bottom of the crossbow. The axis is made of wood, and fastened with wire.

Another type of trigger is called a walnut. It consists of a cylinder that freely rotates around its axis. On the one hand, it has hooks for the bowstring, and on the other side, an L-shaped stop for the trigger. If the power of the crossbow is up to 30 kg, the cylinder can be made of wood, and with a power of over 30 kg it must be made of metal. Make the "nut" that will hold the bowstring out of a piece of iron without welding to make it stronger.

We fix the bed and the lever with ropes so that the lever moves with minimal friction.

For an arrow, the groove should be located from the top hole of the lock to the leading edge. The depth of the chute is equal to a quarter of the diameter of the boom.

The wooden crossbow is ready. Now let's work on the details. First, we will process all the details with sandpaper. After that, they can be coated with protein mixed with water. Then check how the lock works. Make sure the mechanism is as strong as possible.

To give the crossbow beauty, open the wooden parts with stain and varnish, and the metal parts with black paint.

Now let's move on to the arrows. You can also make them yourself. To do this, you can make blanks from a regular board. Then these blanks must be carefully planed. Wood is recommended to choose light. In the manufacture of the tip, nails should not be driven in, since if it hits the target, the arrow may split.

We examined the method of making a conventional "medieval" crossbow.

The crossbow is blocky. It can also be made at home. It is made of fiberglass, 10 mm thick.

First, fiberglass shoulders are made. To do this, you need to cut from 30 to 40 strips of fiberglass or Kevlar. Glue them together with epoxy glue and lay under a press until completely dry. After 24 hours or more, these structures must be leveled and well cleaned.

photo.mounting a homemade crossbow

The bed, as in the previous case, is made of wood.

Blocks are made of aluminium. Better if they are on bearings. Perfectly suited for these purposes, the middle parts of the wheels for roller skates. Axes for them need to be taken with a diameter of 5 mm. They can also be taken from skates. Fasteners are made of steel or other durable material. If, when making the shoulders, the ends are made thicker, fastenings are not necessary. The next step is to install a trigger mechanism with a trigger and an arrow holder on the crossbow. All this is connected with bolts and washers. In block-type crossbows, the bowstring is somewhat longer and is pulled differently. It seems to cross, and the arrow flies with redoubled energy. A thin cable is used as a bowstring, which can withstand sharp pressure when fired.

Read how:

In order to conduct aimed shooting from a do-it-yourself crossbow at home, you need to adjust the stock. It must be adjusted taking into account the trajectory of the arrow flight. The bed should be at an angle of 5-6 degrees. Better yet, decide on the firing distance and shoot the crossbow made, after each series of shots, changing the angle of the stock.


photo. homemade wooden crossbow

The trigger mechanism can be anything, but so that it does not work prematurely, under the force of the bowstring. The string should, after the shot, return close to the bed, but without much friction.

If you do not want to buy an expensive crossbow (and prices sometimes exceed $ 1000), you can make a crossbow with your own hands. It is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The design of the crossbow is quite simple. A crossbow can be made from what is at hand, replacing the missing materials with similar ones. For target shooting, a homemade crossbow is quite suitable.

General view of the crossbow, which you can do with your own hands according to the drawings

The design of this crossbow uses the achievements of manufacturers in the field of weapons. The drawings show a crossbow block design. By following the instructions and observing all sizes, you can make a high-quality and good crossbow with your own hands, even at home.

The general scheme of a homemade crossbow in the assembly:

To begin with, it is advisable to carefully study the drawings of the crossbow and proceed with the assembly with your own hands. Making a crossbow with your own hands is not an easy task. But this increases the interest in the work! After all, a homemade crossbow can bring great joy and respect to the performer.

Crossbow device: bed, shoulders, butt, trigger, sighting devices, block system. For the manufacture of the bed, natural wood, solid or glued laminated timber, mostly hardwoods, is used. The exact dimensions of the crossbow can be seen on the drawings. You choose the shape of the crossbow yourself, guided by the convenience and ergonomics of the stock, the desired image. When choosing, you must also consider whether you can make such a form correctly.

Drawing of shoulders and crossbow deck:

The use of a stock from small arms can significantly reduce labor costs for the manufacture of a crossbow. The main thing is to choose the right size. The trace from the trunk, remaining in such a box, must be hammered with wooden blocks, firmly planting them on epoxy glue. The butt and underbarrel pad of the crossbow can also be made of wood. The butt will be attached to the rail and serve as the basis for the trigger.

Butt drawing:

Offered for assembly with your own hands, the crossbow has a block design. This allows you to compensate for the load when cocking the bowstring and save power. Block crossbows are the most popular among hunters. you can carry the crossbow in the cocked state for a long time. This design is actively used by Horton in the production of its crossbows.

Block assembly details drawing:

Pay special attention to the processing of the arrow and bowstring guides. The clarity of their finish greatly affects the accuracy of shooting. The lines of the guides must be perfectly straight and smooth. The best choice would be grinding on a milling machine and subsequent processing with fine-grained sandpaper. Next comes the polishing of the guides. You can see the dimensions of the boom guide groove in the drawings. The cross, with shoulders attached to it, is installed from the end end of the bed. Usually it is made from an aluminum blank. Wood can also be a suitable material.

The crossbow sight must consist of a rear sight and a front sight. Also, on a crossbow you can install optical sight, providing a mount for the aiming bar. Vertical adjustments are carried out entirely, mounted on the trigger cover, and horizontal adjustments - with a front sight mounted on the bracket of the elastic element.

There can be many design options for sights and sights for a crossbow, depending on the possibility of manufacturing, the availability of ready-made sights from conventional weapons ( air rifles) and so on.

It should be borne in mind that the flight path of the crossbow arrow (crossbow bolt) is quite high, so the rear sight must be installed well above the front sight. The angle of elevation of the sighting line depends on the weight of the arrow, the tension of the bowstring, the shooting distance, etc. In our crossbow at a distance of 50 m, it is approximately 6 °.

Convenient are the designs of the rear sight, which allow it to be removed or folded during transportation. It will also be convenient if the rear sight can be adjusted manually by raising or lowering the bar. Thus, you can shoot the crossbow under different conditions (distance to the target, arrow weight).

The crossbow, the manufacture of which is described above with your own hands, is designed for shooting with bolts with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 450-470 mm. They can be easily made by yourself from a duralumin tube with a wall thickness of 0.5 mm. A tip and an inner are attached to the bolt in front, plumage is attached to the back, as is done for archery. It should be borne in mind that the shank of a bolt for a crossbow, unlike an arrow for a bow, should not have a cutout for the bowstring, it should be flat. It can be carved out of wood in the form of a cork and inserted into the end of the tube, previously lubricated with glue.

It will be a great gift for a child. With it, you can organize a small shooting range. The power of the crossbow is not great, since an elastic band is used here as a bowstring. Such a crossbow shoots almost anything, the author, as an option, uses small arrows made from a ballpoint pen and a tip in the form of a needle from a syringe. The crossbow is assembled quickly and easily, it requires a minimum of materials.

Materials and tools for homemade:
- steel strip;
- plank made of wood;
- an ordinary wooden clothespin;
- handle from a ski pole;
- thin spring or elastic band;
- a piece of steel wire;
- a trigger from a children's toy gun;
- sheet iron or elements from a mechanical designer.

Of the tools you will need: drill, hacksaw, pliers, fixing tool and file.

How to assemble a mini crossbow:

Step one. Shoulders and crossbow stock
How the shoulders and stock of the crossbow are made and attached can be seen in the photo. The bed is assembled very simply, for this you need three boards. They are connected to each other with ordinary nails.




As for the shoulder mechanism of the crossbow, it is made from a piece of steel strip. The shoulders should not bend, since an elastic band or spring is used as a bowstring. Screws are used to attach the shoulders to the stock.

Step two. Device Trigger
The trigger mechanism for a crossbow is also very simple to make. For these purposes, you will need an ordinary wooden clothespin. From it you need to cut off one grasping part. How exactly, you can see in the photo.




Step three. Crossbow handle
To make a handle for homemade, the author used a handle from a ski pole. It can be attached to the bed with glue.




Step four. Additional crossbow arms
To make the crossbow a little more powerful, a second mount for rubber bands was made, that is, a second pair of shoulders. Such details have been found in old parts. How to fix them to the box, you can see in the photo.





Step five. How to make a pusher
To make a pusher, you will need a piece of wood. It must be carefully fitted under the clothespin. To secure the bowstring, a groove is made in the pusher. As a result, paired with a clothespin, the pusher works as a very simple and practical trigger mechanism.



Step six. bowstring
The author used an elastic band as a bowstring. This can be found in the fish store. In the middle of the gum, which will go into the pusher, you need to put on a tube (cambric). This is necessary so that the gum does not wear out from friction against the tree.



Step seven. Making a trigger
As a trigger for a crossbow, a trigger from a children's pistol is perfect. You need to attach a thin metal mount to it. For these purposes, an element from the constructor is well suited.



Step eight. We start to assemble the structure
In the photo you can see what the design will be like after installing additional shoulders. A top view and a bottom view are shown.




At this stage, you can already install the trigger. It is attached with a screw.



That's all, now the crossbow is almost ready, you need to connect the elastic. Rubber bands are attached to the shoulders, as well as the pusher, which moves freely in the groove of the crossbow bed. This design allows you to shoot almost anything with a crossbow, you can even shoot balls. To fix the pusher, a clothespin is used. To shoot, you need to click on the clothespin.



Step nine. Final steps assembly
As you can see in the photo below, the author decided to equip the crossbow with a sight. It was decided to abandon the gum, it was replaced by a thin spring.




After the trigger is attached, it must be connected to the clothespin. To do this, you need to make traction from steel wire. As a result, when you press the trigger, the clothespin releases the pusher and a shot occurs.





For a crossbow, you can make small arrows (bolts), for this you need ampoules from ballpoint pens or other suitable tubes. At the ends they need to be weighted, place a piece of steel wire or another weight inside. As a tip, needles from syringes are put on the tubes and sit on the glue.



That's all, the crossbow is ready, it is safe enough, because it has little power to cause serious injuries. For greater safety, you can not use arrows with a sharp tip. Another plus is that the crossbow is easy to load, that is, it will not be difficult for a child to pull the bowstring and shoot.

Below in the video you can see how the most powerful crossbow in the world works. An experiment was conducted to see if a crossbow could penetrate armor...

Initially, a self-made crossbow weapon was called a crossbow. Another meaning of this word is in the name of a homemade weapon that works without human intervention. This item is for hunting, designed to be installed on deserted paths in the deep forest. But this crossbow is undesirable to use, since there is a great risk of injuring another person. Any crossbow, like any weapon, can cause significant harm to health if it is misused or left unattended by children. To know how to make a crossbow at home, you should listen to some of the recommendations listed below.

DIY homemade crossbow

A crossbow-type self-firing weapon for hunting is a kind of special kind of watchdog trap. This weapon has been used for a long time in Rus', being installed near animal paths. A passing animal could hit the guard or grab the bait, which set off a simple weapon that hit right on target. Such a crossbow was installed at a distance of several tens of centimeters to several meters.

The simplest hunting crossbow consists of the following parts:

  • The basis
  • bowstring
  • Cord or rope for attaching the gatehouse to the base
  • gatehouse
  • watchful thread
  • Arrow

A loop of alarm thread is installed on the long end of the gatehouse. When she pulls off him, the gatehouse turns under the action of the bowstring, she is released, and a shot is fired. The greater the length of the gatehouse, the easier it is to shoot from a wary wooden crossbow.

A homemade hunting crossbow can be installed not only on the trail, when you can catch prey in front, behind or from the side, but also on tree branches. An animal climbing a tree must hit the alarming thread of the crossbow. Self-firing weapons on branches are installed for hunting small animals. It is also mounted hanging from trees to hunt wolverines, wolves or wild dogs. Stones, shortened arrows (so-called bolts), peg arrows, etc. are used as a projectile.

Homemade crossbow

Firearms for hunting purposes are rarely made because, like any weapon loaded with bullets, they are very dangerous. As a rule, such traps are installed near the animal trail, near which signal signs are placed, warning a person about the presence of a crossbow nearby. The easiest option for making self-firing weapons is to use a ten-gauge metal tube 20-25 cm long, with one end welded and the other ending in a brace. The launcher is equipped with a capsule. The made crossbow is loaded with two bullets, a suitable tree is found near the animal path, screwed into the trunk, and a stretch is made on the path. The weapon is aimed at the trail, the hunter is located near the hunting place. You can use this method of hunting, but crossbows are a much safer type of self-shooting weapon.

How to make a crossbow at home

Making a crossbow at home

Making a crossbow with your own hands is quite simple. To do this, you first need to leave a drawing with each part. The weapon consists of a bowstring with shoulders, a stock and a trigger mechanism. Steps on how to make a crossbow with your own hands at home:

  1. The bed is made of wood: for this you need to find a suitable board, draw a sketch of the bed, then cut it out with a jigsaw and a hacksaw.
  2. A homemade crossbow must have a finger hole - it is made using a suitable drill.
  3. A groove for an arrow is made with a needle file, the location of which is previously marked with a marker or pencil.

As a latch for the arrow, you can use ordinary wooden clothespins. To do this, a hole is drilled in one of them with a diameter along the thickness of the arrow, after which two clothespins are glued on top and bottom of the crossbow at the end of the crossbow bed, and the one in which the hole is made is placed on top of the back. It is she who will hold the arrow, and be attached to the upper ones.

Self-made crossbow

The shoulders of a crossbow can be made from an automobile spring or elastic plastic. They are fixed with a block or welded metal fasteners. To tension the bowstring, block elements are used for fastening at the ends of the arcs of the crossbow. The bowstring is made from a steel cable, or a nylon thread, for example, lavsan.

In the manufacture of a crossbow, an important part is the trigger mechanism. For this you will need:

  • Stainless steel sheet 2-3 mm thick, 10x15 cm in size.
  • Two small springs
  • Three 10mm bolts with six nuts and two 8mm bolts with two nuts.

On paper, you need to draw a diagram of the trigger mechanism, or rather, the trigger and the hook for the bowstring. The drawing from paper is transferred to a sheet of metal, cut out with a hacksaw, processed with a file. After that, a drawing of the details of the body of the trigger mechanism of the crossbow made of wood is made, transferred to a metal plate, cut out with a hacksaw for metal. The holes for the trigger mechanism must first be made on a piece of plywood, if it works properly, then transfer the holes already to the metal plate. Bolts with a diameter of 08 mm are fixed to the trigger and the hook for the bowstring, springs are also attached. The side parts of the plates are fastened with bolts with a diameter of 10 mm, and after that the home-made trigger mechanism for the crossbow is ready.