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The prod of a crossbow was made of wood or composite materials until the middle of the 15th century.The advantage of a simple wood prods is that the bow as a whole was lighter in weight. Composite prods were made of horn, sinew and wood, and produced much larger draw weights. The draw weight is the tension that the string is under when the bow is engaged. Since the draw weight can be much more than a soldier might be able to pull, these crossbows generally include a winch device to cock them. It is the high draw weight (or poundage of a crossbow), which made the crossbow a formidable weapon in warfare. Since composite prods involved gluing material together which would have to withstand a great deal of stress, a slow drying time was essential. The strongest glues naturally took longer to dry. It was not uncommon for six months up to a year to be spent in ensuring a bow was dried properly. In the later 1400s, steel manufacturing advanced significantly, and was more commonly used in spring production. A crossbow prod is actually specialized form of a spring, although not a coiled spring. Steel prods became very common by the early 1500s as their performance was more uniform, except in very cold weather. |
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The prod of a crossbow was made of wood or composite materials until the middle of the 15th century.The advantage of a simple wooden prod is that the bow as a whole was lighter in weight. Composite prods were made of horn, sinew and wood, and produced much larger draw weights. The draw weight is the tension that the string is under when the bow is engaged. Since the draw weight can be much more than a soldier might be able to pull, these crossbows generally include a winch device to cock them. It is the high draw weight (or poundage of a crossbow), which made the crossbow a formidable weapon in warfare. Since composite prods involved gluing material together which would have to withstand a great deal of stress, a slow drying time was essential. The strongest glues naturally took longer to dry. It was not uncommon for six months up to a year to be spent in ensuring a bow was dried properly. In the later 1400s, steel manufacturing advanced significantly, and was more commonly used in spring production. A crossbow prod is actually specialized form of a spring, although not a coiled spring. Steel prods became very common by the early 1500s as their performance was more uniform, except in very cold weather. |
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Triggers are known to been used on crossbows from the early 1400s. [Leonardo DaVinci]? designed many complicated triggers for crossbows, ultimately producing a "hair trigger" that could be shot with very little finger strength. |
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Triggers are known to been used on crossbows from the early 1400s. [Leonardo DaVinci]? designed many complicated triggers for crossbows, ultimately producing a "hair trigger" that could be shot with very little finger strength. |
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