Heavy Crossbow

This is a guide helping you to make a heavy crossbow capable of killing a person.
NOTE: this is capable of killing most things except big game, so DO NOT attempt to shoot anyone or anything without thinking of killing it, and if you do, I am most definatley not responsible for the death or injury so be-friggan-ware.

Also note that the crossbow should be made over a span of 2 days, the second day can be spent assessing the crossbow, tweaking it and adding features.

Step 1: Materials

Before you start you will need these tools:

-Ratchet saw (that motorized hand saw thing)
Note: if you do not have this you will be sore from cutting the wood out with your hands, so yeah, this tool helps.
-Coping saw (any saw will do)
-Chisel
-Malet
-Drill
-Vice (absolutely, positively needed)
-Pencil
-Ruler
-Carving tool (last picture), fairly useful, if you can get one.
-Drill pieces
-Sandpaper
Note: I have gone into detail, just in case some idiot complains about it.

Deadly Resources required:
-Wood (1 metre length and 15 cm width, which is about 3 feet length and 6" width, I think).
-wooden blinds
-String (strong, the thicker the better)
-Screws
Note: Wooden blinds can be substituted for bamboo, I will go into more detail in step 3.

Comments

[Titanica-art]

Cool! Too bad it's prohibited to make or own a crossbow in Norway. I really want to make one.

[AJMansfield]

You need to use the BRANCHES to make a bow out of bamboo. Needless to say you would need a bamboo plant far larger than any you are likely to have in order to get sufficiently large branches. Bamboo is actually one of the best bow materials in existence, even surpassing yew or composites.

[ihaveguitarskills!]

I would make a straight 1/2" groove along were the arrow goes. This would make it shoot more often, and shott more accuratley.

[hossweightlifter]

no offense but the picture just makes it look bad you should take a ppicture with it painted or something

[lci115lewis]

For a simple trigger mechanism look at the shelf latch styles at http://scamelee.freeservers.com/combat_crossbows.html (or search for Fellwalker crossbow) , I have a crossbow I bought used a few years ago that seems to be a shelf latch that uses a metal lever to push up a spring loaded wooden peg to release the string. For very heavy draw weights the roller nut style release seems to be hard to beat for simple reliability.

[karlpinturr]

Roughly speaking, 1 metre is 3 1/3 feet (3 feet, 4 inches).

Using the converter on my phone, 100 metres comes out at a fraction over 328 feet (328.083984 feet, if you want to be pedantic ;-) - and if you really want to be geekily pedantic, that '0.083984' of a foot is 1.007760 inch ;-$).

[wgillbanks]

wow 58 feet differ wow

[hazza the gun]

try to add a trigger mech with a lever that pushes the bowstring up attached to a gun style pull triggger. Happy building :)

[bowow0807]

i used pcv pipe i cut them in half lengthwise then stacked them open end to closed end then fixed then together using rubber bands, i used about 2 pipes and it is powerful my first string broke after a few tries

[felixneko7]

how much poundage does this crossbow get?

[nutsandbolts_64]

 It's gonna be hard to use the trigger when you have a strong bow. Maybe, adding a lever somewhere will ease triggering. Then, cocking it is another story... 

Besides, laminate a piece of bamboo and you've got something new to play with! I remember my old homemade crossbow sitting in a box. I can't even cock it; the bow is just two pieces of bamboo laminated together. Sounds like another instructable heading my way...

[zombiehunter96]

Hey, most find me strange or crazy because im a bit of a redneck :D I always tinker and build weapons. This is AWSOME! This is next on my build list, I'm also working on a coil gun.... but thats a bit more complex :) Thanks for the ibl.

[darkevilapie]

good instrucs and a nice xbow, i made one 2 but yours is simpeler but mine shoots further but is more dangerous :P its stil in the prototype fase. should i post it on instructables?
ps. your trigger is a bit hard to shoot if your bow is strong

[Evil is the name]

U mean jig saw

[finn spearo]

so should i use pvc or blinds????

[EaglesSoar09]

how do you know it can kill a person?

[jirf]

when the bolt got lodged in my fence, i pretended that was someones face, oh and pretty much anything can kill, like you could probably die by a fork so that can apply to toys with small parts as well.

[punkhead58]

From what I can see, there doesn't seem to be any grove or slit cut to hold the bolt/arrow.

[walterh9]

 nice cross but im not much of a carpenter so wat sort  of wood for d gun and bow  did u use and wat size please very good design 

[jirf]

I am honestly happy to see other people make the crossbow, but I really don't understand why so many people have failed in the distance aspect, if you find that the bow is weak try PVC pipe, otherwise I have no idea why yours shouldn't work.

[MotaBoi]

what size should the pipe be?

[jirf]

15mm - 25mm

[MotaBoi]

And around how long?

[jirf]

no more than a metre=3ft

[MotaBoi]

do you know anywhere i might be able to buy it from?

[jirf]

hardware store, i dont know where you are but bunnings has it, otherwise a plumbing store

[MotaBoi]

o ok im in canada though. ill keep looking around

[MotaBoi]

cool thanks :)

[knibbles]

What is all this talk about pvc pipe? Please explain.

[MotaBoi]

would faux wood blinds work? i hear their more durable?

[MotaBoi]

dude you should enter this in the kids craft contest... lol

[The Jamalam]

I have a potential idea to make this thing have a proper trigger. 1)Make 2 of the frames. Make s third one, but cut out a section where you want the trigger. Then with the remaining wood, make a small Y shaped trigger with a notch in one of the sides. 2)Glue the frames together, with the 2 half ones in the middle. Put the trigger where you want it. Drill through it and bolt it. 3) To fire, lock a bolt into the notch, then a string behind that. When you pull the trigger, It should release the bolt and the string.

[jirf]

thanks for the advice, it will probably work, but probably wont connect with the bolt, This is my most primitive crossbow, i have ones with metal rolling nuts which are bloody complex but easy and fast to use. And your trigger will require you to hold it and not to press it to release. Also, instead of getting three planks of wood, just get a block of wood and chisel a chunk out from top to bottom, its much easier and looks better.

[moo of the cow]

i doubt this could shoot 250 feet post a vid of it shooting

[jirf]

I tried to make a vid, but you cant see where the bolt goes, and it does shoot 100m, not sure about feet, and thats when I aim upwards.

[HotShot24]

How Far Cna this thing shoot

[jirf]

It shoots about 100m, but shoots more depending on the bolt shot, if I use one of my proper bolts it goes at least 250m

[cowscankill]

Where can I get wood blinds? I really want some now. Like, I REALLY want some. NOW. Lol, very nice crossbow. I would prefer a more complex trigger just because, but yours is nice. I think I might use that method of installing the bow to make my crossbow better.

[jirf]

I had some spare lying around, I probably wouldnt reccomend them now, because i have lately used PVC pipe which is more reliable.

[cowscankill]

Where can I get wood blinds? I really want some now. Like, I REALLY want some. NOW.