I really like the goat's-foot-leaver spanning mechanism. Very elegant.

The smooth transition between angles, black and white stripes make it look both sleek and dangerous - one look at it and you know that this isn't just a piece of art but also a very serious weapon. Beautiful work.

Absolutely gorgeous. Nobody made hunting weapons like the Teutons. It brings German wheellock "falconets" to mind.

Fantastic crossbow & bolts and presented in an impressively informative and technically detailed video.

That's a beautiful crossbow. I don't know if you watch Forged in Fire, but the other week they had the smiths make medieval hunting crossbows. It'd be really interesting to hear your opinions on their creations.

Awesome, you make some of my favorite building videos - all content, no fluff! I'd like to know how you stitched together the horn and bone bits, it looks like one solid piece and is quite pretty.

this is mainly probably prettiest crossbow i´d ever seen!

Thank you thank you for using both metric and imperial, makes it so much better to watch

Scope is great and the crossbow shoots accurate every time for me

Can you make an ancient chinese style crossbow for testing？ Less draw weight but longer power stroke with composite bow.

Did I happen to see a couple of your crossbows in an episode of Wolf Hall?

Beautiful workmanship

Man o man!! That sir is a mighty fine cross bow!!!!

"Asked for a couple of blunts". I thought they don't do that in England (yet).

Great presentation, wonderfully shared expertise. Thanks

Gorgeous!! Great video!

That whole set up his awesome I would love to have something like that

really beautiful crossbow!

The best way to forge an arrow head that I've found is to make the cone first, then forge weld the small end to a small nub on the point. This also works very well for spear points and any socket tool like a wood chisel. This technique was used up to the early twentieth century for most chisels.

Beautiful construction.

That's gorgeous!

Beautiful work and informative video. I can't imagine why anyone would hit "dislike".

BEAUTIFUL!!!

What a beautiful piece of craftsmanship Tod. I certainly would not like to be on the receiving end of any of those bolts! Lol

Soo pretty... Well worth the extra few hundred bucks for purchase. On my wishlist for sure!

Superb machine. Looks what it is; a master craftsman's creation. Excellent video.

I came up with those string saving grooves as well when making a crossbow (without any knowledge they used to do that). I'd carve them a bit longer than in the crossbow in this video though, so they'll span the whole movement range of the string.

Beautiful work, and informative video, as always.:-)

Ha! I could never afford one of your bows.. but if I could I would be very , very happy with my purchase. Thank you for helping protect, record and recreate our cultures. You should be entitled to govt grants for the work you do.

That crossbow is a beauty the Venom tuned Weihrauch of 15th century German crossbows there Todd.

Have there ever been medieval crossbows with a goat's foot integrated into the bow? Rather than a separate thing you have to carry around? And if so was it practical or did it get in the way of other tasks?

Just wonderful, and the owners intention is to employ it for service rather than just for fun, that'd be fun.

Beautiful peice Tod.

Wonderful work 😁

Im ready to agree with you, good head on The shaft is crucial.

Using a formula that is fairly accurate at describing draw force curves for bows that are straight in their unstrung state, and given a power stroke length of 0.145m, I estimate that this crossbow stores 145.6J of potential energy at full draw. If the blunt bolt you shot is 0.05kg on the nose, then it had ~48.1J of kinetic energy by the time it went through the chrony. Assuming negligible velocity loss between the moment of launch and the moment the bolt passed through the chrony, this yields an energy transfer from crossbow to bolt that was 33.0% efficient. This in line with other efficiencies for crossbows of this era that I've calculated. The same general set of calculations predicts a massless bolt would launch from this crossbow at a velocity of 53.6 m/s (175.8 fps). This allows an interesting comparison. Joe Gibbs has shot videos of himself speed-testing some of his longbows. Assuming a 23" (0.5842m) powerstroke and using the same draw force curve formula I used for the crossbow, one of his 160lb longbows stores ~199.6J of potential energy. In one of his videos, he shoots a 0.075kg arrow at a velocity of 60.8 m/s, giving it 138.7 J of kinetic energy. That yields a 69.5% efficient energy transfer. The massless arrow velocity (or dry fire speed) for the bow Joe used in the video I'm referencing would be ~110.1 m/s. Using this crossbow and Joe Gibb's longbow as representative of these two classes of weapons, and assuming that energy storage, limb mass and other relevant properties of the crossbow scale linearly with draw weight, then to shoot a bolt with the same mass to draw weight ratio as the bolt in this video with as much kinetic energy as a 0.075kg arrow shot by Joe Gibbs' 160 lb longbow, a crossbow of this era would need a draw weight of ~1356 lbs. The same projectile energy could be achieved from a crossbow of the same design but lower draw weight by a bolt with a higher mass/draw weight ratio, at the cost of lower launch velocity. If my estimates are reasonably accurate, then it would seem they challenge an assertion about crossbows vis-a-vis longbows that I've often read, which is that relative to longbows, crossbows shot projectiles at higher velocities across flatter trajectories at their targets, and that what gave the longbow a greater effective range is the fact that longbowmen could launch well-aimed arrows at higher trajectories than are possible with crossbows. My estimates suggest that, broadly speaking, longbows like Joe Gibbs' were able to shoot projectiles at higher velocities and kinetic energies across flatter trajectories than their contemporary crossbow counterparts and that in order to match or beat longbows in terms of projectile kinetic energy, crossbows would need to shoot very heavy bolts that would have had launch velocities less than or equal to a somewhat poky ~47 m/s, give or take.

i Tod's videos: a mixture of empirical science, wonderful mechanical masterpieces, and gleeful passion. What more would you want? Flaxen Saxon.

love ya work

Very pretty bow Tod, great job mate.Have you posted to Australia,e have strict laws about owning these beautiful weapons

It’s beautiful

If you carved a small "v" in the highest part of the bolt clip, that would give you something to guesstimate off of, for your next shot. As in, I was aiming at this point thru the v, and the bolt hit xyz. Just a thought. Love your videos Tod, Thanks for bringing back the Oldies... haha

I fecking love crossbows

Do you have a video of how to make those awesome straw targets you shoot? Kind of spiraling straw? Thanks

Nice decorative work, I wonder why Western Europeans don't seem to have bothered with it all that much. PS, In the past I have pestered you with questions regarding bolt weight but what is the actual ratio of the weight of the head compared to the shaft? There are some Germans out there saying the shaft would ideally weigh as much as the head itself.

Another great informative video on crossbows! Is 15 yards about the maximum you'd hunt with that particular crossbow?

So is the ivory/ebony simply carved and smoothed, then put in as a piece? Exquisite bow per usual Tod.

Lovely piece of Art.

in a battle, where the archers/crossbowmen are unimpeded, it goes on for a long time (so firing rate isn't so relevant), etc...would it be better to have bolts or arrows... which are easier to transport/manufacture? Or how many bolts could one carry reasonably, compared to arrows. (It is my understanding that archers used to carry 30 x arrows, as a general rule (for at least some armies).

Nice group

Some Spanish bows in the late 15th century had too little mass and thus the kick was quite severe. These were known to be 'con dientes', 'with teeth' (or so I've read)

Parabéns muito bom video crossbow forte

Tod, I love these videos. I wish you would weigh the crossbow. That would help a lot!

You talk about re-using crossbows when the bow brekas, Do you have any idea about historical cases for re-using the boltheads when shafts break? Also do you have any ideas about how the 'trigger bar holding a disk in place' mechanism got to be so common compared to in a very short time a totally different trigger mechanism dominating in muskets?

Just watched it through to the end, I'm really surprised that the blunt punched through the fleece.

Need some videos on how to make this particular xbow step by step lol

So, how do crossbowmen walk around in the hunting fields? With bow drawn back and bolt in place, or bow undrawn/bolt sitting in quiver?

Is that a pavise being formed in the back using the ratchet straps?

why didn't they use longbow length wooden prods with full length draws and full weight arrows for more power?

Can a crossbow be 'tuned' to aim more consistently?

If you don't mind me asking how much would a crossbow like that cost to get made because you have beautiful work could you please let me know thank you

Do you have an online shop I can take a look at ?

Is there a way I can buy an steal bow to make my own goats foot cross bow with? Or can you do a video on how you make them?

Oh and another quick question, How long can you keep the crossbow ready to shoot before it harms it?

What’s the weight of the weapon itself? I don’t mean the draw weight, but overall physical weight of the weapon.

Do you sale plans for your bows?

5:33 ayyy that's what I always ask from my boy too!

How much would it cost to reproduce such a crossbow. I'd love to buy one.

Love the monochrome aesthetic, it's beautiful.

I am curious what the speed is, 143 ft/s ?

IS there only one bridge for the bolt?

you mention there are no sights on this crossbow and I am curious when those became something standard and if they were only meant for longer distance shooting. I ask because I was in Italy a few summers ago and I was very fortunate to be in a place that was holding a crossbow tournament, an annual one that had been going on for a few centuries the pamphlets said, and the crossbows they used were 1) very large, probably at least 4 or 5 feet in length and 2) equipped with sights as they were shooting at a target that was about 12' in diameter about 50m away. It is possible that the sights on the crossbows were custom (much like competition shooters will customise their firearms to perform to the best of their abilities) but seeing a few videos here and noticing that most of your crossbows don't have sights it made me wonder if that was something was ever adopted for military or hunting use in the medieval and renaissance periods

The thing on the curved flight rail you comment around 2:00min. Wouldn't it mean the bolt end will be pushed not in a straight line but rather along a curve? With the bolt but going down and back up as it is pushed along forwards. Thanks

Was is common to polish or wax the stock to minimize the friction of the string going over it?

Hi Tod, you making and selling these mate ?

Beautiful machine. I shudder to think of the possible price though XD

How thick was the steel sear plate on the roller nut are the all the same thickness on crossbows?

Had a recurve with 80# draw weight. If an arrow hit anything within about 60ft? Arrow would always shatter, mostly above head but the force was too much for the shafts.

Darn you OCD I couldn't stop obsessing on the blue straps behind him....

What are the measurements on this bow

I see GERMAN, I click!! Wish I could buy that crossbow.

Dear Tod, beautiful crossbow. I was a little bit surprised, how it is possible, that such 470 lbs strong crossbow creates bolt speed only 143 fps and for example such cheap modern Jaguar crossbow with only 150 lbs makes 220 fps. Is it thanks carbon bow and longer shooting drive on the shaft? Such a difference? How fast are windlass 1250 lbs crossbow bolts? Thank you very much.

Does a 30 lbs bow have half the penetration of 60 lbs, at a given distance... and 120 lbs double that, and 1200 lbs 10 times more than that?

Can I order one

im more interested in the loading mechanical advantage than that bow

Tod I need your opinion Some say Chinese crossbows are stronger than some European crossbows. Because of draw length or something. I try to find the links But it says that a 150lbs Chinese composite crossbow Is stronger than A 300lbs European crossbow.

Blunt bolts are similar to wadcutters.

The first European musket users probably would have been absolutely shocked at the recoil.

I know this is midevil crossbows but do thay have safety

With the joules, etc... what is the equivalent, if any, of a rifle bullet? Or how do they compare?

It baffles me that crossbows at this point in development didnt at least have some sort of basic sights. Just a simple front post could increase the accuracy immensely.

wunderbah! :)

I've seen where a modern broadhead can defeat Kevlar. I would like to see how these old style bows and broadhead do

Tod "The Dirty Fingernail" Workshop :)

Would it be possible to make a crossover Chinese/late mediaeval European crossbow? (1250 windlass something like that but with a lot longer draw so you could get the most out of a 1250 crossbow). Maybe some other added mechanical advantages like minimized friction techniques or something like cam wheels for example and so on. I mean I see a lot of modern bows with all of those type of features to maximize efficiency, how ever usually they tend to have lower draw weights dew to their length. But I cant help but wonder if you could push that out to the max with a 1250 bow with a longer draw weight granted it would have a far slower fire rate but I feel like that power would be unrivaled. Maybe even compared to early matchlocks and other firearms? Like with the idea to basically build the most powerful crossbow a crossbowman could practically use on a medieval battlefield. But with our modern tampering/manufacturing skills, and knowledge. Plus our modern understanding of physics and with all that is available to us with modern hind sight, and with all that being said if you had an order of crossbows that had to be sent back in time for a medieval army what is the most power you could possibly get without suffering the major inefficiencies in historical crossbow design?

470. Pound draw weight. No way!

About the same power as a modern air rifle shooting a .177 pellet at approximately 1000 fps.

The American will put it on his wall& say it was his great great great grandaddies used during some well known war.

Could you take a white tail deer with that?

And they said the zebra pattern was only on guns from Call of Duty multiplayer...

I’ve found it’s how wide the head is is more important to flight under 23mm flys straight...