Crossbow Build??

[CanuckShooter]

I have heard of guys building their own longbows...has anyone ever homebuilt a cross bow?? What degree of difficulty would it entail???

[OOBuck]

I have heard of guys building their own longbows...has anyone ever homebuilt a cross bow?? What degree of difficulty would it entail???

I use to have a guy come in & get old leaf springs to use for the limbs..

[hardnocks]

i made one . i turned the fireing mechanizim on the lathe at school witch was a long time ago. the bow was an old buggy spring . it had about an 50lb trigger pull and we loaded it with the hydrolics of the tractor. only shot it a few times as we couldn`t keep a string on it.

[Grantmac]

From simple to complex, crossbow covers a lot of terrain.

If your trying to duplicate a modern hunting crossbow then I think it would be an effort best left to the factory.

If you want to make something based on an older design there are lots of pre-Renaissance ones which are pretty easy to construct. They don't have tonnes of power but they also don't require any metal parts for the lock.

-Grant

[mikeinajeep]

I made one using a leaf spring and a 2X4 carved into a stock. it worked ok but was super heavy and did not shoot well. You should shoot a pencil into a wall with it.

[Rod]

I have one here I made years ago, car leaf spring for the bow, trigger mechanism is home brew machining job with room for 3 fingers. it takes all three to pull and it is over 250 lb draw weight. cedar arrows turn to toothpicks in mid air at about 6 feet, aluminum just fold up so I use fiberglass and they work fine (carbon shafts didn't exist when I built it).

I actually used this beast for deer hunting about 15 years ago and took a whitetail at about 15 yards, broke both front shoulders and knocked it down like it was hit by a truck.

[CanuckShooter]

I have one here I made years ago, car leaf spring for the bow, trigger mechanism is home brew machining job with room for 3 fingers. it takes all three to pull and it is over 250 lb draw weight. cedar arrows turn to toothpicks in mid air at about 6 feet, aluminum just fold up so I use fiberglass and they work fine (carbon shafts didn't exist when I built it).

I actually used this beast for deer hunting about 15 years ago and took a whitetail at about 15 yards, broke both front shoulders and knocked it down like it was hit by a truck.

HolyMoly....sounds like it has lots of power!!!

[Monashee]

http://www.alcheminc.com/crossbow.html

and a local fellow who is among the world's best crossbow makers ,

http://www.thecrossbowmansden.com/Build_a_Kids_Crossbow.html