When it comes to BB and arrow launchers, we all spend our lives climbing the mountain of trial, error, experimentation, discovery and failure, only to finally reach the summit and find Jeorg already sitting at the top, welcoming us to his slingshot channel.
"HAHAHAHA", :D, that is the laugh of the good german welcoming us in the top, Jeorg is the professor in this art, and he is very nice giving us counsel over our proyects, he already help me in some details in my home made crossbow so im totally agree with you ;)
Great minds think alike. Yours is very similar to the one I built about a year ago. However, I used an "X" configuration front and back instead of limbs. This made the whole thing a lot more compact, reduced the torque on the limbs and reduced drag. I also used softer springs and a much longer draw with a modified speargun trigger. I put a sacrificial teflon washer where the plunger strikes the end of the tube which reduced noise considerably. I fire ball bearings, paintballs, darts/ mini crossbow bolts and wads of compressed rock salt. I won't go into the lethality but the local ferals don't big up my vege garden anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing your modifications.
I went to your channel to look for your construction in x... but... XD... Could you share an image of this X result? thanks (mayube can you put it in my email).
Thinking my way into this, i actually had the same Idea, inspired by something like: The Anti-Dragon-Ballista from "The Hobbit", which also used four Arms, to launch it's projectiles.
That is awesome and looks like tons of fun. The noise from the Springs i would stretch them spray a very light coat of rubberized coating as a sound dampener. Takecare and keep safe
I like the concept but as a severely disabled veteran I could not do it if I could get prefab items I’d surly give it a shot. Your very good at what you do. Semper Fi, Doc
I have been designing this for a long time, and thought when I come out it will be a revolutionary idea. Yes, I thought I was the only smart one with that idea, and then I came across your video by accident. It kind ruined my moment, but also made me feel good, because I am not the only one looking to create something like it. Meaning thinking outside the box. My idea is close but different at the same time, with some modern implementations. Anyway, I will subscribe so I can see how far it will go. Wish you the best!
I make similar things but out of random items and objects that I can find around my house. Videos like this are what inspire me to make things like my kebab skewer rifle! Thank you and keep it up!
Dan interesting project. Good advice below. My contribution to the discussion would be: 1. Use brass pipe with a small steel plug at the fighting end. 2. Tighter tolerance to concentrate energy to the projectile. 3. Polish the inside of the barrel. Wooden dowel on a drill, a wee split in other end to slide in & hold some emery, rap around to tidy fit, a little light oil like heating oil and push up and down with the drill running; reduce grits. Finish with a some gun cleaning cloth & "Autosol" cream, running on the drill. 4. Lube with graphite or something that won't collect dirt. 5. Projectiles: try bits of wooden dowel, acorns, 6. What about replacing the springs with catapult rubber & rap it 2 or 3 times around the holding arms your springs are on. Just some thought that I haven't tested but think would improve the system. If all that fails, you could go high tech like my son did, make an air chamber with a plumbers gas valve & connected to your barrel. Fill with your air compressor. Point it away from anything that can rebound. Fire & you will be completely amazed, power & distance. It will hurt or injure someone if it hit them. Crazy I know but incredibly 😂😂. I'll stop there before I start talking about black powder & get you jailed. 🤔🤔🙄. Can't wait to see your modifications. Regards, Hugo Dale.
Hi Dan, I’m thinking you want to reduce friction between the blunger and barrel as much as possible. My first thought was to simply lubricate the plunger and barrel but as you mentioned, the slop between the plunger and barrel may be creating friction by the plungers angle so you would do well to tighten that up....without adding to the friction. Using "o" rings would likely add more friction to the plunger and barrel movement.....unless you use something like an acetal (polyacetal) sleeve in the barrel or acetal rings at either end of the plunger so that it both lubricates the plunger movement and takes any slop out of the plunger/barrel relationship. Using a larger bearing would likely add a level of air pressure from the wrong end and reduce performance, the tighter projectile idea works well where it needs to build upon pressure from behind to perform - ie normal firearms, spud guns etc.
The shorter the draw, the more power is required to achieve speed. Avg. crossbow with 15 inch draw capable of approx 200 fps is going to be 150# - 180# and a 400 gram arrow. With your setup it looks like effectively a 10 inch draw. Will need to increase power to get more speed, or increase total draw length, or reduce ammo weight. Using your setup, honing both barrel and piston to high polish will also help. Piston should be shaped like a valve so only the front actually contacts the barrel. Instead of a nut, use a delrin washer for the stop. A delrin washer will last longer, take more abuse, and will be easier to replace. The reinforcing sideplates is a very good idea. Might also consider a small magnet on the front of the piston to hold the bearing ball lightly. And collaboration with Jorge on the Slingshot Channel would be an excellent idea. He, also, tries out various ideas for bows, crossbows, slingshots, swords, etc., etc., etc. He has even made a magazine for a bow and arrow that works just by drawing the string back. Touch base with him. I think you'd really enjoy bouncing ideas off each other.
I tripped over this video by accident and haven't checked for part 2 yet. Springs may be more efficient than a bow- after you shoot an arrow the bow is still under tension (keeps the string from falling off) but springs can go completely slack. However, springs don't release their energy linearly like bows (more or less) do- springs exert a lot of force right when released and then taper off. That means you get a constantly *decreasing* acceleration force on the ball bearing- it may actually outrun the piston on the way down the cylinder, so you don't actually recover all the energy from the springs. Heavier ball (lead rather than steel) would help that. I'd add little nubs to the crossbars that hold the springs rather than cut notches which could introduce weak spots. You might benefit from more practice with firearms (shotgun bigger than 20 ga but smaller than 12 ga I'd say)- you need to lean into the stock to prevent wasting energy on recoil. Watch the slo-mo at around 15:11. The stock should not slam back like that. To really see the difference, brace the springbow against a wall or something else solid and fire it at a cardboard box again. Years ago I thought about building a springbow with a single motorcycle front end spring but never get around to it. I'm thrilled to see someone not screwing around and actually building something. You've already done far better than I ever did, or likely will.
This is really cool! You are absolutely right, the energy is there. Its how its transfered to the ballbearing that is the problem. As you can see alot of the energy you want transfered to the ball is now being transfered onto the nut , smashing it instead of firing the bearing. What you need to do here is to make the piston slam into the ball bearing by moving it up the pipe. This will transfer alot of the kinetic energy from the piston to the ball rather than the ball inheriting the momentum of the piston. This is the same principle of a how a hammer works. You would never be able to push a nail in despite using alot more energy but by shockimg the nail more of the energy is transfered to the nail itself rather than into your hands. Beware though this will damage the piston
If he uses a strong tool steel tip on his piston, it should take quite a beating before wearing out. I think if he wants to retain the ability to shoot both bolts and BB's, he should affix a strong magnet towards the end of the pistons stroke to hold the BB in the right position
growing up as a kid, it was part of life making bows or guns. we made simple ones with a piece of 2x2 and a nail bent over in the end and then a clothes peg nailed in at the other end to hold a peg spring in place. then release and the rubber band did the rest lol. I'd hate to think what we could have made with your tools at our disposal lol. 👍👍. Jason from ACL in Hereford
Make a metal stock out of square tubing, skeleton stock.The most dangerous part about crossbow type weapons is not just the bow or spring failure its a weak stock. Have you tried using a single more powerful longer spring to keep the bulk down. rather than multiple. Make use of the centre rod you could put your power spring there. You also have to remember that the power is taken up by the weight of the recoiling mechanism, by the time the power is transferred to the projectile you have lost a bit of energy. Don't forget to use some rubber buffers to stop it clanking at the end of travel. to help stop it breaking apart ofter quite a few shots. Watch out using ball bearings for ammo as they can fly back at the shooter, use lead balls. use a light wire spring to hold ball in place or light magnet if you do use steel ball. Great workshop you have.
I'm not sure how technical you would want to go with you ball bearing launcher, but it looks like you are off to a good start. The weight of the moving parts is an issue. The back spring arm holder could be lighter but you would lose strength. You could try a split cylinder that the back spring arm would slide along to eliminate travel wobble keeping everything in line from release to the end of travel. But all in all it looks like a fun project. I like these kind of projects, the process of figuring everything out from scratch and refining and tweaking to get to the point that you're satisfied with it. It's just for fun anyway. To me that's what being a blacksmith or a craftsman is about.
I like your project. If I can throw some ideas into your melting pot for low velocity a sphere is the best shape adding mass such as using lead will to some extent carry the ball slightly further. You are using four springs which have the same handed twist if yo look at your spring gun you will see it wants to twist the bolt carrier in one direction, this looses a small amount of power, also I doubt if the springs are equally balanced meaning one or two springs are doing more work. hanging them from a bar and determining their unloaded length then adding the same known weight and measuring the extension would give an indication as to which spring(s) are stronger. As you said giving the springs a register would help especially if the ends are captive to ensure the pull is directly fore and aft. I would suggest having left an right helical twisted springs so they oppose any twisting moment an ideally a push spring system using two springs one inside the other as use on engine inlet an exhaust valves would apply all the force directly into your piston. The damage to your nut indicates that there is still tension in the springs as well as momentum of the moving mass while it looks like lost energy there would be little gain from trying to harness it as the projectile is already moving at the maximum velocity, a hard rubber buffer would help to eliminate the thump and also reduce the shock affect on your aim. a rudimentary ring sight at the rear and a post foresight would assist or using double ring sights smaller at the rear helps the eye aline the barrel to the target. A brass or bronze bush that supports the piston would help lubricate and square up your piston you might loose a small bit of rearwards motion on cocking but that would be regained by easing the pistons travel. Is your projectile a tight fit, or sloppy fit, is your barrel mirror finished inside to reduce friction could you apply some Teflon spray to minimise any friction.
Hello friend, it is a very good project, perhaps, adding a longer barrel, the projectile would come out with more power, and improve the trajectory. blessings and greetings from Chile.
It's not a firearm or air rifle. A longer barrel isn't going to have the same effect on a mechanically launched projectile as it does on a pneumatically launched projectile. More powerful springs, tighter tolerances to minimize wobble and lighter moving parts would be the best way to optimize this build. The only real benefit to a longer barrel would be in using longer springs, which could help deliver more energy to the projectile.
Well , that's a start .. trying to figure out a design using an old strut cartridge with the internal spring? Cam wheels or other lever types would allow for great acceleration control, where as this is dependent on 1 diminishing spring rate ...
I would recommend lightening the piston as you've already stated, lengthening the forend to about double, and maybe try playing around with rubber, or you could make a pair of limbs and cable them to your current setup. Honestly, just do some general experimentation, but the springs are most likely what will ultimately limit you in the end, super heavy springs will dump a lot of energy, but with a super short launch stroke, yielding low efficiency, and light springs will give you a much longer launch and a greater efficiency at the cost of power. Unless I'm wrong, which I probably am, there's no winning with springs, at least not on this project. Anyhoo, great concept, keep it up!
Your "stupid idea" is actually a very clever one, though, I'm probably biased as I did the same thing one year ago !! XD Anyway, mine has the springs arranged somewhat differently. I don't keep them tightened as you do, so that I have a little bit more power. Also, they point inward, like they're just a cord replacement for a crossbow, which they are in my case. The arc of my crossbow was broken and I decided to use a fixed tube with springs as propulsion. The end result when it's not loaded looks like a triangle pointing towards the trigger mechanism. I also have a longer "barrel" and they have more space to be stretched. I can puncture leather with a custom dart I made out of a 6mm x100mm steel nail (with real feathers on the back, perfectly balanced). I also have a power drop though. For springs to work, they must be extra thick and real tough! As a matter of fact, the power of a bow is hard to beat with springs. In my opinion, different springs should be used in such designs, with the tougher and shorter ones near the exit and the longer and more flexible ones at the trigger. The idea is to simulate a sling shot's rubber. A set of 3 different sizes and lengths should be good, given you give 'em more space and that you "diagonalize" the setup.
G'day mate, so this is very interesting because I had this same idea back in the mid 80's but never really did much with it beyond pen and paper. Here are some thoughts which I've since used on other projects. Springs. So there is a LOT out there in the world of springs. First thing you need to do is figure out the parameters of what you need (pound per inch of pull, total pull length, width etc) and then get spring made to these specs. Store bought springs will only take you so far. That being said, you should look into springs catalogs to see if what you need has not already been made and is not already available.... that would make things a lot easier. If after much gnawing of pencils and gnashing of teeth, you realize you just can't get a spring made to fit your specs (maybe because to get what you need you would need a longer length of pull than the stock will allow or it would be too wide), consider the option of using compression springs instead of extension springs. It's basically like using a shock absorber and the fun thing about compression springs is they tend to be very powerful on shorter lengths than extension springs. It's a different beast altogether and you gotta build a housing for the spring and that comes with its own headaches, but it is an option. If you do go with extension springs, one thing to know, the failure point is going to be those loops you attach the spring with. So the way to work around this is to machine a plug that screws into the inside of the spring and is made to the specs of the spring's wire. When an extension spring is pulled, the spring tightens down on itself and gets a bit smaller, so as soon as there is tension on it, it will squeeze the plug, so that plus isn't going anywhere, just make it long enough to get a few threads going. The center of this pug can then be drilled to accept either a bolt or cables. If you use cables, make sure you use cables that are ten times (I mean this very literally) stronger than your maximum draw tension, so that it isn't the cable that fails. By using a cable, you will need to swage a stopper to the end of the cable. Do not use ordinary pliers to do this. You need to use a special tool that is used in aeronautics because these special pliers will form the swage sleeve with even tension all around the cable. There are many types of swage sleeves and many materials (aluminium, copper etc). Use the strongest you can find. A properly swaged sleeve should give you around 80 - 90% of the cable's strength, so if you've chosen a cable that was many times stronger than the limit of your spring, even at 80%, the swage sleeve is still stronger than your spring. You see where this is going? You want to raise your levels of safety at every turn, because you're gonna put a lot of pressure on this thing and you don't want that to fail in your face. As a companion to the inner plug for the extension spring, you may also want to make an external sleeve that wraps around the outside of the spring, covering the area where the plug is fitted. This sleeve is in two parts that close around the spring and it also has threads that match the wire of the spring and is held on to the spring by screws on either side of the sleeve, clamping it down over the head of the spring. This external sleeve does add size to the spring, so you'll need extra clearance to accommodate it. Next, cams. Although I don't have a lot of experience with cams, you might want to look into them as they do offer extra power and a lower neutral hold point once drawn. Stock. You may get to a point where more strength than simple wood is needed, and at that point the first level is of course aluminium, but don't use cheap stuff, use high strength aluminium, like the 6061 or the 7075 alloys. If that still doesn't do the job, you may have to either incorporate steel into the design or go with carbon fiber. I don't know enough about carbon fiber to be of much help here. Last but not least, I HIGHLY recommend you build a testing bench so you don't have that thing in your face when you are first testing it out... Good luck!
As mentioned Joerg Sprave and Tod Cutler are great sources of inspiration. lightening and bushing the piston will make for smoother acceleration, if you want a more compact set up you can put springs inside springs for slightly different spring rates. You could always try gas springs!!. Also M10 grub screws make excellent bullets
1.Make it good looking 2.Make it more powerful than before 3.Modifie it 4.Make a long range scope on the top of it 5.Make it effective 6.Make it deadly
Looks awesome! I think you should try to shorten the arms where the springs are attached. the one in the front probably doesn’t matter but the one propelling the steel ball could be a lot lighter and maybe a little more compact. I think that would increase the speed by a lot since the springs wouldn’t have to pull all that weight. A longer draw length I think would be super beneficial as well! It seems quite short right now, so I don’t think a little longer draw would ruin the compact and cool nature of the weapon! Greetings from Sweden!
I'm going to be making one myself, I'm using 2 sets of bike forks with a mountain bike handlebar for the center (3 piece bow that breaks down) I'm trying to figure out which springs have the strongest load capacity/deflection distance to use and prefer closed ended springs. Since I'm using forks I will be able to use 4 springs instead of 2 so are there any suggestions? Also I'm not designing it as a toy I want to have the capability of protecting myself and kids against large predators and large dogs that have become a serious issue so any advice will help tremendously 🙏 thank you. Was going to use a leaf spring but I didn't have any available so plan b it is!
Awesome craftsmanship, need some speed multipliers to generate power! tension springs can retract at about 100-200 FPS. Compounding the mechanical action requires some creative engineering. Many ways to do it, but necessary for increasing speed!
Something that I haven't seen anyone else touch on (apologies if someone did mention it and I missed it) is something that came to mind when you showed the damage to the nut. That damaged nut is an indication of wasted energy, in that you have this tremendous energy stored up, but some of it is being transferred to the ball bearing and some of it is getting transferred to the bow, itself. Obviously, it's going to be impossible to transfer 100% of the energy into the ball bearing, but I'd guess you'd be able to put more of the ball bearing if you gave yourself some more travel in the springs (along the lines of your initial idea with the disengaged length). That said, the force of a spring increases proportionally the distance it's elongated/compressed, meaning the peak force in your springs is right when you pull the trigger, and the force the springs exert decreases as they relax. So there could likely be a sweet spot
Maybe a oilite (oil bronze don't know the UK brand equivalent) to keep the piston aligned on center. Say 25mm long. Shorter springs. Spring tension increases as you extend it to a point. Use McMaster Carr as a reference, again probably a UK equivalent but McMaster has a lot of tech specs. You want the springs near max extension when cocked, those springs had a lot of extension left meaning they weren't at their full potential. They could store a lot more kinetic energy. Cool project, I like the ideas to modify it you listed, particularly the trigger.
Awesome design. Why don't sell this thing online 🙂🤙 I'm not a handy person, but I've thought about a spring weapon design . It's the reverse of yours. If I was handy, I would use one spring, that's compressed. At the end, I would put a magnet, to keep the bullet or arrow (of steel) in place. An electric motor would be used to pull the spring into the barell and compress the spring. The trigger would hold the spring. Using an engine and a powerful spring, this thing could shoot through a door lol What about recoil? Don't ask me 😜
This is actually a very interesting concept, that should definitely be able to improve a crossbow's weakness... The Durability of its String. I'm really sure, this kind of Crossbow can be just as Strong, as a regular one, if the right springs and a proper way of Transmitting the Momentum are implemented.
Straight out of Metro 2033 lol, love it. Althogh it's kind week, I think the springs blocks and absorbs the energy, like adding a piece of wood on a crossbow
Wow this looks like the best home made so far I would love to see someone create an automatic 12 or 15 shot home made dart gun that would be so awesome.keep up the awesome work👍💯
Enjoyed video. I know this is about a year late but, that looks like a good base for a post apocalyptic cross bow. Go with a metal frame skeletonized it would look awesome and you could crank up the tension on the springs. Just a thought
it would be good if you could have some form of spring to allow the trigger to return to the lock positionn after firing, this would add a little pressure to the trigger to stop misfiring but also aid in the cocking of the weapon.
Ok this is my thought take off the 4 springs use one in the center the the pipe in the middle of the spring.this will give you the max pull and thrust.then you can caulk it with a draw rope from side to side that slips on and off when ready to fire.to some this wont make sence.but I once built a rocke t launcher similar to this but straight up shooting.i had 2 springs then four but after I changed it to spring with tube slipping in center of it there was no draw back from tention of differnt springs hope this helps.
@@danielmoss2089 Ah fair play. ♡ Could you use a leaver arm or gears to change the relatively slow but powerful movement of the springs into a rapid movement of the projectile? Or you could use a larger lead projectile to have a more potent effect.
Nice toy! You are now in the middle of making a bow or an air gun. That's the same path people in 15~16 century you revisit. You give it a barrel and compress chamber, it will be air gun. You keep the design, it will be consider as some kind of bow. The placement of spring, now you have all 4 parallel, you can try 4 corners, just like a stool chair, it will make it slim, probably more stable. The other things to concern is the nut. If you check no matter crossbow or airgun, parts don't smash each other when you pull the trigger, energy loss is hugh and left the ball no juice to go far. This toy already have enough power, just how to use it. In the bow case, only the string touch the ball and all the energy transfer are done in that single point. In the airgun case, the pump nozzle blow the ball through the barrel, again, no parts smash each other. You are now in the edge to reinvent a device, nice work👍
The design kind of reminds me of the M79 grenade launcher they used during the Vietnam war. Very cool looking device, it should be fun to shoot. Good job!
id recommend a damper on the entrance of the barrel where the plunger sits to prevent further damage to the system as well as thinning the plunger (leave a wide head and use a thinner bolt). if your looking for further power id use high grade springs. im inspired by your design to create my own similar design however with my limited tools and capability to do so at the moment my ideas are stuck in the water. maybe using an h shape (keeping the central arm but allowing a space to add another two springs per side via a upper and lower metal arm add on) would allow your power output to increase
Great video, I'm not the best with wood also,lol but I am working on it.I like this idea, im working on air and spring right know , bow pellet, gigs for fishing in the river.
Efficiency depends on relation of spring system mass and the ammunition mass. With heavy forged parts, most of the power goes accelerating a mass which don't fly. That energy cause only problems when the springs hit the end. The performance gets better in a same propotion you can reduce mass of moving parts. A bow is efficent because the spring itself don't move much and the string is light. If you want to use the springs, you could try some lightweight lever whigh translates relatively low speed but higher mass into higher speed for lower weight ammo. With a quick thinking, it is very difficult to beat a string based bow. A split tube with the string inside and the string tension with lightweight lever and really strong springs which hardly move at all would be very efficient.
Daniel Moss It will help but mass of a steel spring itself will quiclky become a limit in direct action. You could also think about some lever mechanism where mass, accelerated by the springs, will hit the short end of a lever and the long end then shoot out the ball bearing. Such design can use the energy in spring system without letting it wasted. The lever and pin have to take lots of forces but good steel properly hardened and tempered can take it. Ballbearing ball might be good material for such lever.
Spring tension is your problem. Most projectiles like this have a slightly forward notch for the pull back to lock into forward so when you lock it, a small amount of tension is released from the springs allowing for room potential. Full tension will cause a lesser strength release, unless it is not spring, but explosion based tension set.
Performance wise, you're pushing a lot of weight, and that will definitely lose you a lot of power. There's a reason why crossbows are more effective, the bit that moves is quite light. Obviously, also having a piston means you'll lose some power to friction (depending on how tight the fit is. As a toy, it's very cool, as an efficient launching mechanism, it's going to be quite difficult to get the power output you want. On your crossbow thoughts, definitely check out Todd's Workshop's early dark ages crossbow build. It's fairly simple, even if your woodwork skills are as ordinary as mine. He's also got another video on spanning a steel crossbow, which is useful, because it's definitely something you cannot do by hand. Anyway, the upshot is, I enjoyed the video as a bit of fun and look forward to seeing what you come up with in future videos :)
Thats really cool. You could perhaps increase the speeds of the carriage by doing a two to one ratio. You'd half the springs and double their resistance. Best of both worlds perhaps. Or worst. I'm a pulley nerd
Yes yes yes yes! Weaponry, an excellent choice Sir! Just a thought, if you’d like us to do the stock, if you could provide a rough (as much dimensional accuracy as poss), we’d be happy to send that too you for MK II, ‘The Full Bore’!
That mashed nut that you had a problem with could be replaced with one of those old rear car shock upper rubber bushing and two washers, one flat washer on each end of the bushing. Spring wise, substitute them from using those personal fitness rubber bands and so i am sure, at some point; you will get all the power that you should need. Example: Four bands substituted for four springs. The Sling Shot channel on YT can provide you some more ideas too. JoergSprave heads up that channel and this guy is the goto guy that could also help resolve your dilemmas! Shoot, for that matter, Joerg may even want to help further to expand on that project for just shits and giggles! He enjoys custom builds on virtually all of most all crossbows, now that he keeps pushing himself towards the always bigger and better. This guy is absolutely "Hell on Wheels" when it comes to slingshots and crossbows! Nice try in the initial stages of your design and I'm sure that you'll get through it sometime soon! Thanks for sharing!!
Another thing to consider is draw length, its very clear when you compare ye olde crossbows to newer. The weights are lower but range and power are increased in newer by having more time to speed up projectile
Springs are somewhat problematic for a device like this, because no matter what, you are fighting against the mass of the spring itself. So springs without some form of multiplier like a lever arm or compressor piston will never be able to accelerate a projectile to a reasonable velocity. This is why Roman ballista and similar devices used torsion springs instead of compression/extension, they can be easily pre-tensioned, being rotational made it easy to incorporate a lever arm, and were made using readily available materials of the time (ie. elastic made from the small intestine of a deer).
Thought I came up with the idea first. I was going to use trampoline spring to get a shit ton of spring power. I figured 4 springs would be strong enough to get a back workout too.
/\ This. You need to turn some of that torque into speed. I was thinking a lever with the springs on the short end and a longer barrel and stroke on the long end.
I have not read the other comments , my thought was to increase the energy was to use SS wire and pulleys to increase the spring output. Just a thought.
When it comes to BB and arrow launchers, we all spend our lives climbing the mountain of trial, error, experimentation, discovery and failure, only to finally reach the summit and find Jeorg already sitting at the top, welcoming us to his slingshot channel.
Dude I love your channel thank you for the words of wisdom. Your soooooo right.
LET ME SHOW YOU ITS FEATURE, followed by one of the beat laughs in the world.
This couldn’t be a more accurate statement
"HAHAHAHA", :D, that is the laugh of the good german welcoming us in the top, Jeorg is the professor in this art, and he is very nice giving us counsel over our proyects, he already help me in some details in my home made crossbow so im totally agree with you ;)
Да осталось миллион мишей растрелять я над этим довно ржу это т построили лук я био атаку мишами и саранчей стриляй нехочу
Great minds think alike. Yours is very similar to the one I built about a year ago. However, I used an "X" configuration front and back instead of limbs. This made the whole thing a lot more compact, reduced the torque on the limbs and reduced drag. I also used softer springs and a much longer draw with a modified speargun trigger. I put a sacrificial teflon washer where the plunger strikes the end of the tube which reduced noise considerably. I fire ball bearings, paintballs, darts/ mini crossbow bolts and wads of compressed rock salt. I won't go into the lethality but the local ferals don't big up my vege garden anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing your modifications.
I went to your channel to look for your construction in x... but... XD...
Could you share an image of this X result? thanks (mayube can you put it in my email).
Thinking my way into this, i actually had the same Idea, inspired by something like:
The Anti-Dragon-Ballista from "The Hobbit", which also used four Arms, to launch it's projectiles.
That is awesome and looks like tons of fun. The noise from the Springs i would stretch them spray a very light coat of rubberized coating as a sound dampener. Takecare and keep safe
Nice build , can see how this can be suped up to something a whole lot more powerful with bigger and stronger springs.
I like the concept but as a severely disabled veteran I could not do it if I could get prefab items I’d surly give it a shot. Your very good at what you do. Semper Fi, Doc
I have been designing this for a long time, and thought when I come out it will be a revolutionary idea. Yes, I thought I was the only smart one with that idea, and then I came across your video by accident. It kind ruined my moment, but also made me feel good, because I am not the only one looking to create something like it.
Meaning thinking outside the box. My idea is close but different at the same time, with some modern implementations. Anyway, I will subscribe so I can see how far it will go. Wish you the best!
Blacksmithing and archery,two of my favorite hobbies,looking forward to forged limbs version, nice prototype ,thanks.
I make similar things but out of random items and objects that I can find around my house. Videos like this are what inspire me to make things like my kebab skewer rifle! Thank you and keep it up!
Dan interesting project. Good advice below. My contribution to the discussion would be:
1. Use brass pipe with a small steel plug at the fighting end.
2. Tighter tolerance to concentrate energy to the projectile.
3. Polish the inside of the barrel. Wooden dowel on a drill, a wee split in other end to slide in & hold some emery, rap around to tidy fit, a little light oil like heating oil and push up and down with the drill running; reduce grits. Finish with a some gun cleaning cloth & "Autosol" cream, running on the drill.
4. Lube with graphite or something that won't collect dirt.
5. Projectiles: try bits of wooden dowel, acorns,
6. What about replacing the springs with catapult rubber & rap it 2 or 3 times around the holding arms your springs are on.
Just some thought that I haven't tested but think would improve the system. If all that fails, you could go high tech like my son did, make an air chamber with a plumbers gas valve & connected to your barrel. Fill with your air compressor. Point it away from anything that can rebound. Fire & you will be completely amazed, power & distance. It will hurt or injure someone if it hit them. Crazy I know but incredibly 😂😂. I'll stop there before I start talking about black powder & get you jailed. 🤔🤔🙄. Can't wait to see your modifications. Regards, Hugo Dale.
Hi Dan, I’m thinking you want to reduce friction between the blunger and barrel as much as possible. My first thought was to simply lubricate the plunger and barrel but as you mentioned, the slop between the plunger and barrel may be creating friction by the plungers angle so you would do well to tighten that up....without adding to the friction. Using "o" rings would likely add more friction to the plunger and barrel movement.....unless you use something like an acetal (polyacetal) sleeve in the barrel or acetal rings at either end of the plunger so that it both lubricates the plunger movement and takes any slop out of the plunger/barrel relationship. Using a larger bearing would likely add a level of air pressure from the wrong end and reduce performance, the tighter projectile idea works well where it needs to build upon pressure from behind to perform - ie normal firearms, spud guns etc.
that's correct... the air pressure can still be reduced by making air exhaust holes in the cylinder.
I was not expecting the use of the forge, impressive
Thank you
Happy to hear from you again Dan!
The shorter the draw, the more power is required to achieve speed. Avg. crossbow with 15 inch draw capable of approx 200 fps is going to be 150# - 180# and a 400 gram arrow. With your setup it looks like effectively a 10 inch draw. Will need to increase power to get more speed, or increase total draw length, or reduce ammo weight.
Using your setup, honing both barrel and piston to high polish will also help. Piston should be shaped like a valve so only the front actually contacts the barrel. Instead of a nut, use a delrin washer for the stop. A delrin washer will last longer, take more abuse, and will be easier to replace. The reinforcing sideplates is a very good idea. Might also consider a small magnet on the front of the piston to hold the bearing ball lightly. And collaboration with Jorge on the Slingshot Channel would be an excellent idea. He, also, tries out various ideas for bows, crossbows, slingshots, swords, etc., etc., etc. He has even made a magazine for a bow and arrow that works just by drawing the string back. Touch base with him. I think you'd really enjoy bouncing ideas off each other.
I tripped over this video by accident and haven't checked for part 2 yet.
Springs may be more efficient than a bow- after you shoot an arrow the bow is still under tension (keeps the string from falling off) but springs can go completely slack. However, springs don't release their energy linearly like bows (more or less) do- springs exert a lot of force right when released and then taper off. That means you get a constantly *decreasing* acceleration force on the ball bearing- it may actually outrun the piston on the way down the cylinder, so you don't actually recover all the energy from the springs. Heavier ball (lead rather than steel) would help that.
I'd add little nubs to the crossbars that hold the springs rather than cut notches which could introduce weak spots.
You might benefit from more practice with firearms (shotgun bigger than 20 ga but smaller than 12 ga I'd say)- you need to lean into the stock to prevent wasting energy on recoil. Watch the slo-mo at around 15:11. The stock should not slam back like that. To really see the difference, brace the springbow against a wall or something else solid and fire it at a cardboard box again.
Years ago I thought about building a springbow with a single motorcycle front end spring but never get around to it. I'm thrilled to see someone not screwing around and actually building something. You've already done far better than I ever did, or likely will.
En français
that trigger design is awesome!
Thank you next one will be better.
This is really cool!
You are absolutely right, the energy is there. Its how its transfered to the ballbearing that is the problem. As you can see alot of the energy you want transfered to the ball is now being transfered onto the nut , smashing it instead of firing the bearing.
What you need to do here is to make the piston slam into the ball bearing by moving it up the pipe. This will transfer alot of the kinetic energy from the piston to the ball rather than the ball inheriting the momentum of the piston.
This is the same principle of a how a hammer works. You would never be able to push a nail in despite using alot more energy but by shockimg the nail more of the energy is transfered to the nail itself rather than into your hands. Beware though this will damage the piston
If he uses a strong tool steel tip on his piston, it should take quite a beating before wearing out. I think if he wants to retain the ability to shoot both bolts and BB's, he should affix a strong magnet towards the end of the pistons stroke to hold the BB in the right position
Now iam going to use this..in my classroom..😁😁😁
growing up as a kid, it was part of life making bows or guns. we made simple ones with a piece of 2x2 and a nail bent over in the end and then a clothes peg nailed in at the other end to hold a peg spring in place. then release and the rubber band did the rest lol. I'd hate to think what we could have made with your tools at our disposal lol.
👍👍. Jason from ACL in Hereford
Make a metal stock out of square tubing, skeleton stock.The most dangerous part about crossbow type weapons is not just the bow or spring failure its a weak stock. Have you tried using a single more powerful longer spring to keep the bulk down. rather than multiple. Make use of the centre rod you could put your power spring there. You also have to remember that the power is taken up by the weight of the recoiling mechanism, by the time the power is transferred to the projectile you have lost a bit of energy. Don't forget to use some rubber buffers to stop it clanking at the end of travel. to help stop it breaking apart ofter quite a few shots. Watch out using ball bearings for ammo as they can fly back at the shooter, use lead balls. use a light wire spring to hold ball in place or light magnet if you do use steel ball. Great workshop you have.
Wow that's awesome keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend forge on
I'm not sure how technical you would want to go with you ball bearing launcher, but it looks like you are off to a good start. The weight of the moving parts is an issue. The back spring arm holder could be lighter but you would lose strength. You could try a split cylinder that the back spring arm would slide along to eliminate travel wobble keeping everything in line from release to the end of travel. But all in all it looks like a fun project. I like these kind of projects, the process of figuring everything out from scratch and refining and tweaking to get to the point that you're satisfied with it. It's just for fun anyway. To me that's what being a blacksmith or a craftsman is about.
The cult of the archer lives on forever!!
I like your project. If I can throw some ideas into your melting pot
for low velocity a sphere is the best shape adding mass such as using lead will to some extent carry the ball slightly further.
You are using four springs which have the same handed twist if yo look at your spring gun you will see it wants to twist the bolt carrier in one direction, this looses a small amount of power, also I doubt if the springs are equally balanced meaning one or two springs are doing more work. hanging them from a bar and determining their unloaded length then adding the same known weight and measuring the extension would give an indication as to which spring(s) are stronger.
As you said giving the springs a register would help especially if the ends are captive to ensure the pull is directly fore and aft.
I would suggest having left an right helical twisted springs so they oppose any twisting moment an ideally a push spring system using two springs one inside the other as use on engine inlet an exhaust valves would apply all the force directly into your piston.
The damage to your nut indicates that there is still tension in the springs as well as momentum of the moving mass while it looks like lost energy there would be little gain from trying to harness it as the projectile is already moving at the maximum velocity, a hard rubber buffer would help to eliminate the thump and also reduce the shock affect on your aim.
a rudimentary ring sight at the rear and a post foresight would assist or using double ring sights smaller at the rear helps the eye aline the barrel to the target.
A brass or bronze bush that supports the piston would help lubricate and square up your piston you might loose a small bit of rearwards motion on cocking but that would be regained by easing the pistons travel.
Is your projectile a tight fit, or sloppy fit, is your barrel mirror finished inside to reduce friction could you apply some Teflon spray to minimise any friction.
Hello friend, it is a very good project, perhaps, adding a longer barrel, the projectile would come out with more power, and improve the trajectory. blessings and greetings from Chile.
working on it part two is coming soon
It's not a firearm or air rifle.
A longer barrel isn't going to have the same effect on a mechanically launched projectile as it does on a pneumatically launched projectile.
More powerful springs, tighter tolerances to minimize wobble and lighter moving parts would be the best way to optimize this build.
The only real benefit to a longer barrel would be in using longer springs, which could help deliver more energy to the projectile.
Daniel, please! Always eye protection especially when working with springs under tension. You've got mad skills.
That's a cool build. Looks like something that belongs in the fallout universe
If I were a modder, I would mod this into fallout.
Well , that's a start .. trying to figure out a design using an old strut cartridge with the internal spring? Cam wheels or other lever types would allow for great acceleration control, where as this is dependent on 1 diminishing spring rate ...
I have wanted to build one of these for a long time, thanks for doing this!
Amazing crossbow, so creative
Love to see the mods as well as testing your ideas with this spring bow.👍👍
Excellent work I see what you mean about needing more work with design but this is probably the best type so far
🤣🤣Мы типо такого в детстве делали по солдатикам стрелять)) а чтоб по коробке или бутылке с поджига бум)) а это у них прям круть)))🤣🤣🤣
This is a video I didn't know I needed. I want one now lol
Oi
😂
I would recommend lightening the piston as you've already stated, lengthening the forend to about double, and maybe try playing around with rubber, or you could make a pair of limbs and cable them to your current setup. Honestly, just do some general experimentation, but the springs are most likely what will ultimately limit you in the end, super heavy springs will dump a lot of energy, but with a super short launch stroke, yielding low efficiency, and light springs will give you a much longer launch and a greater efficiency at the cost of power. Unless I'm wrong, which I probably am, there's no winning with springs, at least not on this project. Anyhoo, great concept, keep it up!
Your "stupid idea" is actually a very clever one, though, I'm probably biased as I did the same thing one year ago !! XD
Anyway, mine has the springs arranged somewhat differently. I don't keep them tightened as you do, so that I have a little bit more power. Also, they point inward, like they're just a cord replacement for a crossbow, which they are in my case. The arc of my crossbow was broken and I decided to use a fixed tube with springs as propulsion. The end result when it's not loaded looks like a triangle pointing towards the trigger mechanism. I also have a longer "barrel" and they have more space to be stretched. I can puncture leather with a custom dart I made out of a 6mm x100mm steel nail (with real feathers on the back, perfectly balanced). I also have a power drop though. For springs to work, they must be extra thick and real tough! As a matter of fact, the power of a bow is hard to beat with springs. In my opinion, different springs should be used in such designs, with the tougher and shorter ones near the exit and the longer and more flexible ones at the trigger. The idea is to simulate a sling shot's rubber. A set of 3 different sizes and lengths should be good, given you give 'em more space and that you "diagonalize" the setup.
yessss it's not stupid stuff, it's fun stuff!
G'day mate, so this is very interesting because I had this same idea back in the mid 80's but never really did much with it beyond pen and paper. Here are some thoughts which I've since used on other projects.
Springs. So there is a LOT out there in the world of springs. First thing you need to do is figure out the parameters of what you need (pound per inch of pull, total pull length, width etc) and then get spring made to these specs. Store bought springs will only take you so far. That being said, you should look into springs catalogs to see if what you need has not already been made and is not already available.... that would make things a lot easier.
If after much gnawing of pencils and gnashing of teeth, you realize you just can't get a spring made to fit your specs (maybe because to get what you need you would need a longer length of pull than the stock will allow or it would be too wide), consider the option of using compression springs instead of extension springs. It's basically like using a shock absorber and the fun thing about compression springs is they tend to be very powerful on shorter lengths than extension springs. It's a different beast altogether and you gotta build a housing for the spring and that comes with its own headaches, but it is an option.
If you do go with extension springs, one thing to know, the failure point is going to be those loops you attach the spring with. So the way to work around this is to machine a plug that screws into the inside of the spring and is made to the specs of the spring's wire. When an extension spring is pulled, the spring tightens down on itself and gets a bit smaller, so as soon as there is tension on it, it will squeeze the plug, so that plus isn't going anywhere, just make it long enough to get a few threads going. The center of this pug can then be drilled to accept either a bolt or cables. If you use cables, make sure you use cables that are ten times (I mean this very literally) stronger than your maximum draw tension, so that it isn't the cable that fails. By using a cable, you will need to swage a stopper to the end of the cable. Do not use ordinary pliers to do this. You need to use a special tool that is used in aeronautics because these special pliers will form the swage sleeve with even tension all around the cable. There are many types of swage sleeves and many materials (aluminium, copper etc). Use the strongest you can find. A properly swaged sleeve should give you around 80 - 90% of the cable's strength, so if you've chosen a cable that was many times stronger than the limit of your spring, even at 80%, the swage sleeve is still stronger than your spring. You see where this is going? You want to raise your levels of safety at every turn, because you're gonna put a lot of pressure on this thing and you don't want that to fail in your face.
As a companion to the inner plug for the extension spring, you may also want to make an external sleeve that wraps around the outside of the spring, covering the area where the plug is fitted. This sleeve is in two parts that close around the spring and it also has threads that match the wire of the spring and is held on to the spring by screws on either side of the sleeve, clamping it down over the head of the spring. This external sleeve does add size to the spring, so you'll need extra clearance to accommodate it.
Next, cams. Although I don't have a lot of experience with cams, you might want to look into them as they do offer extra power and a lower neutral hold point once drawn.
Stock. You may get to a point where more strength than simple wood is needed, and at that point the first level is of course aluminium, but don't use cheap stuff, use high strength aluminium, like the 6061 or the 7075 alloys. If that still doesn't do the job, you may have to either incorporate steel into the design or go with carbon fiber. I don't know enough about carbon fiber to be of much help here.
Last but not least, I HIGHLY recommend you build a testing bench so you don't have that thing in your face when you are first testing it out...
Good luck!
As mentioned Joerg Sprave and Tod Cutler are great sources of inspiration. lightening and bushing the piston will make for smoother acceleration, if you want a more compact set up you can put springs inside springs for slightly different spring rates. You could always try gas springs!!.
Also M10 grub screws make excellent bullets
All great ideas looking into it.
1.Make it good looking
2.Make it more powerful than before
3.Modifie it
4.Make a long range scope on the top of it
5.Make it effective
6.Make it deadly
Greetings. Thank you sir.
I learned from you.
Liked and subscribed.
🙏
Looks awesome! I think you should try to shorten the arms where the springs are attached. the one in the front probably doesn’t matter but the one propelling the steel ball could be a lot lighter and maybe a little more compact. I think that would increase the speed by a lot since the springs wouldn’t have to pull all that weight.
A longer draw length I think would be super beneficial as well! It seems quite short right now, so I don’t think a little longer draw would ruin the compact and cool nature of the weapon!
Greetings from Sweden!
I'm going to be making one myself, I'm using 2 sets of bike forks with a mountain bike handlebar for the center (3 piece bow that breaks down) I'm trying to figure out which springs have the strongest load capacity/deflection distance to use and prefer closed ended springs. Since I'm using forks I will be able to use 4 springs instead of 2 so are there any suggestions? Also I'm not designing it as a toy I want to have the capability of protecting myself and kids against large predators and large dogs that have become a serious issue so any advice will help tremendously 🙏 thank you. Was going to use a leaf spring but I didn't have any available so plan b it is!
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มิสนี แซ่บเวอร์ คะ
Awesome craftsmanship, need some speed multipliers to generate power! tension springs can retract at about 100-200 FPS. Compounding the mechanical action requires some creative engineering. Many ways to do it, but necessary for increasing speed!
Something that I haven't seen anyone else touch on (apologies if someone did mention it and I missed it) is something that came to mind when you showed the damage to the nut. That damaged nut is an indication of wasted energy, in that you have this tremendous energy stored up, but some of it is being transferred to the ball bearing and some of it is getting transferred to the bow, itself. Obviously, it's going to be impossible to transfer 100% of the energy into the ball bearing, but I'd guess you'd be able to put more of the ball bearing if you gave yourself some more travel in the springs (along the lines of your initial idea with the disengaged length). That said, the force of a spring increases proportionally the distance it's elongated/compressed, meaning the peak force in your springs is right when you pull the trigger, and the force the springs exert decreases as they relax. So there could likely be a sweet spot
Maybe a oilite (oil bronze don't know the UK brand equivalent) to keep the piston aligned on center. Say 25mm long. Shorter springs. Spring tension increases as you extend it to a point. Use McMaster Carr as a reference, again probably a UK equivalent but McMaster has a lot of tech specs. You want the springs near max extension when cocked, those springs had a lot of extension left meaning they weren't at their full potential. They could store a lot more kinetic energy. Cool project, I like the ideas to modify it you listed, particularly the trigger.
Awesome design. Why don't sell this thing online 🙂🤙
I'm not a handy person, but I've thought about a spring weapon design .
It's the reverse of yours.
If I was handy, I would use one spring, that's compressed. At the end, I would put a magnet, to keep the bullet or arrow (of steel) in place.
An electric motor would be used to pull the spring into the barell and compress the spring.
The trigger would hold the spring.
Using an engine and a powerful spring, this thing could shoot through a door lol
What about recoil? Don't ask me 😜
Wow amazing 👍👍👍
Powerful. Wha do you think i you put a barrel in perpendicular up the principal pipe so you can fill it with 10 or more bearrings an get more shoots
I like the new ideas 💡 👌
Is good idea .....!!! 🤔.
DANIEL MOSS ....👍 .
Good toy! 👍
Very cool Dan! Thanks for sharing and God Bless you sir!
This is actually a very interesting concept, that should definitely be able to improve a crossbow's weakness...
The Durability of its String.
I'm really sure, this kind of Crossbow can be just as Strong, as a regular one, if the right springs and a proper way of Transmitting the Momentum are implemented.
Straight out of Metro 2033 lol, love it. Althogh it's kind week, I think the springs blocks and absorbs the energy, like adding a piece of wood on a crossbow
Part two is in the works and I know a lot more about bows now, Hehe!
Thank you for the great comment.
@@danielmoss2089 Thanks for the response haha, I spent some time brainstorming and I just gave up, I think i'll stick to classic crossbows!
Wow this looks like the best home made so far I would love to see someone create an automatic 12 or 15 shot home made dart gun that would be so awesome.keep up the awesome work👍💯
Enjoyed video. I know this is about a year late but, that looks like a good base for a post apocalyptic cross bow. Go with a metal frame skeletonized it would look awesome and you could crank up the tension on the springs. Just a thought
Weak to middling magnet inset where the (presumably steel) bearing rests so that you can tilt it different ways and not lose your bearing?
Cool start Dan 😎 forge the 4 springs into a Damascus flat spring and do the bow 👍 gr8 vid bro.
it would be good if you could have some form of spring to allow the trigger to return to the lock positionn after firing, this would add a little pressure to the trigger to stop misfiring but also aid in the cocking of the weapon.
Ok this is my thought take off the 4 springs use one in the center the the pipe in the middle of the spring.this will give you the max pull and thrust.then you can caulk it with a draw rope from side to side that slips on and off when ready to fire.to some this wont make sence.but I once built a rocke t launcher similar to this but straight up shooting.i had 2 springs then four but after I changed it to spring with tube slipping in center of it there was no draw back from tention of differnt springs hope this helps.
Use the springs to compress air to shoot the ball bearing out?
An idea keeping it legal is the main goal.
@@danielmoss2089 Ah fair play. ♡
Could you use a leaver arm or gears to change the relatively slow but powerful movement of the springs into a rapid movement of the projectile?
Or you could use a larger lead projectile to have a more potent effect.
Wawww se jeant thanke you very match forever goode job 👍👍👍👍👍💪💪💪
Nice toy! You are now in the middle of making a bow or an air gun. That's the same path people in 15~16 century you revisit. You give it a barrel and compress chamber, it will be air gun. You keep the design, it will be consider as some kind of bow.
The placement of spring, now you have all 4 parallel, you can try 4 corners, just like a stool chair, it will make it slim, probably more stable.
The other things to concern is the nut. If you check no matter crossbow or airgun, parts don't smash each other when you pull the trigger, energy loss is hugh and left the ball no juice to go far. This toy already have enough power, just how to use it. In the bow case, only the string touch the ball and all the energy transfer are done in that single point. In the airgun case, the pump nozzle blow the ball through the barrel, again, no parts smash each other.
You are now in the edge to reinvent a device, nice work👍
The design kind of reminds me of the M79 grenade launcher they used during the Vietnam war. Very cool looking device, it should be fun to shoot. Good job!
Hey Daniel I love the idea of you making cross bows through the ages I would watch that.
I love the idea Daniel
id recommend a damper on the entrance of the barrel where the plunger sits to prevent further damage to the system as well as thinning the plunger (leave a wide head and use a thinner bolt). if your looking for further power id use high grade springs. im inspired by your design to create my own similar design however with my limited tools and capability to do so at the moment my ideas are stuck in the water. maybe using an h shape (keeping the central arm but allowing a space to add another two springs per side via a upper and lower metal arm add on) would allow your power output to increase
It reminds me of these spring driven bows you see in some rural conflicts in eastern africa.
The force stronger than ordinary crossbow.. good idea.. I want make it for self defense
U'r doing great. Kp it up. There's always room for improvement.
Very nice gun 👍
Min 0:11 ... this is absolutely great
Great video, I'm not the best with wood also,lol but I am working on it.I like this idea, im working on air and spring right know , bow pellet, gigs for fishing in the river.
Efficiency depends on relation of spring system mass and the ammunition mass. With heavy forged parts, most of the power goes accelerating a mass which don't fly. That energy cause only problems when the springs hit the end. The performance gets better in a same propotion you can reduce mass of moving parts.
A bow is efficent because the spring itself don't move much and the string is light.
If you want to use the springs, you could try some lightweight lever whigh translates relatively low speed but higher mass into higher speed for lower weight ammo.
With a quick thinking, it is very difficult to beat a string based bow. A split tube with the string inside and the string tension with lightweight lever and really strong springs which hardly move at all would be very efficient.
I don't want it to better a bow just want to make the whole thing a little smarter. What you say make sense I'll look into the wieght.
Daniel Moss It will help but mass of a steel spring itself will quiclky become a limit in direct action. You could also think about some lever mechanism where mass, accelerated by the springs, will hit the short end of a lever and the long end then shoot out the ball bearing. Such design can use the energy in spring system without letting it wasted. The lever and pin have to take lots of forces but good steel properly hardened and tempered can take it. Ballbearing ball might be good material for such lever.
Eine riesige Werkstatt und kein Windeisen - gruselig!
Spent all my money on the power hammer! Also naughty me!
Awesome video. Looks like it could be good fun once the power is upped
Really enjoyed your video. Like the way you talk like I'm sitting there.
Looks like a fun project.
Like it. Good work.
Very nice video
Good job
А что.выклепывал...
Thanks 🤗
Nice one! Good job dude. Looking forward to the next one :D
Spring tension is your problem. Most projectiles like this have a slightly forward notch for the pull back to lock into forward so when you lock it, a small amount of tension is released from the springs allowing for room potential. Full tension will cause a lesser strength release, unless it is not spring, but explosion based tension set.
I love your shop
Performance wise, you're pushing a lot of weight, and that will definitely lose you a lot of power. There's a reason why crossbows are more effective, the bit that moves is quite light.
Obviously, also having a piston means you'll lose some power to friction (depending on how tight the fit is.
As a toy, it's very cool, as an efficient launching mechanism, it's going to be quite difficult to get the power output you want.
On your crossbow thoughts, definitely check out Todd's Workshop's early dark ages crossbow build. It's fairly simple, even if your woodwork skills are as ordinary as mine. He's also got another video on spanning a steel crossbow, which is useful, because it's definitely something you cannot do by hand.
Anyway, the upshot is, I enjoyed the video as a bit of fun and look forward to seeing what you come up with in future videos :)
Thanks dude looking into it.
Thats really cool. You could perhaps increase the speeds of the carriage by doing a two to one ratio. You'd half the springs and double their resistance. Best of both worlds perhaps. Or worst. I'm a pulley nerd
Yes yes yes yes! Weaponry, an excellent choice Sir! Just a thought, if you’d like us to do the stock, if you could provide a rough (as much dimensional accuracy as poss), we’d be happy to send that too you for MK II, ‘The Full Bore’!
That might be a great idea dude. I'll let you know.
are the heavy parts moving? well they are taking up a lot of energy. i think that is where the performance dips down.
Its power is OK, just enough to stop a hungry bandit from charging at you.
I love your idea!
Thank you! 😊
Good video... Now i need to combine this with joergsprave instant legolas for easy reload
That mashed nut that you had a problem with could be replaced with one of those old rear car shock upper
rubber bushing and two washers, one flat washer on each end of the bushing. Spring wise, substitute them
from using those personal fitness rubber bands and so i am sure, at some point; you will get all the power
that you should need. Example: Four bands substituted for four springs. The Sling Shot channel on YT can
provide you some more ideas too. JoergSprave heads up that channel and this guy is the goto guy that could
also help resolve your dilemmas! Shoot, for that matter, Joerg may even want to help further to expand on
that project for just shits and giggles! He enjoys custom builds on virtually all of most all crossbows, now that
he keeps pushing himself towards the always bigger and better. This guy is absolutely "Hell on Wheels" when
it comes to slingshots and crossbows! Nice try in the initial stages of your design and I'm sure that you'll get
through it sometime soon! Thanks for sharing!!
Ooops! One Great Mod, Two Major Fails... Pure Crossbow Fun! >>>By JoergeSprave on YT
Can't wait for the next one ....👀🔥
Another thing to consider is draw length, its very clear when you compare ye olde crossbows to newer. The weights are lower but range and power are increased in newer by having more time to speed up projectile
Quite the workshop! :-)
Springs are somewhat problematic for a device like this, because no matter what, you are fighting against the mass of the spring itself. So springs without some form of multiplier like a lever arm or compressor piston will never be able to accelerate a projectile to a reasonable velocity. This is why Roman ballista and similar devices used torsion springs instead of compression/extension, they can be easily pre-tensioned, being rotational made it easy to incorporate a lever arm, and were made using readily available materials of the time (ie. elastic made from the small intestine of a deer).
Thought I came up with the idea first. I was going to use trampoline spring to get a shit ton of spring power. I figured 4 springs would be strong enough to get a back workout too.
Add some mechanical advantages by using something similar to a compound bow with pulleys maybe.
/\ This. You need to turn some of that torque into speed. I was thinking a lever with the springs on the short end and a longer barrel and stroke on the long end.
I have not read the other comments , my thought was to increase the energy was to use SS wire and pulleys to increase the spring output.
Just a thought.
forging some traditional crossbow limbs would be very cool
I will be