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There are many people who were very interested in learning how to make their own homemade crossbows. While many people may enjoy the idea of being able to build their very own crossbow it is important to realize that there are many different types of crossbows out there. This can cause some issue because while there are many online tutorials on how to build a crossbow, or many video lessons on building crossbows not all of them are going to meet your specific desires. For example, many YouTube videos baster on building a crossbow are referring to simpler toy-like designs which involved) was, rubber cement, a little work work, and flinging stuff like paper arrows. In other words, these are not medieval Renaissance crossbow replicas and they are not meant for sports hunting.
You also have the issue of recognizing the crossbows default tremendously over time. Anyone who watched The Deadliest Warrior match up in season three between Joan of arc and William the Conqueror can tell you firsthand just how huge a difference there was between the two designs. The modern version involved to hand cranks, baton of metal work, and the use of steel to make a crossbow that was stronger, mechanical, and more accurate from a distance. On the other hand, the crossbows used in the time of William the Conqueror are much easier to replicate and also only need one person to load and fire them in addition to getting off many more shots a minute.
So when you are looking to create a crossbow, and we haven’t even gotten into curveballs like the repeating crossbow, you are tackling the broad field. Some crossbow designs are not overly complicated and can be accomplished by anyone with basic handyman skills. On the other hand some of these weapons were fine pieces of design and mechanical engineering. Unless you yourself have metal working experience and are a whiz at mechanical engineering there is very little chance that you would be able to build one of these types of crossbows in your own home shop.
So what advice can I possibly give to help you in your quest for creating a brand-new home a crossbow in your own workshop? The answer is we can tackle the single most common problem that people run into when trying to create their own crossbows. In many ways a basic crossbow design is actually quite a simple thing as part of the reason why these weapons begin to show up so early in history even in times and places were mathematics and science were not advanced at all. But even then there was one key element which determine how strong, accurate, and powerful a crossbow would be as a weapon. That one issue is the trigger mechanism. Learning to make a functioning crossbow trigger is by far and away the most complicated part of creating your own crossbow. Making the issue even more difficult is the fact that there are so many different types of firing pins and trigger designs to choose from.
You are going to have to decide between the various crossbow pin designs available. Let’s just start with a wooden crossbow since that is the type of design most people were going to use and follow. There are generally two basic types of crossbow trigger designs when it comes to the early crossbow. The hook and in design is one of the most simple to set up and for pure beginner is probably the best choice when getting started. These are some of the simplest firing mechanisms you have to and for that reason they are more popular with enthusiasts who don’t have the time or desire to learn the more complicated hinge design models (which first arise out of China). These two designs make up the majority of setups for trigger mechanisms on homemade crossbows. Advanced crossbows more often use the hook and pin design while much more basic and simpler crossbows use a spring and hinge design.
Resources for Finding Crossbow Trigger Designs
Some the best news we can give when it comes to deciding how to create your own crossbow is that there are many excellent resources online for finding accurate first-hand information on how to build exactly what you’re looking for. This is always a good thing seeing as how my ideal design may not be functional for many readers of this article. If you are interested in making a wooden crossbow trigger for a basic early European-style crossbow, then you’ll definitely be going with the simpler crossbow trigger design. Depending on how historically accurate you want to be you can follow the instructions that require some metal and wood work together or you always have the option to cheat a little and add in some modern springs or elastic to simplify the process of creating tension.
Depending on what you’re looking for one of these following resources should provide you with the additional information you need in order to create your own crossbow trigger:
Article on making a basic wooden crossbow
Basic crossbow with more detailed trigger schematics
Chinese trigger & pin crossbow trigger design
Tackling Repeating Crossbows
The repeating crossbow was a Chinese invention and one that has been surprisingly effective considering it does not appear to have the durability or power but a European-style model would have. If you are looking at building a repeating crossbow things definitely become much more complicated as there are additional mechanisms and considerations which have to be made when tackling this project.
But there is one definite piece of good news when it comes to the repeating crossbow. Because of the radically different design, the trigger itself is actually extremely easy to make. In the case of a repeating crossbow the trigger is extremely simple and pressure based on a complication comes with building the reloading mechanism which can smoothly and accurately pull back the string with a simple pull and connect it back on the trigger mechanism while automatically dropping another bolt in position to be fired. While many European models had the trigger is the most complex mechanism, modifying the crossbow in the way that repeating crossbows were made allow the trigger to be extremely simple and easy to use.
That being said, there’s a huge difference between many homemade repeating crossbows and the traditionally accurate replica of the Chinese repeating crossbow from Sun Tzu’s time. Most of the effort of reloading and reposition the drawstring comes with a pump mechanism similar to what you would see on a pump shotgun today. The trigger is nothing more than a simple piece of metal holding the string. When the metal is forward, is holding the string and place but if you pull back on the metal like a handle or a bicycle brake than the string is low blue seven crossbow fires. There are couple of videos right down below which are exceptional examples of video tutorials on how to build repeating crossbows.
