Now it has become fashionable to hunt with a bow and crossbow. Although it is forbidden in our country, you can still shoot at targets, practicing in this difficult task. You can make a crossbow with your own hands at home for training. Indeed, good models from well-known companies are very expensive. A homemade crossbow can be made "for yourself." It is worth remembering that if the weapon will be with an interference of more than 20 kg, then it is considered edged weapon. Therefore, when creating a crossbow, it is worth considering this important nuance.
There are classic models, they are similar to 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 its 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 described in detail in the article will help you with this.
The crossbow has many components:
What to make a crossbow from
The main material from which the crossbow is made is wood. A bed and bow are made from it. The trigger mechanism in powerful samples is machined from iron. And those in which the tensile force is less than 20 kg can be made of solid wood, it can withstand it. Also, spring metal and various composites are used for onions.
Conventional wooden crossbow
To begin, consider how easy it is to make a crossbow with your own hands, and start with its simple form. This is a standard design of ancient weapons, and it can be used not only for shooting, but also as a spectacular piece of furniture by hanging on the wall.
Which tree to use
To create a crossbow you need to choose:
oak;
ash;
acacia;
maple;
poplar.
All of these rocks are dense enough to withstand the enormous loads that will affect the bow and crossbow bed.
preparation of material
For a weapon to shoot long and powerful, its material must be properly dried throughout the year. Having cut off the necessary trunk or branch, both saw cuts must be painted over. To do this, you can use any glue, paint or varnish. If you close the saws in this way, moisture will not be able to quickly leave the workpiece, so the wood will dry more slowly and more evenly. So in the material internal cracks do not form, and a made crossbow with your own hands at home will last a very long time.
After that, the log is placed in a dry place where sunlight will not fall on it. So it should lie a year. Over time, the bark is removed from the workpiece, so it dries for another week. Then the log is cut in half. So it lies for another week, only after that you can begin to create a crossbow.
Crossbow Tools
Make onion
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 will be her that we will use, creating a crossbow with our own hands at home. From this part you need to make onions.
They plan the middle, lay about two centimeters on both sides of it, marking the part that will be clamped in the crossbow bed. This will be the thickest onion spot. Material begins to be cut off from it, moving gradually towards the edges. The workpiece is shaved gradually on both sides, while checking until it starts to bend at least a little.
After this, you need to take a strong rope, make loops at its ends. It will be a trial bowstring. It is necessary to check onion tightness. It is very important that his shoulders bend evenly. Putting on an impromptu bowstring and pulling a bow, you can see in what places to remove the material. They are noted, carefully cut with a knife. This must be continued until the product bends evenly on both sides.
Knot processing
Very often knots come across the material: some are visible right away, others can open during the processing of the material. What they are dangerous for is the fact that chips can form due to them. 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 bit longer and sand them with sandpaper. You can also use a file for this purpose.
Bed
When the onions are ready, they set it aside and begin to make the bed. To begin with, they choose where there will be a groove, along which an 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 it a bed is depicted in detail here. After this, the groove is cut to the required length. Usually it is about 30 cm. Then make a recess for the bow and the trigger. It is convenient to cut them with a chisel and a carpentry knife.
Trigger mechanism
As mentioned above, it can be made of solid wood or, if powerful, a metal crossbow. The
simplest mechanism is the so-called "nut". It consists of a cylinder, where on one side there is a hook for a bowstring, and on the other there is an emphasis for a trigger. In powerful crossbows, the descent is more advanced for easier pulling the trigger under load.
We examined in detail how to make a crossbow with your own hands. A master class with drawings, we hope, will help to understand all the intricacies.
This is an ordinary medieval model. Now we 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 an ordinary one. So, we create a crossbow with our own hands at home from fiberglass. This material is ideal for making onions, because it is bite and light at the same time. 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 with, 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 solidifies 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.
The epoxy adhesive should have less thickener than usual, in the range of 8 to 10%. Everything freezes in 24 hours, but if the room is cold, time may increase. When everything is frozen, the shoulders are finalized, cutting 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.
Making a curly bed
To do this, you need to take a board with a thickness of at least 4 cm. Mark where the butt, grip, trigger and fastenings 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.
Blocks
They can be made of aluminum. It is better that they are on bearings. The middle parts from the wheels for roller skates are perfect. They are strong enough to withstand heavy loads, and their size is ideal. The axles under them are needed in 5 mm thick. You can take them from the rollers or make them yourself.
Mounts are made of sheet steel or similar durable material. You can still make the ends of the bow thicker before pouring the epoxy on the shoulders of the bow, to install the blocks, in this case, fastenings are not needed.
After that, on a made crossbow with your own hands at home, you need to install the trigger with a trigger and an arrow holder. In general, all parts are connected by bolts, washers are necessarily used. 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 intersect, and when tightened, this system allows you to give the arrow twice as much energy per flight than in the case of a conventional crossbow with the same bow.
In powerful block models, the bowstring is a steel cable, only it is able to withstand enormous sharp pressure when fired. In crossbows, whose power is not more than 40-50 kg, it can be braided from kapron threads.
We make a bowstring for a crossbow
In the described way, you can make a bowstring for both recursive and classic crossbow. Just their length will be different due to the features in the designs of both models.
They take a board with the length of the planned bowstring, drive in two pegs, on which kapron thread is wound 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.
Regarding the bowstring, one can also say that if you make it too thick, the strength of the crossbow decreases. However thin can tear. So in this case, you need to choose an intermediate thickness. It is better to study similar sports models with the same interference and make a bowstring of their thickness. When this is done, the two halves are joined and wrapped together. Again, close loops need special care. Then they wrap around the middle, where the bowstring will catch and push the arrow. This place is also done carefully, because it will be provided with friction force of enormous power. All trimmed edges of the threads need to 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. This is not so difficult, especially if you make a wooden weapon. If the product is made for hunting in order to achieve great power, then you should choose a block model. Its design is a little more complicated, you may need a machine for the manufacture of some parts.