20 replies to this topic

[Homestarune]

A few months ago a completely screwed up crossbow was sold on Ebay. Some dumbass bought this crossbow for way too much money thinking that they could make a worthy weapon out of it. I was the dumbass that bought it up. Here’s how I turned a broken toy into an effective weapon that could hold its own on the field of battle.

Credit goes to Split for discovering the replacement plunger tube.



This was what I bought. I had fun screwing around with shooting megas at my bedroom wall. The novelty of that however got old really quickly. Hey, it was marked as “heavily modified” so it couldn’t be a total loss, could it?



No surprise there, I suppose I just wasn’t awesome enough to realize what “heavy mods” had been skillfully preformed on this. My mortal eyes can only see a level 2 modification. That’s probably being generous all things considered.



I immediately set to work and cut some aluminum and steel to reinforce the internals. (these have long since been re-worked)



After that, I got to work creating a CPVC coupler inside the gun. I don’t have any pictures of that fully assembled. You’re not missing anything out on anything, you’ve all seen plenty of mediocre crossbows. I managed to get about of 70’ out of this. Needless to say, I wasn’t satisfied with this. A complete rework would be required to make it satisfactory. There was of course the problem of the stock. One of the best things about the crossbow is its comfort and ease of use.

From the moment I saw this gun online I wanted to see if an effective and comfortable stock could be created. So I decided on a method that to my knowledge had never been used before.



I wanted to see if it could actually be done. I also had a lot of free time and I was bored. Some people thought that I was crazy. I looked at a bunch of pictures online and broke out the pencils and curves. So began my four day project to create a wooden stock



I cut out the area that I had traced around.



Next, I traced out the area for the plunger rod and handle.



I then cut that area out as well.



Here’s a picture of the pieces that I had made beforehand to attach the stock to the gun.



I then used a router to make the necessary grooves for the plunger handle.



I then marked out what parts needed to be cut in order for them to be attached.



Things were beginning to come together.



And the other side.



I decided to trim things down for more aesthetic appeal, not that it was ever possible in the first place.



It was time to make the second half. I traced the mirror image of the first stock onto the block of wood

Edited by Homestarune, 21 October 2009 - 02:09 PM.

[Homestarune]

Here it was.



I drilled a hole through the piece of wood in order to cut the inside of the stock out first. This was done in order to make the routing easier and reduce the chances of the wood chipping.



The stock with the insides cut out.



The routings were much easier to make this time around.



I made most of the cuts here.



I cut out the rest here and then made the cuts and sanding so that the mounting piece would fit.



Here were the parts laid on top of each other, I had some more work to do in order to make sure that they would fit into the crossbow and mirror each other.



I trimmed up the parts here and went to work making them more even with each other using a belt sander. Holes were drilled so that removable pegs would fit. These pegs keep the stock together.



You many remember that the mounting pieces were rather wide. They were sanded down and the stock was slid over them to make sure that everything fit accordingly. I was quite happy with myself at this point.



I made routings on the edges of the gun to make it more comfortable and over all sexier. I then used wood glue to attach to stock to the mounting pieces.



I then scuffed up a small bar of metal and the wood and then applied epoxy to add even more strength. Even before this, my stock wasn’t going anywhere except into people’s faces.



Even then I still wasn’t done. However, it was incredibly comfy and helped steady the gun quite well.



Internals were replaced Splitlip style and a cut down [k25] spring replaced the stock crossbow spring. After trying to compress a [k26] with my hands, I decided that I’d rather not break my gun. This gun is loud as is when fired.

I took this gun to a war as it was in the last picture (I did have a speedloader for it) and it was pretty awesome. I had lost one of my catch springs so it didn’t always catch, but when it did I got some sweet long distance kills. However I felt that having only one shot was preventing me from making plays.



I dremeled out a hole of the front of the shell and integrated a 2k. I replaced the stock tubing with vinyl tubing. A piece of metal tubing connector is attached directly to the tank and the tubing is held in place with epoxy. I used a pretty heavy wire, on the key ring. I’m quite confident that this setup will hold for quite some time.



All together now!

Since I know people are going to pester me with this question the Crossbow maxes out at 120’. The integration gets a bit over 100’. I may eventually get around to painting it, but for now I'm not doing anything.

The stock is very comfortable and helps steady the gun incredibly well. The curve in the stock lets me quickly lower and raise the gun for a smooth transition from when I'm running to when I bring it up. Trigger to stock distance is equivalent to the distance from trigger to stock on a rifle. This was done to address the common complaint that the stock on the crossbow is too short. The wood halves make an effective "ironsight" straight down the barrel. In other words, even if it's not the prettiest looking, I love it and I'm sure it will serve me well in many wars to come.

Questions? Comments?

Edited by Homestarune, 21 October 2009 - 02:36 PM.

[Homestarune]

Reserved since I have 30 combined pictures.

[slowguitarman]

Cool work, man. I will admit that I don't find this the least bit aesthetically pleasing, but it looks pretty nicely made either way. Nice job.

[black slate]

I just got to say that this is an awesome gun. I personally got to see it at the war. It's range and accuracy are scary. I do feel bad though, now with the 2k Equilox has twice the worries. (inside joke from the war)

[TantumBull]

Holy shit, homesauce, that stock is amazing. While maybe not as good as the original one, given the absence of the stock one, I think this is probably the best solution possible. Amazing job, just awesome.

Edited by TantumBull, 21 October 2009 - 07:59 PM.

[nerfitynerf]

Is it just me or has there been a lot more wood work on NH lately? Anywho, very nicely done. I'm enjoying the nice wood work on here. next up should be a luxury crossbow with stained wood inserts. *laughs* (just to get around the no IM talk rule)

Edited by nerfitynerf, 21 October 2009 - 08:18 PM.

[lazer371]

Great, but you might want to cut off a little of that wood off the back end of the stock,(looks like oak), or it'll get tiring holding it during a long nerf war. It looks unbalanced, is it like way off or it it barely anything? Other wise amazing!!!!!!

[Mehku]

If you painted the crossbow and paint the wood with the same color, it would probably look pretty good.

Otherwise, the stock is very impressive. Good job.

[slowguitarman]

Great, but you might want to cut off a little of that wood off the back end of the stock,(looks like oak), or it'll get tiring holding it during a long nerf war. It looks unbalanced, is it like way off or it it barely anything? Other wise amazing!!!!!!

It's better to have your gun unbalanced towards the back because your shoulder will hold it up, and it'll make you more accurate. I don't understand why people whine so much about weight. If carrying 4lbs. instead of 3 wears you out, then you need the exercise.

[white moonlight]

I use a nightfinder so weights really not a problem

It's funny I saw this crossbow on Ebay.
Very good job and the stock addition looks very clean.

It'll look great if you give it a PJ, but it looks good anyway.

[Forsaken angel24]

If carrying 4lbs. instead of 3 wears you out, then you need the exercise.

Bahwuahahahahaha! That's too funny.

and um, nice job on the wooden stock. It looks comfy.
Comfy in that old 70's couch your grandparents refuse to throw away kinda of way.

[thedarksideofnerf]

I hate to say it, because i'm very impressed with your wood work. But the stock doesn't realy go with the lines of the gun, and it's kind of an out of place.
Also how heavy is the stock, and how unbalenced is the gun.

[Homestarune]

The stock isn't that heavy. It weighs a couple pounds. I've ran around with it during a ridiculously hot war and it wasn't at all problematic. Having extra weight on the back of the gun helps keep the gun steady and was part of the design. As far as gun weight distribution goes, it's an ideal setup.

I hate to say it, because i'm very impressed with your wood work. But the stock doesn't realy go with the lines of the gun,

Thank you for the compliment, now go jump in a fire.

Edited by Homestarune, 22 October 2009 - 09:24 AM.

[Ambience 327]

I hate to say it, because i'm very impressed with your wood work. But the stock doesn't realy go with the lines of the gun, and it's kind of an out of place.

I have to disagree here. It does look out of place, but I don't think it is due to not matching the lines of the blaster - I think it does that fairly well. I think the odd look is due to the dramatic color difference from purple plastic to stained wood. It just looks odd in the transition. A paintjob would clear that up, but the OP said he may or may not do that. Either way, great job resurrecting a nearly-dead blaster into the beast it should be.

[Equilox]

I am the second person to say this but this thing is amazing, great accuracy and distance. The stock is very comfortable. (He let me hold it once ) The weight it adds, as homestarune said, balances the gun. It really is a thing of beauty.

[CAPS]

Excellent woodwork.
Do you plan to paint any of the gun?

[Captain]

I was actually looking at my crossbow the other day and I wondered if anyone had sawed the stock off of theirs. Looking at the one you bought, I can see it just makes it uglier.

Anyway, good job making it better than it was. Nice work especially on the stock.

[eliman]

Just saying how does the crossbow feal without the stock. nice mod by the way

[angelfalcon]

I know this is a necro, but it's still on the first page and I have something to add to the topic.

I would swap the positions of the pump and the AT2K tank. The pump, it would seem, would be more comfortable at the bottom. The barrel, while admittedly looking menacing at the bottom there, could go at the top without performance loss.

But then, if you find it comfy to pump it from up there, that's cool.

[Talio]

I won't ban you, but that really wasn't worth bringing up an old topic cause now 90 noobs are going to post after you saying nothing at all.