How to make a crossbow with your own hands from wood drawings. Drawings of a wooden crossbow or how to make a crossbow out of wood with your own hands. photo.mounting a homemade crossbow

29.06.2023

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Sports crossbow shooting in our country is not as developed as bow shooting. This state of affairs is not due to a lack of interest, but to a banal shortage of small arms equipment. Crossbow sport itself undoubtedly has a lot of advantages. It is a vast field for the discovery and application of a certain kind of talent. A hand-made crossbow will undoubtedly bring you shooting pleasure.

Sight type - optical only (installed software 3.5x17.5, dovetail mounting brackets)
To make the arms of a homemade crossbow, I used a spring from a 412 "Muscovite", cut it with a grinder, constantly poured water on it to avoid release, and simply burned the holes with electric arc welding (the edges did not seem to release);

The trigger force varies from approximately 1 to 1.8 kg, the trigger operates with a warning, and an increase in force is felt before the shot. Shooting performance (shooting was carried out lying down from a rest indoors at a distance of 25 m in three series of 5 shots, fiberglass arrows, weight 25g, length 300 mm. Triple tail height 8 mm):
- maximum radius from the midpoint of impact is 75 mm.
- the maximum diameter between the extreme hits is 120 mm.
- the average radius of a 100% hit in three series is 68 mm.

and vacation (t0=2950C bright blue tarnish, air cooling). Then I polished all the rubbing surfaces. The mechanism itself is installed directly into the guide on pins. The springs are made from a folding metal meter.

The stock for a homemade crossbow is cut from solid wood (oak was taken), the base was a 30x180 board, the groove in the center was selected using a jigsaw, drill and narrow chisel, the treatment was first done with 10% ferric chloride (gives it a black color), and then varnished, but this I didn’t like the coating, it was too slippery in wet or sweaty hands.

I had to sand everything and treat it with a special impregnation (I used Danish Oil, which is used specifically for impregnating wood on knife handles), coated it several times until it stopped being absorbed, and then sanded the holding areas with fine sandpaper (~500-100 grit for imported paper).

The size of the butt is adjusted to me personally, so if you repeat it, do it with a margin, and then adjust it. The guide is assembled like a package of duralumin/getinax/duralumin/getinax/duralumin, on M3x35 screws, the central plate comes out from the bottom for fastening with the butt, assembled on M6x30 furniture bolts with a semicircular head, on the opposite side it is attached with nuts (the holes for the nuts on the butt are hexagonal, I burned them out secured to a long rod with several nuts).

The material for the guide was a 30x4 duralumin strip; 8 mm of getinax was taken from the instrument panel of the electrical cabinet. The guide drawing is made with a margin, because during manufacturing, the stroke of the bowstring may differ, so it is first necessary to assemble the bow and measure the stroke of the string, and then drill holes for attaching the deck.

The deck is argon welded from an aluminum plate 50x5 (busbar from a transformer) and duralumin corners 40x20x4, and is attached to the guide with two M6x40 bolts.

The earrings for the blocks are made of steel, like the blocks themselves, the weight of one block is ~65 g, if you make the same ones from aluminum alloys, the weight will be reduced to 25 g, I tried to make blocks by casting them in a sand-clay mold, it generally worked, but they were quickly cut by the cable.

The material was technically pure 99% aluminum, and it was not possible to age the material, so I’m content with steel, and I’m thinking about where to get a duralumin blank of a suitable size (or maybe I’ll try using epoxy plastics). The diameter of the blocks is 46 mm, the eccentricity is 11 mm.

The bowstring is made of 3 mm steel rope. in a PVC shell, in places of contact with surfaces, additional layers of heat-shrinkable tubing are put on; I use loops to seal the ends and crimp them in the tube, like a clutch on a motorcycle, and the use of studs is necessary both for initial tension and for subsequent tightening during operation.

The string is attached to the blocks through a pin that is inserted into the central hole, and opposite the hole with a diameter of 8 mm, which is opposite the hole through which the axis of rotation of the block passes, two holes with a diameter of 3 mm are drilled in the groove of the block through which the cable enters the inside of the block and wraps around the pin.

The string enters the blocks through holes perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the block, and the loops at the ends are placed on the pin, one loop on the upper part, and the other on the lower part of the pin. It was through these holes that my aluminum blocks were cut.

The stirrup is a fabric belt that is draped around the deck, although a steel one can be attached to the deck, and by making it swivel, it can be used as a bipod when shooting prone or from a rest.

When tensioning, I use a device consisting of a pair of blocks and a rope, when I cock it, the rope is thrown over the butt, and I attach a bowstring to the clips of the blocks and pull the ends of the rope, the gain in strength is twofold, which is quite enough for non-tiring shooting

Like many centuries ago, the design of the crossbow remains virtually unchanged

Compound bow with split limbs

Fiberglass and aluminum are ideal materials for crossbow arrows and bolts. Often the bolts have a threaded insert on the front end of the shaft, which allows you to change the tip from a sporting one to a hunting one and vice versa. A hunting point is most often equipped with three or more steel blades

1.Castle

The lock secures the crossbow string in the cocked state. The principle of its operation is based in one form or another on a design invented by the ancient Chinese: when cocked, the bowstring snaps a “nut” onto a spring-loaded trigger. Subsequently, this design was continuously modernized, became more complex, and acquired adjustments, fuses, and additional parts to facilitate descent. Even an electronic trigger mechanism is not uncommon on expensive sports models.

Unlike a firearm trigger, in which a lot of force is not required to hold the “striking pin,” the parts of a crossbow lock bear all the power of its shoulders, so high-strength steel is most often used for their manufacture, and less often, titanium or composite materials. Although some “craftsmen” try to make locks from aluminum, they do not last long and, as a rule, apart from injuries, they do not bring any other joy to their owners.

2.Box

The stock is the basis of the crossbow. It is the design and materials of the stock that determine the convenience, comfort and appearance of the entire crossbow. For a hunter, the stock will be light and flexible, for an athlete it will be long and heavy, with numerous adjustments, in the gift version it will be expensive and beautiful, with carvings and inlays, and for children it will be small and safe, pistol-type. The most suitable material is wood or glued veneer. Plastic is not welcome. But not any tree is suitable for creating a stock; it is best to use walnut, oak, mahogany for these purposes, that is, strong and tough types of wood.

3. Shoulders (arches)

The arms of a crossbow are the elastic elements of a bow that store the human mechanical energy produced during the draw for the subsequent shot. The shoulders are attached directly to the stock; on powerful crossbows - to the stock through a metal block (5). Crossbow bow designs are divided into traditional and compound.

In turn, the shoulders can be straight or curved (recursive), have a monolithic or separate design.

The traditional design is a regular bow as we understand it, the ends of which are tied with a string. In the block design, blocks (round or eccentric) are fixed at the ends of the arms, through which the bowstring is passed. Due to these blocks, the process of cocking a crossbow is significantly simplified, while the power of the shot remains the same.

The most common materials for the production of shoulders are reinforced fiberglass, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, and duralumin. Previously, when materials were tight, old springs from Moskvich were used as a blank for the bow. Not only was such a crossbow incredibly heavy and massive, it was dangerous, since the steel tended to burst at the most inopportune moment, scattering sharp fragments in different directions. Therefore, subsequently they began to put a protective bandage on such bows, and then they completely abandoned this material.

4. Stirrup

The crossbow stirrup is designed to facilitate the cocking process. The stirrup can be loop-shaped or T-shaped. In both cases, the shooter’s legs hold the crossbow by the stirrup while the string is tensioned.

5. Block

The block is the second most important component of a crossbow after the lock. This element plays a connecting role between the shoulders and the rest of the crossbow structure. It is the block that bears the entire load of the arcs in their pure form. It is the block that must withstand enormous loads during a shot. It is on the block that all the energy of the so-called “reverse recoil” occurs, when the arrow has already flown out, and the shoulders continue to straighten further at enormous speed. That's why so much attention is paid to the block. Typically, high-strength steel is used for the block; on expensive crossbows, titanium is used. Although I sometimes met crazy would-be designers who put an aluminum profile block on their 80-kilogram crossbows. And then they wondered why, after a dozen shots, she was turning inside out.

6. Bowstring

The bowstring of modern crossbows is a thread folded several times, followed by braiding of the rubbing parts. The best choice for a bowstring is a strong and low-stretch thread, such as Dacron, Dacron, aramid thread (commonly known as Kevlar) or a foreign analogue of Fast-Fligh. On powerful crossbows, as well as on auxiliary bowstrings of block crossbows, a steel cable is used.

7. Guide

The crossbow's guide, as the name suggests, is designed to hold the arrow and guide it towards the target. In medieval crossbows, the groove was made either directly in the stock, or in the form of a bone plate with a groove. On the simplest modern crossbows, a plastic guide is glued directly on top of the stock. On more “advanced” ones, the guide plate is made of a material that has sufficient anti-friction properties so that the arrow moves along it easily and evenly, and the bowstring wears out as slowly as possible. In systems with high tension forces, it is even recommended to use oil to lubricate the guide. Such a guide is fixedly attached to the body of the crossbow, or two guide plates are used, located at some distance from each other. As for the distance between the guides (groove), its dimensions depend on the diameter of the arrows used, as well as the height of the tail. As a rule, the width of the groove (with chamfers removed) should be such that the axis of the arrow intersects the center of the bowstring, which in turn should lie (without vertical force) on the upper surface of the stock and move parallel to it when fired.

8. Sighting device

Due to the steep trajectory of the arrow, the installation and design of crossbow sights has its own characteristics. The sights used are divided into three categories: open, diopter and optical.

Below we will look at each of them separately, along with the design features in more detail.

Open. This design is a development of the idea of a bow sight. The fixed rear sight is complemented by a console mounted next to the bow, on which a set (three to five pieces) of horizontal front sights (each can be adjusted horizontally and vertically) for different shooting distances (the so-called “comb”) is attached. When aiming, the shooter selects the desired height of the front sight depending on the shooting distance.

Dioptric. Basically, these sights are installed on sports crossbows and are identical in design to sights for bullet sports. All the differences are only in the front sight: it has a wide range of adjustments and can be equipped with a leveling level to control the “blockage” of the weapon. In addition, it is usually possible to tilt the diopter itself and its front sight in order to eliminate the ellipse of the front sight if they do not match in height. On the other hand, there is a tendency to move away from the firearms ideology of aiming. Nowadays they prefer to carry out all micrometric adjustments on the front sight, while the diopter itself remains stationary.

Optical. Existing designs for bullet weapons are quite suitable for installation on crossbows. You just need to remember that the mount has a bevel towards the target of about one or two degrees.

The material was prepared with the assistance of the Interloper crossbow center

Shooting, as a form of sport and an ability for self-realization, has enjoyed success among people for a long time. An indication of this is the countless competitions using various types of weapons. One of the oldest types is throwing weapons. The heightened emotionality of these days resonates in archery and crossbow tournaments.

Sports crossbow shooting in our country is not as developed as bow shooting. This state of affairs is not due to a lack of interest, but to an obvious lack of shooting equipment. Crossbow sport itself certainly contains many advantages. Today we suggest making a crossbow with your own hands. It will be a wide field for the discovery and application of certain types of talents.

DIY crossbow made of wood

As a way out, you should make a crossbow with your own hands. This is not as problematic as it might seem at first glance. The design of the crossbow is light. In sections of bullet or bow shooting, there are weapons workshops where it is easy to find professional craftsmen. Such a specialist has the right to make a crossbow from whatever he has on hand, replacing missing building materials with identical ones. A homemade crossbow is sufficient for target shooting.

We drew a drawing of a crossbow and assembled it with our own hands. When creating the crossbow, the developments of foreign manufacturers and fellow athletes who themselves make crossbows without the help of specialized companies were taken into account.

Our crossbow differs in that we chose bow limbs as the elastic component. This selection is justified by the lighter weight, in contrast to steel shoulders. Plastic shoulders also even out physical contact from powerful recoil. To gain the ability to shoot accurately at distances of up to 60 meters, all you need to do is tighten these arms without applying much force. The ability to use limbs from broken bows is another positive feature of our device. The main thing is to find a pair based on strength. We advise you to carefully study the crossbow drawings and begin assembly. To create a crossbow is not to cross the field. Read on to learn how to make a crossbow with your own hands.

Crossbow device: stock, shoulders, trigger mechanism, sighting devices.

To create the bed, real wood is used, solid or glued, mostly hardwood. Approximate dimensions can be seen in the pictures. (1 and 3)- crossbow drawing. We choose the shape of the hands ourselves, guided by the convenience and ergonomics of the stock and the desired image. When choosing, you must also take into account the possibility of correct manufacturing.

Using a small arms stock makes it possible to significantly reduce energy costs for making a crossbow. The trace of the trunk left in such a stock must be hammered in with wooden blocks, firmly seated with epoxy glue.

The processing of the arrow guides and bowstring deserves special attention. Their finishing is quite dependent on the accuracy of the hit. The guide lines must be immaculately straight and smooth. The desired option is grinding on a milling machine and subsequent processing with fine-grain sandpaper. Then the guides need to be polished. It is possible to study the proportions of the guide groove for an arrow with a diameter of 8 mm at rice. 3. The crosspiece, with the shoulders attached to it, is mounted at the end of the stock. As a rule, it is cast from an aluminum alloy, but it is also possible to create it from an aluminum blank. Wood can also serve as a suitable material.

The window from which the crossbow arrow will fly must be located opposite the groove that guides it. This is exactly how the window must be located on the bed of the cross containing elastic elements. In this case, at the moment of departure, the bowstring can be pressed against the smooth plane of the stock. Each arm is attached to the crosspiece using 2 M8 screws. The mechanism for triggering the trigger device was created in accordance with the description of the design of crossbows of the Middle Ages. It can be done without any special problems even with an average level of illumination in the workshop.

DIY crossbow trigger mechanism

How this mechanism is structured and works becomes clear from figure 4- DIY crossbow diagram.

When the bowstring 1 is cocked, it is engaged with the protrusion a of the lever 2. When the lever rotates, it holds the trigger 3. When the hook is pressed, at the same time the lever is released, at this moment the bowstring, straightening, sends an arrow. The stop 4 is limited during the movement of the lever. In order to soften the impact force on the stop, it is necessary to put a rubber tube on it. The stop must be in a position in which the extreme position of the protrusion a of the lever is lower than the guide surface of the stock. This prevents the string from sliding. After the shot is fired, spring 5 holds the lever in its extreme position.

In the process of pulling the crossbow, the bowstring is focused on protrusion 6, lever 2 takes its original position. Spring 6 acts on the trigger so that it rotates, the lever and the bowstring are fixed. To prevent the string from accidentally jumping off protrusion a, the release mechanism is closed with a cover 7. A flat-type spring 8 is attached to this cover, which holds the arrow on the guides while aiming the sight. Bearing 9, which is attached to the tip of the trigger, sufficiently weakens the force of the trigger. The level of trigger force is selected by sawing the surface resting on the lever bearing 2. In order to reduce the weight of the lever, it is better to make it from light alloy D16T. Safety pins can serve as a replacement for springs 5 and 6. The trigger mechanism can be mounted in a metal housing, after which it is inserted into the stock socket and secured with two screws. In this way, reliability and ease of adjustment can be significantly increased. But this method makes the design more complex, and metal-cutting machines will also be needed to implement it.

The sighting device of a crossbow consists of a rear sight and a front sight. Vertical adjustments are made entirely, mounted on the cover of the trigger mechanism, and horizontal ones - by a front sight mounted on the bracket of the elastic element.

There can be many design options for these devices, depending on the possibility of manufacturing, the availability of ready-made sights for sports bullet weapons, etc.

It should be borne in mind that the flight path of a crossbow arrow is quite high, so the rear sight must be installed significantly higher than the front sight. Angle of elevation of the aiming line ( cm. Figure 1 - crossbow drawings) 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°.

The design of the crossbow rear sight is convenient, allowing it to be removed or folded during transportation.

Our homemade crossbow, the manufacture of which is described above, is designed to shoot crossbow arrows with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 350 mm. Arrows for a crossbow can be easily made from a duralumin (D16T alloy) tube with a wall thickness of 0.5 mm. The arrow is equipped with a tip and fletching in the same way as is done for archery. It should be borne in mind that the shank of an arrow for a crossbow, unlike an arrow for a bow, should not have a cutout for the bowstring. It is convenient to carve it out of wood in the form of a cork and insert it into the end of the tube using glue.

In conclusion, I would like to express the hope that you have understood how to make a crossbow; making it yourself will give you a lot of pleasure, and shooting from it will give you the opportunity to have a good time in the fresh air. Just do not forget that a crossbow, like any weapon, requires a responsible attitude and compliance with all safety measures when shooting. And the amount of pleasure directly depends on how the crossbow is made.

Crossbow Arrows (Bolt)

The striking element of a crossbow is considered to be a bolt. It has even greater stopping power than an arrow. Even Kevlar vests lose their effectiveness against this seemingly simple medieval weapon. That is why you should not forget to follow safety rules when shooting from a crossbow. Even though the article is about something else, it is very appropriate to remind you of the rules. In most cases, a bolt wound is fatal. Even the sight of a bolt protruding from the body can cause the death of a victim.

To make the bolt, a durable material is used, which is characterized by sufficient elasticity and low weight. The bolt is also made from straight-grained wood, that is, from suitable blanks. A prerequisite for the flexibility of the boom is the longitudinal arrangement of the layers of wood. In order for there to be small mechanization, you need to use, for example, an electric drill. The bolt must have a perfect shape.

The center of gravity is between the second and first thirds of the bolt. And this, mind you, is already assembled. True, the parameter can be changed at your personal discretion. Also, due to the different materials used for the shaft, the sizes and materials of the toes and tips, the weight of the bolt can be changed.

To protect wooden shafts of bolts from moisture, they are impregnated with special protective compounds and also stored in a horizontal position.

The best bolts are made from broken telescopic fishing rods (from their sections) made of fiberglass. They weigh relatively little and at the same time are very durable, and they are also not afraid of dampness.

To shoot from a crossbow, you can use fairly heavy arrows, even welding electrodes. That is why clearly defining the optimal bolt is a serious matter. In the process of selecting the required mass of bolts for your crossbow, it is worth remembering the golden mean: if the bolt is heavy, it does not fly far, but if it is light, it loses speed quite quickly.

If the bowstring is of high quality and you take good care of it, you will use it for a long time. As a rule, steel is used for the bowstring (strings or cables) or weaved from silk. True, nowadays there are a huge number of synthetic materials. If you make a bowstring from Kevlar, it is used as a material with high tensile strength (specific resistance).

In powerful crossbows they use a thin steel cable, which serves as a bowstring. You can find this in both cars and motorcycles. Breaking loads are most easily borne by a braided bowstring. This happens due to the fact that a particle of energy goes into friction between synthetic threads. In order to protect the bowstring from abrasion on the stock, use special linings made of plastic or metal.

DIY crossbow drawings

Follow the download link to create a crossbow.

DIY compound crossbow

Technical characteristics of a homemade compound crossbow:
Overall length -730 mm;
Overall width - 530 mm;
Shoulder length -300 mm;
Height without sight - 180 mm;
Height with sight - 230 mm;
Weight ~3kg;
Cocking force ~30 kg;
Bowstring stroke - 210 mm;

Sight type - optical only (installed software 3.5x17.5, dovetail mounting brackets).
The material of the shoulders was a spring from a 412 “Muscovite”, cut with a grinder, constantly poured water on it to avoid tempering, simply burned the holes with electric arc welding (the edges didn’t seem to come loose);

The trigger mechanism “rotary nut with sear”, made from spring scraps, was first annealed (t0 = 8500C red heat, held for 10 minutes and slowly cooled with a furnace) and carried out all metalworking, but left an allowance for processing in the places where it will occur friction, then hardened to approximately 45-46 HRC, (t0=8300C light cherry red heat, holding for 10 minutes) and tempering (t0=2950C bright blue tarnish, air cooling). Then I polished all the rubbing surfaces. The mechanism itself is installed directly into the guide on pins. The springs are made from a folding metal meter.

The stock was cut from solid wood (oak), the base was a 30x180 board, the groove in the center was selected using a jigsaw, a drill and a narrow chisel, the treatment was first done with 10% ferric chloride (gives it a black color), and then varnished, but I don’t like this coating I liked it, it was too slippery in wet or sweaty hands.

I had to sand everything and treat it with a special impregnation (I used Danish Oil, which is used specifically for impregnating wood on knife handles), applied the coating several times until it stopped being absorbed, and then sanded the holding areas with fine sandpaper (~500-100 grit for imported paper).

The material for the guide was a 30x4 duralumin strip; 8 mm of getinax was taken from the instrument panel of the electrical cabinet. The guide drawing is made with a margin, because during manufacturing, the stroke of the string may differ, so it is first necessary to assemble the bow and measure the stroke of the string, and then drill holes for attaching the deck. The deck is argon welded from an aluminum plate 50x5 (bus from a transformer) and duralumin corners 40x20x4, secured to the guide with two M6x40 bolts .

Fastening the shoulders to the deck through spacers (this is necessary because the shoulders have an initial bend, and the deck is straight) and pressure plates with three M6x25 “furniture” bolts (for one shoulder); The earrings for the blocks are made of steel, like the blocks themselves, the weight of one block is ~65 g, if you make the same ones from aluminum alloys, the weight will be reduced to 25 g, I tried to make blocks by casting them in a sand-clay mold, it generally worked, but they were quickly cut by the cable.

The material was technically pure 99% aluminum, and it was not possible to age the material, so I’m content with steel, and I’m thinking about where to get an aluminum blank of a suitable size (or maybe I’ll try using epoxy plastics). The diameter of the blocks is 46 mm, the eccentricity is 11 mm. The bowstring is made of 3 mm steel rope. in a PVC shell, in places of contact with surfaces, additional layers of heat-shrinkable tubing are put on; I use loops to seal the ends and crimp them in the tube, like a clutch on a motorcycle, and the use of studs is necessary both for initial tension and for subsequent tightening during operation.

The string is attached to the blocks through a pin that is inserted into the central hole, and opposite the hole with a dimer of 8 mm, which is opposite the hole through which the axis of rotation of the block passes, under two holes with a diameter of 3 mm are drilled in the groove of the block through which the cable enters the block and wraps around the pin. The string enters the blocks through holes perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the block, and the loops at the ends are placed on the pin, one loop on the upper part, and the other on the lower part of the pin. It was through these holes that my aluminum blocks were cut.

The stirrup is a fabric belt that is draped around the deck, although a steel one can be attached to the deck, and by making it swivel, it can be used as a bipod when shooting prone or from a rest.

Video on how to make a crossbow, super powerful

For lovers of homemade weapons, we invite you to sit back, as in this material we will present an overview of the manufacture of a crossbow with a reverse design. First of all, let's explain why the design of this crossbow is called reverse: the fact is that its bowstring is pulled in the opposite direction, which allows it to obtain significantly more power.

What do we need to make such a crossbow:
- wooden plank 15 mm thick and 28 mm wide;
- ruler;
- pencil;
- hacksaw;
- drill;
- bolts, washers and nuts;
- two rollers;
- spring;
- two metal corners;
- nylon rope;
- door hinge;
- metal plate.

We take the bar that needs to be used to cut out four blanks. The length of the first blank should be equal to 43 cm, the second - 31 cm. The remaining two blanks should be equal to 15 cm.

Next, take two short blanks and make 1 cm marks from each edge. Also make one 5 cm mark from one edge of both blanks.

The next step is to take the middle bar and make marks 1.5 cm from both edges.

We make holes in the marked places.

At the edges of the short strips we make through holes going to the holes drilled in the previous stage.

Next, we fix the middle bar to the very length of the bar at the 25 cm mark. We will do this using bolts, washers and nuts.

For greater reliability, the author of the idea applies a layer of glue between the two planks.

Now we take two rollers, which were also used to make the compound bow, and secure them with bolts next to the middle bar, as shown in the figure below.

After this, we take a spring, which can also be purchased at the car market, and secure it to the crossbow using a metal corner.

The angle should be installed on the edge of the long bar with self-tapping screws, but it will interfere with the flight of the arrow. To avoid this, we make a small depression on the bar.

The next step is to take short strips, which we secure to the resulting base of our crossbow with the same bolts.

We take a piece of nylon rope and fasten it to the shoulders of the crossbow using through holes. Thus, we connect the shoulders together.

Next, we take another piece of rope, attach it to one of the shoulders, thread it through the roller, then through the spring, through the second roller, finally attaching it to the second shoulder. The length of the rope should be such that it is difficult for the spring to reach its middle.

Let's move on to making the trigger mechanism. To do this, fully tighten the crossbow string and make a mark at the end point.

We make a hole along the mark.
We take a metal plate and cut out a blank from it, similar to the one that can be seen in the figure below.

We fasten the plate so that the hole on it coincides with the hole on the crossbow.

We take the door hinge and connect it to the metal corner using a bolt.

We fix the resulting workpiece on the back side of the plate.

Now it has become fashionable to hunt with a bow and crossbow. Although this is prohibited in our country, you can still 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. Or it can be made “for yourself”. It is worth remembering that if the weapon has a tension of more than 20 kg, then it is considered a cold weapon. Therefore, when creating a crossbow, it is worth considering this important nuance.

There are classic models, they look like ancient ones, and their design is simple. There are also modern crossbows, they are called "block" crossbows. 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, which will be detailed in the article, will help you with this.

The crossbow has many components:

trigger mechanism;

some modern models have blocks at the ends of the bow.

What to make a crossbow from

The main material from which a crossbow is made is wood. The stock and bow are made from it. 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 hard wood, it will withstand it quite well. Spring metal and various composites are also used for bows.

Regular crossbow made of wood

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

What wood to use

To create a crossbow you need to choose:

All of these rocks are dense enough to withstand the enormous stress that will be placed on the bow and crossbow stock.

Preparation of material

In order for a weapon to fire long and powerfully, its material must be properly dried for a year. Having cut the required 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 evenly. This way, internal cracks do not form in the material, and a crossbow made with your own hands at home will serve for a very long time.

After this, the log is placed in a dry place where the sun's rays will not fall on it. It should remain like this for a year. After time, the bark is removed from the workpiece, so it dries for another week. The log is then sawn in half. It sits like that for another week, only after that you can start creating a crossbow.

Tools for making a crossbow

Sandpaper of different grits.
Carpenter'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. This is what we will use when creating a crossbow with our own hands at home. From this part you need to make a bow.

Mark the middle, put about two centimeters on both sides of it, marking the part that will be clamped in the crossbow stock. This will be the thickest part of the onion. They begin to cut the material from it, gradually moving towards the edges. They chip the workpiece gradually on both sides, checking until it begins to bend at least a little.

After this, you need to take a strong rope and make loops at its ends. This will be a test string. It is necessary to check the bow tension. It is very important that his shoulders bend evenly. By putting on an improvised bowstring and drawing the bow, you can see in which places to remove the material. They are marked and carefully cut with a knife. This must be continued until the product begins to bend evenly on both sides.

Knot processing

Very often there are knots on the material: some are visible immediately, others can open during the processing of the material. What makes them dangerous is that they can cause chips. Therefore, you need to treat such places with a well-sharpened knife. If you don't have confidence or experience, it's better to tinker a little longer and sand them down with sandpaper. You can also use a file for this purpose.

Bed

When the bow is ready, put it aside and begin making the stock. To begin with, they choose where there will be a groove through which the arrow will fly out, and make this place perfectly level. 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 its stock is shown in detail here. After this, the gutter is cut to the required length. Usually it is about 30 cm. Then a recess is made for the bow and trigger mechanism. They are convenient to cut with a chisel and a carpenter's knife.

Trigger

As mentioned above, it can be made of dense wood or, if the crossbow is powerful, of metal. The most is the so-called “nut”. It consists of a cylinder, where on one side there is a hook for the bowstring, and on the other there is a stop for the trigger. In high-power crossbows, the trigger is more refined for an easier trigger pull when loaded.

We looked at it in detail, the Master class with drawings, we hope, will help you understand all the intricacies.

This is a common medieval model. Now we’ll find out how to make the same weapon, only a modern model.

Compound crossbow

Such a device is much more difficult to make; it will require many more tools than a regular one. So, we create a crossbow with our own hands at home from fiberglass. This material is ideal for making bows because it is tough and yet lightweight. It can be cut from a single piece of fiberglass 1 cm thick or you can make it yourself. If you’re not too lazy to tinker, it’s better to make it yourself.

Making fiberglass shoulders for a crossbow

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

There should be less thickener than usual, ranging from 8 to 10%. Everything hardens within 24 hours, but if the room is cold, the time may increase. When everything has hardened, the shoulders are finalized by cutting off the protruding edges with a knife and sanding with sandpaper.

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

Making a figured bed

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

Blocks

They can be made from aluminum. It would be better if they were on bearings. The middle parts of roller skate wheels are perfect. They are strong enough to withstand heavy loads and are the perfect size. The axles for them need to be 5 mm thick. You can take them from rollers or make them yourself.

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

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

In compound crossbows, the bowstring is longer and is tensioned differently. It seems to cross, and when drawn, this system allows the arrow to give twice as much energy to 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 the enormous sharp pressure of a shot. In crossbows whose power is no more than 40-50 kg, it can be woven from nylon threads.

Making a bowstring for a crossbow

Using the described method, you can make a bowstring for both a recurve and a classic crossbow. It’s just that their length will be different due to the design features of both models.

They take a board the length of the planned bowstring, drive in two pegs, on which they are wound in a circle. When the thickness of this long oval becomes 5 mm, it is wound, 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 hooking.

Regarding the bowstring, one can also say that if you make it too thick, the strength of the crossbow is reduced. However, thin ones can tear. So in this case you need to choose an intermediate thickness. It is better to study similar sports models with the same tension 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 hinges. Then they wrap the middle where the string will catch and push the arrow. This place is also done carefully, because it will be subject to a tremendous frictional force. All cut edges of the threads must be coated with glue. This will make them denser and more monolithic.

This article presents 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 manufactured for hunting in order to achieve enormous power, then you should choose a block model. Its design is a little more complicated; you may need a machine to make some parts.