Thursday, April 5, 2012

Home made crossbow string

The pencil shooter and its big brother, the chest plate crossbow, both need a string to propel the projectile.

I used paracord until now. But truth be told I wasn't happy with the results. The inevitable chafing killed the string far too early, even though I polished all surfaces the string comes into contact with.

So I went to the arbalist guild forum and found the solution: The trusted traditional method.

Watch a master at work here

I made myself a miniature crossbow string rig. This is needed as the procedure requires that the string is under strain why you wrap it. Then I took my 40 kg polypropylene string I always use for pouch attachments, and made this first version of a mini crossbow string from six strands, "served" with a seventh.


It is amazing how it feels, very very hard, and you can even bend it into shape like it would have a copper wire core.

Well waxed, it should survive a long time. I have ordered genuine Dacron, which is a lot thinner, and should give me even better results.

10 comments:

  1. Out of interest,will it be a straight pull bow or compound constuction?

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  2. Both devices have already been presented. They are rubber powered and therefore straight pull.

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    1. Ok I've seen them,just wasn't sure where the cord came in.now realise it must be for the arrow/bolt anchorage? Look forward to seeing crossbow in action.cheers for reply

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  3. The string "drives" the bolt, and the rubber bands are attached to the loops.

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  4. I look forward to seeing that in action,is tge bolt still going thru a tube at release? If so understand why it needs to be durable.

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  5. Sorry revisited the repeating crossbow chest pull video,I thought you'd already made it & I'd seen it in action!! It's an age thing my memory isn't what it used to be...just a few modifications to previous bows/repeaters.apologies.cheers Jorg

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  6. I am always amazed at what one can learn along the way while improving one's initial hobby. Well done, Joerg.

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  7. are all those cats in your videos yours? have you ever miss fired and hit one?

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  8. It all depends on how durable your home made crossbow will be, you will be able to determine which string you will want to use. Check out the link below and you will be able to find strings that may be useful in building up your homemade hunting crossbow.

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  9. There are a number of other crossbows that it is possible to use on the following crossbow deer hunt. More information on crossbow on strongnia.

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