Campquake Senate

Alrght, so I'm a senior, and at my school you have to do this big research project and do a related outside project where you spend a minimum of 15 hours on it. For my paper, I wrote about medieval ranged weapons, their uses and whatnot. For my project, I'm making a crossbow.

Now, my nextdoor neighbor is retired and he builds dulcimers (a kind of folk banjo as they are usually described) in his garage, he has for years, and has tons of woodworking tools and experience, and is willing to help me with my project. I just need to either get a kit or some plans and we can start working on it.

I've found that on the internet, at least for me, it is nearly impossible to find legible or credible plans for a crossbow that aren't made out of a bunch of PVC pipes and some aluminum tied together. I'm going to go to the library tomorrow after school and search around for some reference books, but it's doubtful I'll find anything.

So basically I'm just asking for some help on finding some plans, since its very likely I'm just too stupid to know how or where to find them.

are we talking "olde" fashioned wooden stock type crossbow? repeater crossbow or recurve bow? ballista?

here's a link to some plans for a repeater crossbow. It's kinda faint.. and a pdf, but there is some good info and piece assembly on the last page:

http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery/crossbowfull.pdf

perhaps this could work too?

http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/guns_ ... crsbw.html

it's more step by step worded instructions, no pictures.

And i have no idea where the heck you'd get a leaf spring?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_spring

It's part of a frickin' car! i did not know that.... as you can see from the wiki link above... that was the only way I could find out what it was.

I know very little about cars, as the majority of males "ought" to know. But that is another topic.

Here is a one-page plan that your woodworking
friend may be able to help you with:
http://rudderbows.com/crossbowkit.html

I don't think there is a kit for sale, it's just the instructions.

Yeah I've seen both those designs, and I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the only design I'm gonna like is one that I put together myself. The trigger systems on those two are both kind of vague, so I think I'll end up designing my own.

Thinking of something simple, when you pull the trigger, the end of the trigger inside the handle pulls down on a metal bar sticking out of the top of handle, with a strong spring holding the trigger in the cocked position. Pull the trigger down, bar comes down, the string is let loose and it shoots whatever I put into it.

You'll put your eye out.

Don't point that at me.

I'll point it wherever I want to damn it, just be careful around me.

I hope you use Nerf arrows!