Recently there has been heightened interest to medieval culture. We enjoy watching costumed films, reading books about past life, arrange themed evenings, draw characters of “those” times. Recall our step-by-step instructions, or. Ancient technologies are being revived that allow you to make exact copies of weapons and various household appliances. One of the most popular historical items is the crossbow. You can make it yourself and use it as an attribute in role-playing games, a method of protection or a sports weapon.

Before we tell you how to make a crossbow at home, let's clarify: it can be regarded as a melee weapon if the bowstring force exceeds the allowable threshold of 20 kg.

You will need:

Arc

The design of the crossbow consists of three main parts:

1. lodge;
2. arc;
3. trigger mechanism.

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.

The arc can be made from ash, hazel or yew. Coniferous trees are not suitable. Make sure that the selected board does not have knots, slanting and tortuosity.

You will need a piece about 2 cm thick. Dry it well and soak it, and then cut it off:

• length should be from 70 to 80 cm;
• width - up to 4 cm.

Make sure that the arc evenly thins towards the edges, reaching 1.5 cm.

Bed

The crossbow does not press against the shoulder during shooting, therefore it does not have a stock. The bed is made of hardwood, which have sufficient hardness. Choose the size and shape of the board so that you can comfortably hold it in your hands. From one end, make a groove for the arc.

Groove for arc

Step back ten centimeters from the cut groove and make a hole for the rope attachment. Place the arc in the groove and temporarily secure it there using a rope. Attach a bowstring to both ends of the arc, after making small cuts with a knife for this.

Stretch the string as you would when shooting and mark the farthest point. Remove the arc and continue to process the bed.

In order to make a good crossbow that will suit you, determine the length of your forearm, and stepping back the same distance from the mark made earlier, saw off the board.

Trigger mechanism

In the most ancient design, a pin-type lock was used. If you want to make the same crossbow at home, carefully study the technology and start making the trigger.

1. At the place of the bowstring mark, drill a through hole, and make a transverse recess in the upper part of the bed.
2. Next, you need to fix the lever at the bottom of the weapon.
3. The axis of the lever can be made of wood, fixing it with a wire.

If you decide to strictly follow the historical technology, then the holes for the passage of the wire will have to be burned.

Put the lever and stock together

Fix the desired position with a rope or clamp. Drill a non-through recess in the lever, using the existing hole in the stock as a basis. After removing the clamp, check how freely the lever moves on the axis: the friction should be small.

Pushing the bowstring out of the groove

Use a knife to cut a round pin out of beech or oak. Its diameter should be slightly less than the lock hole, that is, the pin should freely, without catching, enter the recess, relying on the trigger lever. Measure the length so that when the lever is fully raised, its upper edge is level with the plane of the bed. The function of the pin will be to push the bowstring out of the groove.

Boom chute

Make a groove for the arrow from the leading edge to the top hole of the lock. The depth should be a quarter of the boom diameter.

Parts processing

Before making a crossbow, process all wooden parts with sandpaper. You can wax them or cover them with egg white dissolved in water.

Assembly and verification

Secure the arc in the groove with a rope. Check the operation of the lock. The assembly of the crossbow will not do without the final fitting of parts: this will increase the strength of the mechanism.

Now it has become fashionable to hunt with a bow and crossbow. Although it is forbidden in our country, it is still possible to shoot at targets by practicing this difficult task. You can make a crossbow with your own hands at home for training. After all good models from well-known companies are very expensive. And it can be made "under itself". It is worth remembering that if the weapon is with an interference of more than 20 kg, then it is considered a melee weapon. Therefore, when creating a crossbow, this important nuance should be taken into account.

There are classic models, they look like ancient ones, and their design is simple. There are also modern crossbows, they are called "block". Such weapons have a more complex design due to blocks and other innovations that enhance their power. It will be much more difficult to make such a crossbow at home, but the description of this process and the drawings that will be detailed in the article will help you with this.

The crossbow has many components:

trigger mechanism;

• in some modern models there are blocks at the ends of the bow.

What to make a crossbow

The main material from which the crossbow is made is wood. It is used to make a bed and a bow. The trigger mechanism in powerful samples is machined from iron. And those in which the tension force is less than 20 kg can be made of solid wood, it will withstand it. Also, spring metal and various composites are used for bows.

Ordinary wooden crossbow

To begin with, let's look at how easy it is to make a crossbow with your own hands, and start with its simple form. This is a standard design ancient weapons, and it can be used not only for shooting, but also as a spectacular piece of furniture, hanging on the wall.

What tree to use

To create a crossbow, you need to choose:

All these breeds are dense enough to withstand the enormous loads that will affect the bow and crossbow stock.

Material preparation

In order for the weapon to shoot long and powerfully, its material must be properly dried for a year. Having cut off the necessary trunk or branch, both cuts must be painted over. To do this, you can use any glue, paint or varnish. If you close the cuts in this way, moisture will not be able to quickly leave the workpiece, so the wood will dry more slowly and more evenly. So internal cracks do not form in the material, and a do-it-yourself crossbow made at home will last a very long time.

After that, the log is placed in a dry place where the sun's rays will not fall on it. So it should lie for a year. After the lapse of time, the bark is removed from the workpiece, so it dries for another week. The log is then cut in half. So it lies for another week, only after that you can start creating a crossbow.

Tools for making a crossbow

• Sandpaper of different grits.

  Joiner's cutter.

  Chisel.

Making a bow

On the workpiece, choose the side in which the annual rings of the tree are thinner. This is the north side, the fibers on it are denser than in other parts. It is this that we will use when creating a crossbow with our own hands at home. From this part you need to make a bow.

They outline the middle, about two centimeters are laid off from it on both sides, marking the part that will be clamped in the crossbow bed. This will be the thickest part of the bow. From it they begin to cut off the material, moving gradually towards the edges. Chip the workpiece gradually on both sides, while checking until it starts to bend at least a little.

After that, you need to take a strong rope, make loops at its ends. This will be a test thread. It is necessary to check the tightness of the bow. It is very important that his shoulders flex evenly. Putting on an impromptu bowstring and pulling the bow, you can see where to shoot the material. They are marked, carefully cut with a knife. So you need to continue until the product begins to bend evenly on both sides.

Knot processing

Very often, knots come across on the material: some are visible immediately, others can open during the processing of the material. What they are dangerous for is that they can cause chips to form. Therefore, you need to handle such places with a well-sharpened knife. If there is no confidence or experience, it is better to tinker a little longer and sand them with sandpaper. You can also use a file for this purpose.

Bed

When the bow is ready, it is set aside and proceed to the manufacture of the bed. To begin with, they choose where the chute will be, along which the arrow will fly out, make this place perfectly flat. It will depend on him how accurately the crossbow will shoot. To understand everything, it is better to look at the drawing of the crossbow. How to make his bed is shown in detail here. After that, the groove is cut to the required length. Usually it is about 30 cm. Then they make a recess for the bow and the trigger. It is convenient to cut them with a chisel and a carpenter's knife.

Trigger mechanism

As mentioned above, it can be made from dense wood or, if the crossbow is powerful, from metal. The most is the so-called "nut". It consists of a cylinder, where on the one hand there is a hook for the bowstring, and on the other hand there is an emphasis for the trigger. In powerful crossbows, the trigger is more advanced for easier pulling of the trigger when loaded.

We examined in detail, the Master class with drawings, we hope, will help to understand all the intricacies.

This is a common medieval model. Now we will learn how to make the same weapon, only a modern model.

Block crossbow

It is much more difficult to make such an apparatus, it will require much more tools than for a conventional one. So, we create a crossbow with our own hands at home from fiberglass. This material is ideal for making bows, because it is biting and at the same time light. It can be cut from a single piece of fiberglass 1 cm thick or made by yourself. If you are not too lazy to tinker, then it is better to make it yourself.

We make fiberglass shoulders for a crossbow

You need to take fiberglass or Kevlar and cut into strips. They need from 30 to 40. In general, it is better to try everything empirically. These strips are glued with epoxy resin so that everything becomes monolithic when solidified. You also need to think about how to put all this "sandwich" under the press. It is best to use boards between which to place the shoulders, clamp everything with clamps.

B should have less thickener than usual, ranging from 8 to 10%. Everything freezes in 24 hours, but if the room is cold, the time may increase. When everything is frozen, the shoulders are finalized by cutting off the protruding edges with a knife and sanding with sandpaper.

Now we will analyze in detail how to make a crossbow with your own hands at home and what additional elements of its design you need to make.

We make a figured bed

To do this, you need to take a board with a thickness of at least 4 cm. Mark where the butt, handle, trigger and mounts for the bow shoulders will be. In general, everything is according to the drawings. After that, you need to drill all the necessary holes and cut out.

Blocks

They can be made from aluminium. Better if they were on bearings. The middle parts from roller skate wheels are perfect. They are strong enough to withstand heavy loads, plus their size is perfect. Axes under them are needed in 5 mm thick. You can take them from the videos or make your own.

Fasteners are made of sheet steel or similar durable material. You can also make the ends thicker before pouring epoxy resin on the shoulders of the bow, to install the blocks, in which case fasteners are not needed.

After that, on a do-it-yourself crossbow made at home, you need to install a trigger mechanism with a trigger and an arrow holder. In general, all parts are connected with bolts, washers are required. They will allow you to twist everything more tightly without damaging the material.

In block crossbows, the bowstring is longer and stretched differently. It seems to cross, and when tensioned, this system allows you to give the arrow twice as much energy for flight as in the case of a conventional crossbow with the same bow.

In powerful block models, the bowstring is the only one capable of withstanding huge sharp pressure when fired. In crossbows, whose power is not more than 40-50 kg, it can be woven from nylon threads.

Making a string for a crossbow

In the described way, you can make a bowstring for both a recursive and a classic crossbow. It's just that their length will be different due to the peculiarities in the designs of both models.

They take a board with the length of the planned bowstring, drive in two pegs, which are wound around in a circle. When the thickness of this long oval becomes 5 mm, it is wrapped, making a gap of 2-3 mm between the turns. Near the pegs you need to braid without gaps, because there will be loops for the hook.

As for the bowstring, we can also say that if you make it too thick, then the strength of the crossbow decreases. However, the thin one can break. So in this case, you need to choose an intermediate thickness. It is better to study such sports models with the same tightness and make a bowstring of their thickness. When this is done, the two halves are joined and wrapped together. Again, special care is needed near the loops. Then wrap around the middle, where the bowstring will hook and push the arrow. This place is also done carefully, because a friction force of enormous power will be exerted on it. All cut edges of the threads must be smeared with glue. This will make them more dense and monolithic.

This article provides drawings and a description of how to make a real crossbow at home. It's not that difficult, especially if you're making wooden weapons. If the product is made for hunting in order to achieve tremendous power, then you should choose a block model. Its design is a little more complicated, you may need a machine to make some parts.

Before proceeding to self-manufacturing crossbow, you should decide on the device of this type of weapon. Its main structural elements are: a trigger, a bowstring, a bow with a bowstring, a sight, a tension mechanism and a wooden base, which is commonly called a bed.

Of course, a crossbow made will be very different from the factory design. But the principle of operation will be the same. First you need to make the base of the crossbow. The base is the main element of such a weapon. It can be made from wood such as birch or walnut. The thickness of the workpiece must be at least three centimeters. After creating the blank, you will need to project the shape of the future base onto it, and then cut it out.

As for the bow itself, you can use arches from an old sports bow (if you have one) to make it. To connect the crossbow bed and the bow, you will need to connect the bow to the base. True, you can use another option. It involves the manufacture of a metal frame. It will have a bed and a bow.

How to make a string

The bowstring should not have a high degree of extensibility. Otherwise, a homemade crossbow will very quickly cease to fulfill its functions. So, the best material for creating a bowstring will be lavsan or fastflight. Wrap the threads, after pulling them between the nails. Do not forget to make loops for putting on a bowstring. It will not work to pull the bowstring without a stirrup, which in turn can be made of steel wire or cable.

Attach one end of the rope or wire to the base of the crossbow. And at the other end, fix the handles. You will also need to adjust the tension level of the bowstring after it is fixed. You can do this directly on .

Trigger and arrows

After adjusting the tension of the bowstring, you can proceed to the manufacture of the trigger mechanism. The role of such a mechanism will be a wooden lever, which will need to be carefully built into the crossbow. Then you need to mount the sighting device. Front sights can be used for a mechanical sight.

Arrows for homemade crossbow can be made from ordinary boards, and then planed. If you want arrows to be strong, you should not drive nails into them. Otherwise, when reaching the target, the arrow may break.

A must read!

Making homemade weapons, in particular crossbows and bows, less often knives, are usually engaged in teenagers and young people up to twenty, twenty-three years old. Older people prefer buy factory-made branded weapons. However, there are exceptions.

For example, an older person may be fascinated self-made weapons at the level of hobby and collecting. But more often than not, his passion becomes closer to professional work, since it is not a one-time impulse. According to statistics, this site is visited mainly by young people from fourteen to twenty-eight years old (according to Yandex metrics). They are mainly interested methods and methods of making any homemade weapon.

However, with an unprofessional attitude to the subject of interest and a lack of technical skills, the creation of homemade products can lead to undesirable traumatic situations that can harm the health and even, in some cases, the life of young experimenters. Therefore, if you are on fire with the idea, by all means purchase one of types of permitted weapons, then it is better to buy it in a store, or contact a qualified specialist. Of course, in this case, certain costs will be required, but they are not as critical as it seems at first glance. That is, your health is much more expensive than a certain amount of money spent on buying, for example, a crossbow.

Naturally, not all young people have available funds for the purchase of weapons, and not everyone has the right to use it, even if it belongs to the category of sports, due to their age. Therefore, in specialized stores it can only be sold to a person who has reached the age of majority and has an appropriate document authorizing the purchase and use of weapons for personal purposes.

Otherwise, the case with online gun shops, for which it does not matter to whom weapons are sent, and all surveys during registration have a formal look. But as mentioned above, adolescents under the age of eighteen rarely have their own income and therefore in most cases sporting weapon is acquired with the knowledge of the parents and with their direct participation.

More for fans of ready-made stock drawings

Please note that the crossbow is made “from the bow”. That is, what kind of bow is, the crossbow will be adjusted to its parameters, because each bow has its own unique parameters - the pulling force, the length of the pull, the length of the shoulders, finally. Further, the castle also meets the given requests, it has its own geometry and it may not always be suitable for the desired type of box. So there is no point in such drawings and they can only be considered as an illustration for understanding general principle arrangement of parts.

Some features of the manufacture of stocks for crossbows deserve closer attention, allowing you to save material and nerves. When making a stock for a compound bow, please note that the groove in it for the intersecting sections of the bowstring must be extended towards the lock, since when pulled, the ends of the bow with blocks are bent back. Sometimes an incorrect cut causes a radical change in the location of the nodes, which entails a change in the design of the product as a whole, sometimes not in better side. Do not forget to leave at least a millimeter in reserve. By milling, you can only set the initial shape, for example, of the key groove, and finally finish it with the help of a small chisel and files with needle files.

A small note about the final processing of stocks

The question is often asked about where to get the drawings of the stock, the stock can be made even from the leg of a chair, but the crossbow itself, in the end, should not be just a designer of ridiculous details, but should be a product made in the same style. For example, crossbows in the style of the Middle Ages look holistically and balanced with powerful bow, forged fittings, a hard lock and a rough wooden stock; or a light and elegant sports crossbow with optics, a thin and biting bow, an anatomical stock; not to mention the futuristic crossbows with polished metal surfaces, laser pointer, titanium-cast stock and super complex lock. In other words, the final finish depends on your taste, but remember that it will be judged by your crossbow.

More about guides

High-quality guides are the most important element that affects the accuracy of shooting, as they set the initial orientation of the bolt (arrow). They can be made from any material, desirably having a low coefficient of friction. Although the guides receive almost no load, they must have sufficient strength to maintain straightness. Therefore, it is not bad to make them as a separate part, attached to the stock at points at its ends. This makes it possible, if necessary, to easily change it, for example, in case of damage or switching to another type of bolts, moreover, such fasteners allow you to “untie” the guides from the deformable stock. The longitudinal guide groove for the bolt is usually one-third the diameter of the shaft so that the plane of the bowstring coincides with the axis of the bolt. It is convenient when a narrow groove for the lower plumage passes through the guide, then random needles when shooting in the forest, for example, will not interfere with the bolt stroke.

As already mentioned, it is convenient to make guides separately from the stock. The material can be metal, plastic or wood. The necessary thin longitudinal groove can be made with a thin hacksaw blade of an electric jigsaw or by making a guide from two halves, which is also very convenient and has its advantages. A particularly important factor in the manufacture is the observance of absolute straightness and parallelism. Naturally, you will have to apply sandpaper or a polishing hairy circle. The dimensions are not critical at all and are determined only by the length of the stock section from the block to the lock, corresponding to the running (landing) part of the bolt, as well as the diameter of the bolt shaft and the type of its plumage. The bolt should lie freely, but without backlash, in the guide groove, the plumage should not touch anything. The guides are installed in such a way that the axis of the inserted bolt coincides in the front part with the fastening of the bowstring (! Nuance) on the bow, and in the back part, passes through the filling cutout of the lock. The nuance lies in the fact that it is precisely the front part of the guide that should be slightly higher than the indicated plane, which ensures some sliding of the bowstring pushing the bolt. Naturally, everything should be within reasonable limits, and the wooden surface of the guide must be protected from abrasion by the bowstring with additional metal plates.

Lock

A lock made of clothespins and tin can hardly deserve any attention. The crossbow lock is a very important detail. There is an opinion that the simpler the lock, the more reliable it is, but I would interpret it a little differently - the better the lock, the more reliable it is. The manufacture of the lock should be treated with special attention, because convenience and reliability, as well as the accuracy of operation, and hence the accuracy of shooting, depend on its operation. A little about the functions of the castle. A good lock should provide a guaranteed retention of the bowstring on an equipped crossbow, as well as a clear descent at the required moment of aiming. It is in accordance with the first paragraph that additional interlocks and fuses are introduced into the design of the locks, and with the second - intermediate unloading levers and repeaters. The choice of lock design again depends on your locksmith capabilities and needs, and here you can show your creative inclinations to modernize existing samples and develop your own. Personally, I liked the design of professional locks presented on one of the sites. The bicycle has been invented, but has it been invented yet?

To make it easier to embed the lock, it is necessary, even when designing it, to try to give it the maximum simple form. That is, locks with various depressions are unlikely to be neatly packed into a box, while flat, rectangular locks in this regard do not cause special problems when crashing into a box. It is important to take into account that the locks must be securely fastened, without backlash, have a maximum contact area with the stock to relieve the load. Often overlooked is the simple fact that the lock bears the entire tension load. That is, if you are making a crossbow with a bow of 300 kg (probably for an elephant), then, of course, all 300 kg + shock load and so on will come from them to the details of the castle, but the stock must manage in its thinnest place (usually where it is weakened by the keyway), survive the same 300 kg + twisting and other non-parallel loads. Again, in some drawings, the locks have attachment points too close to the edges or small diameter holes for thin bolts or screws. If for metal this value is acceptable, then for wood it is necessary to provide for some margin. So, summing up all the factors, we can conclude that the lock should have a minimum size, in particular, a width, have a maximum surface of contact with the groove, that is, it should fit snugly with its front surface in the groove, and only be fixed with bolts on the stock. In addition, the stock itself must have sufficient strength in its weakest part in order to calculate the bow tension load. So for monsters, it’s better to make a stock from a metal profile, and put linings from beautiful durable wood on the body kit. To the extent of my incompetence on this issue, I cannot give special recommendations regarding the choice of wood, although I personally prefer beech.

For those who do not live in the regions where this wonderful tree grows, I advise you to pay close attention to the old pianos of your acquaintances and friends. In them, beech is found in the form of massive power beams for hanging frame cast iron. At the risk of angering aesthetes, a piano is easier to find these days than a piece of good wood. Let's write off this barbarism as a by-product of art. For metal lovers. Excellent aluminum and alloy profiles can be found in office furniture. Rigid rectangular profiles are now ubiquitous in some machine tools. A wonderful thin-walled pipe made of blackened metal is in .... large inclined tablet like designers or draftsmen. I don’t know what the warriors have to do with it, but such a pipe can also be used in powerful pneumatic and light firearms systems, as well as for mortars for fireworks. You can also cast stocks from aluminum and alloys, followed by milling grooves and other things, but this is more a matter of technology and taste.

Let me remind you that the bow tension force acts on the lock! This means that the lock must withstand the impact of large loads without loss of performance, so that tin as a material is immediately excluded. The proposed mm steel, after processing already 0.8 mm, can only be used on crossbows of small power, otherwise the lock will simply deform. The details of the castle are also worth a closer look. The main hook works under full load, so use stronger steel and a thicker axle. On the release, releasing the hook, depending on the design and the lever, a smaller force acts. Other parts can be made already on the basis of their purpose and the load on them, while not forgetting about the margin of safety and wear resistance. Gunsmith designers have a technology for designing the mechanisms of real weapon locks “on pins and needles”, this is when the contours of the alleged parts of the lock are cut out of cardboard, pinned with pins at the points of their axes to plywood. At the same time, it is possible to immediately see the interaction of parts with each other, correct, and then embody everything in metal. In principle, it remains only to choose a suitable lock, further modernization can be achieved by using high-quality steel, some modification of the escapement and equipping the lock with additional devices, adjustments, etc.

Structurally, locks with a so-called “nut” or a similar hook design are more suitable for crossbow sniping. The hook rotates freely on an axis close to the center of mass, which results in a very soft, jerk-free descent. Such locks will appeal to fans of high-precision shooting and the fairer sex (there are also such people in this business!), But aggressive locks clanging and clattering like Hollywood will be more useful in systems of a threatening militaristic or medieval style of execution. In one of the “pro” locks, the design of which I took as the basis for my own, there is a safety lock and a blocker that excludes the lowering of the bowstring without a tucked bolt, which is quite thoughtful for preserving the bowstring. By adding a slot in the upper part of the hook, it was possible to ensure the impact-free interaction of the bowstring on the knock, the rear end of the bolt, in the common people “butt”.

Block

Designed for fastening the bow or its limbs directly to the stock. The block works in a very stressful mode, experiences shock loads, therefore it must have a significant margin of safety. It is made of aluminum casting or metal, calculated depending on the bow used. The block for separate limbs of the bow is affected by more forces with different vectors. When designing pads, it is necessary to correctly use various slopes and triangles, which can significantly save in weight with the same rigidity of the part. The block can be removable to reduce the dimensions of the crossbow when carried. There is a certain peculiarity in the way of fastening the limbs to the stock, which is that it is preferable to use fastening on threaded clamps than on rivets, but it is better not to weaken the limbs with holes at all. (!) Pay Special attention on the fasteners of the bow arms, consider the rule of leverage, which, coupled with the force of pulling the bow, adds up to an immodest amount. It is most convenient to make a block from thick sheet steel, bending the workpiece like origami.

The bow is the main part of any crossbow.

Structurally, it is easier to use a mono bow made of strong and elastic steel, however, some plastics are also applicable. The simplest thing is to use ready-made bows for shooting sports. Can be made from any elastic spring steel, such as springs. We used a powerful spring from some kind of relic hell trap. A stacked bow consisting of a pack of stripes has huge friction losses between the stripes. Even if you lubricate the strips with something like "ER" to reduce friction, the use of such a bow is not practical. If you want to make a detachable bow with snaps, then I advise you to fasten the bow to the block tightly, but the block itself can be made tightly fastened to the stock. In general, analyzing the physics of the bow, it can be noted that a bow with developed shoulders, which have some narrowing towards the ends, is better. Such a bow, evenly bending, accumulates a lot of energy. However, longbows require a longer stock due to the increased draw travel, which is unacceptable. Ancient crossbows, judging by the sources, hit 200 paces. So it was they who “beat”, knocking riders off their horses, and for a longer firing range, perfect sights are already needed, and even now no one shoots from machine guns at a greater range, it makes no sense. We’ll talk more about firing range in the paragraph on bolts.

If possible, then you can forge a bow from a suitable metal, and it is better to immediately provide for the fastening points of the bowstring on the block. Again, making a block diagram is better if the bow has a lot of power.

The brackets of the blocks, the blocks themselves work on the bow tension force + bowstring compression force + shock loads. Blocks can be machined from a material of suitable strength, however, it is necessary to unload the shoulders of the bow as much as possible. In most cases, the choice of aluminum as block material is very successful. For those who have difficulty making blocks, I recommend looking into old reel-to-reel tape recorders. In some models, there are wonderful blanks for aluminum alloy blocks, you just need to cut off the excess. To facilitate the blocks, holes are drilled in them or windows are cut out. You can also look into old receivers, where the vanier is based on a cable system. The warriors have a lot of old radio equipment with such blocks. There are small blocks on ancient dental burstans. On professional crossbows, the blocks are oval. This is due to the fact that the block rotates only a small angle. I think that the fact of some gain when using the block scheme versus the usual, recursive one is obvious, but a further increase in the number of blocks gives less and less result. So there is no point in collecting a garland of 6,8,10 blocks. A four-block crossbow is capable of pulling even a child. I note that a compound bow works softer than a recursive one, which improves the accuracy of shooting, besides, the force to break the bowstring on it is less, apparently due to the loading of the bowstring with blocks.

Springs are sometimes used as a propellant on some exotic models, but they have big weight, volume, low speed and huge energy, which in turn entails a complication of the design and requires high-quality steel for locks. A compressed automobile damper spring can easily tear off a person's arm or leg. A shot with such a spring into a bag with caked cement pierced it, and the spring itself flew away behind a row of neighboring garages. Very dangerous and inconvenient thing.

Bolt - an arrow for a crossbow

The bolt is the striking element of this type of weapon. It has a greater (emphasis on the first syllable) stopping effect than a bullet (!). Kevlar vests also lose their effectiveness against such a hello from the Middle Ages. So it would be appropriate to once again remind you of the observance of safety rules when shooting from a crossbow, despite the fact that the article is devoted to a slightly different topic. A bolt wound can often be fatal! Death the victim can be caused even just by the sight of a bolt sticking out of the body!

So bolts. They are made of any durable material with low weight and sufficient elasticity. Can be made from suitable blanks of straight-grained wood, with the layers of wood arranged lengthwise to give the arrow flexibility. It is difficult to do without small-scale mechanization in the form of at least an electric drill. The bolt must have a perfect shape, the center of gravity is usually between the first and second third of the bolt, and already assembled (!), However, it is possible to vary this parameter at your discretion. You can change the mass of the bolt by choosing different material for the shaft, the dimensions and material of the tips and socks. To protect against moisture, wooden shafts of bolts are impregnated with protective compounds and are usually stored in horizontal position. Wonderful bolts can be made from sections of broken fiberglass telescopic rods. They have great strength with low weight and are not afraid of dampness. I draw your attention to the fact that all bolts should be as close as possible in weight and size, otherwise with each new shot you will be in for a surprise, especially when shooting at maximum range. In general, the crossbow itself allows you to shoot quite heavy arrows, even with welding electrodes, so it is rather difficult to clearly determine the optimal bolt. When choosing by experience a lot of bolts for your crossbow, do not forget about the golden mean: a light bolt loses speed faster, and a heavy bolt does not fly far. Instructions for self-made bolts -.

About firing range

Crossbow, there is a crossbow. The bolt, like an arrow, is launched with a relatively low initial speed, has a sufficiently large air resistance and a small mass, so that purely physically it cannot fly very far, one must be realistic. There are firearms for such things. By the way, looking back in antiquity, the crossbow was valued precisely because it was used exclusively for the extermination of heavy cavalry at medium distances, having a short and heavy arrow in its arsenal. Articles that mention shooting for almost a kilometer, I consider purely humorous.

Bolt tips are made based on the task for this type. Hunting bolts are generally equipped with creepy-looking four- or three-blade harpoon-like tips. For sports shooting, almost any solid material is applicable. When shooting at hard targets, bolts often break. It is better to make tips with a recess for mounting on the shaft of the bolt. Tips attached to the pole cut will usually split the pole when it hits a hard obstacle. Rubber tips don't make sense. The diameter of the tip may exceed the diameter of the bolt if the shaft is longer than the guide.

bowstring

A good bowstring with proper care will last a long time. It is made of steel (cables, strings), polymer wood or woven from silk. I don’t know about the latter, now there is a huge amount of synthetic materials. Kevlar for the manufacture of bowstrings should go as a material with high tensile strength. For powerful crossbows you can use a thin steel cable for a bowstring. It is found everywhere in motorcycle and automotive equipment. I note that a braided bowstring more easily tolerates breaking loads due to the fact that part of the energy is spent on friction between the braided threads. Protect the bowstring from abrasion against the stock with special overlays made of metal or plastic.

Sights

Actually, it's a matter of your taste. The use of certain sights depends on the range and nature of the crossbow shooting. optical sights for weapons at a hundred or less meters are generally somehow ridiculous, although a crossbow with optics looks pretty predatory. They have a large mass and exorbitant cost, require a standard mounting bar, and are convenient for firing at a static target. The installation of collimator sights in this case is more justified, in addition, it becomes possible to shoot offhand. Simple diopter sights are even simpler and better for crossbows, and the simplest open sight is not difficult to make at all. I’ll keep silent about optics for now, but you can stop at the manufacture of open or diopter sights. The fact is that there is some difference between the axis of the bolt flight and the axis of the crossbow, not to mention the hinged trajectory of the arrow flight, so for sights it is necessary to provide for the possibility of fine tuning using the appropriate screws. To do this, the mount of the sights is made with oval holes that allow some displacement, or adjusting screws with fine threads are installed in the body of the mounts, which displace the sight itself during rotation. Sighting of sights is best done indoors or in calm weather. In this case, the crossbow itself is fixed on a massive fixed base, for example, with clamps. Next, trial shots are made with one reference arrow. The difference between the aiming point and the actual point of impact of the bolt at a given distance is corrected by the adjusting screws of the sight. Then the shooting distance changes and the process repeats. Thus, any sight can be calibrated for any shooting distance. Similarly, corrections for the wind are made (frontal against the wind, at an angle towards, at an angle downwind, sideways, downwind).

Tensioners such as various "goat legs" are easy to make from a suitable metal by resizing the data to fit the geometry of your own crossbow, however, such devices are rather necessary for cocking very powerful crossbows with recurve bows or are simply a convenient excess, since compound bows even a fair amount of power can be cocked by hand, albeit with gloves on.

This completes the theoretical part of the instructions on how to make a crossbow, see the photo and explanations below:

To make a crossbow we need a wooden stick and a piece of iron

The stick is made approximately according to these dimensions.

One spring plate 650X100X8 was taken. Bulgarian slowly separate the right. The dimensions of the arch in the middle - 35 mm., And along the edges - 18 mm.

On the emery we narrow the shoulders, evenly from the center to the ends until we reach 5 mm. in thickness. On the arch in this form we stretch (cable) steel wire. We clamp it in a vice. We will insert a round timber strictly in the center so that it does not interfere with the arch when bending. We stretch and at the same time check the force and distance of the tension. From these parameters we will dance in the future.

As in the "Golden Calf": we take a weight and saw. And that's what happened. The most important detail in a crossbow. Toe or cat.

But in order to make a normal lock, we need a sear and a trigger. A hole is made in the upper part of the pin so that the bolt of the strip spring falls into this hole and fixes the pin from moving.

Let's start making the lock case

We carefully try on all this and drill holes for the pins

We proceed to the manufacture of the protection of the trigger. We take a wooden stick and try it on.

Hollow out a place under the castle

We insert the lock

To attach the rear sight we make a dovetail. And solder. I did it with PSR, but you can also use POS. It all depends on how we burn (what temperature it will be).

In the arch, we drill two holes at the edges for fastening the clamps. Many people ask if it is possible to drill a spring. I answer freely. A Pobedite drill adjusted on a diamond wheel.

We grind rollers

We grind rollers

We adjust the clamps to the desired size. We proceed to the manufacture of the arch mounting clamp.

Making a stirrup

This is how I close the ends of the bowstring. Do not beat, but crimp with a lathe chuck.

Under construction and finished look

Ready view

We proceed to a very serious operation - bluing. I specially show unsuccessful bluing.

And here is a successful bluing

We take a stick and make a channel for the guide

Glue the plank

Now we take up the butt, but carefully with the tools

We remove the excess. The stick I took is a wild cherry. Suitable for birch, walnut, etc.

Varnishing. But then who gives preference to what varnish.

Excess. But, in my opinion, pleasing to the eye.

It is important that the gap between the bowstring and the bed is 2 mm. The calculation is simple - the middle of the bolt diameter.

Bottom view

And he pulled a shrink film over the arch. And it gives the appearance and protects in case of breakage of the arch from splinters.

Ready view

After 40-50 shots, the string broke.

I decided to add 2 more videos.

To facilitate the design, the rollers were replaced with caprolon ones. With a distance of 30 cm from the string to the hook and a force of 85 kg. with the addition of rollers, the force on the arch is reduced and the boom speed is increased.

Source www.ucoz.com

Another selection - professional drawings of a homemade block crossbow (free download)

For viewing in full size click on the picture.

Evgenia Smirnova

To send light into the depths of the human heart - this is the purpose of the artist

Content

How to make a crossbow - this question worries both hunters and shooters. Shooting from a crossbow, as from military weapons left far behind. Today, crossbow shooting is mainly practiced professional athletes, as well as amateurs who want to shoot at targets. Crossbow shooting has a number of advantages over shooting firearms. Firstly, it is the noiselessness of shooting, and secondly, the availability and comparative safety. The crossbow does not require any permission and a medical examination to purchase it. It is enough just to buy a ready-made one (for which you will have to pay from several hundred dollars and more), or you can make a weapon yourself. That is why your favorite site useful tips the site will tell you today about how to make a crossbow yourself.

How to make a mini crossbow - instructions

Types of weapons and ammunition

Experts distinguish between two types of crossbows - field and match. Feathered arrows are considered ammunition for both types. On sale there are carbon and duralumin feathered arrows. You can learn and compete in shooting with the help of a standard five-color archery target, which is also on sale. Shooters from field crossbows usually compete at distances of 35, 50, 65 meters (in the air) and at 10, 18 meters (indoors). Shooters from match analogues usually compete only in special rooms - shooting ranges at distances of 10 and 30 meters.

Hunting with a crossbow is an activity for real men

Many owners use their devices for hunting. Hunting with a crossbow is fundamentally different from hunting with a gun - not everyone likes to shoot animals from a tower, a helicopter or drive an animal in a large crowd. Hunting, on the contrary, loves silence and solitude. In some ways, this type of hunting resembles the well-known heroic fun - walking on a bear with a horn. In fact, for a shot, you need to get closer to the beast at a distance of 50 meters and closer. Not everyone will be able to approach a boar at such a short distance, and approaching it at such a short distance requires special hunting skills. Well, the more valuable the prey!

How to choose

Power

For hunting a bird or a small animal, a crossbow with a pulling power of 50 kg is enough. With a tension power of 50-70 kg, you can hunt a large ungulate animal. For hunting wild boar, crossbows with a capacity of 80 kg are used.

What ammo can be used

Hunting large game requires special ammunition. You need to hunt large prey with the help of special professional arrows made of fiberglass or carbon. These arrows have sufficient strength and lightness, they are correctly centered, which guarantees a successful hit. On sale there are also sometimes excellent arrows made of aluminum. But such ammunition is suitable for hunting only small animals or birds. Arrow manufacturers provide for the possibility of turning hunting ammunition into sports ammunition - for this you just need to change the arrowhead. The threaded connection allows you to do this very quickly. A hunting arrow weighs from 30 to 35 grams, the length of such an arrow is from 45 to 50 cm. As a rule, the length of the plumage of a hunting arrow is greater than that of a sports arrow, because the arrow needs to stabilize faster in flight to assume a combat position.

For fishing

Some shooters use a crossbow not only for hunting, but also for fishing. For fishing with a crossbow, harpoon arrows of a special needle shape are used, which allow the arrow to move in the water. At the end of the fishing arrow there is a hook to which the fishing line is attached. The other end of the fishing line is tied into the crossbow itself.