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4 posters

Making bolts

stuckinthemud1: Crossbow Junkie
I live here!; Posts : 557
Join date : 2014-02-05
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Location : south wales valleys

Post n°1

Making bolts

by stuckinthemud1 Tue Jul 15, 2025 3:41 pm

Rather than hijack a thread I thought I'd start a new one. I am trying to learn how to make crossbow bolts and I'd love to have your thoughts and/or pictures. I first tried cut down arrow shafts with modkin glue-on points and cut some slots for wooden fletchings. I tried cutting the slots at a slight angle to induce spin. They didn't work very well, think I didn't cut the angles correctly. Then I got a lathe. I tried to turn some barrelled shafts, still using modkin tips, tapered to 9mm . I've prepped some wooden fletchings and cut their slots but, wow, what a long time it has taken; maybe 4 hours to turn, slot and fletch each bolt? I reckon goose feather flights would take about 1/3 the time, except then I think I'd want to wax over the bindings and verdigris them, and I'd have to learn how to do that.... Anyone done goose-feather fletchings on crossbow bolts? Or made their own tips? Or just made their own bolts? Any and all advice or comments on buildng bolts would be very welcome
Andrew

kenh: Crossbow Junkie
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Post n°2

Re: Making bolts

by kenh Thu Jul 17, 2025 6:18 am

I use old arrow shafts with glued-on wooden two-flights -- not set in slots or at angles, and glued on bodkin points. You can see one in my Avatar photo...

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Post n°3

Re: Making bolts

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Juniper: Fresh Blood
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Post n°4

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:36 am

How exactly did they not work? Do you have any bolts that do work and how are they different? Might be the crossbow itself if really none of them work, or just a mismatch.
A good setup and match should kinda work even unfletched if there's enough metal at the bolt tip.

stuckinthemud1: Crossbow Junkie
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Post n°5

Re: Making bolts

by stuckinthemud1 Sat Jul 19, 2025 8:39 am

The tail of the bolt was traveling in circles which makes me think I put too much angle into the fletching, so I've gone back to a straight Fletch for the next one, I'll be interested to see what barreling the shaft does. My most successful bolt so far was a blunt tip using a 1" screw on a cut down arrow shaft using flights made of parcel tape. Ken, what adhesive do you use for the fletchings?

Juniper: Fresh Blood
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I'm new to crossbows; Posts : 34
Join date : 2011-11-13
Location : Adriatic

Post n°6

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Sat Jul 19, 2025 4:44 pm

I usually get that effect if I pull the string to one side while spanning so I mark the center to keep on track. A prod can also pull by itself if it's not perfectly symmetrical so I have to apply an intentional effort to keep it centered. My less stable bolts mostly just veer off without much tumbling.

Juniper: Fresh Blood
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I'm new to crossbows; Posts : 34
Join date : 2011-11-13
Location : Adriatic

Post n°7

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:33 am

Also check if your bolt butts are pretty much square. A skewed butt can also give them a kick, especially with very light bolts.

stuckinthemud1: Crossbow Junkie
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Location : south wales valleys

Post n°8

Re: Making bolts

by stuckinthemud1 Sun Jul 20, 2025 7:20 am

Sounds like I need a bit of a tune-up. Thanks for the tips

Is there a grain per pound of draw weight I should be aiming for? Do you try and calculate the ideal bolt weight or is it trial and error to find what suits each bow?

Juniper: Fresh Blood
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Join date : 2011-11-13
Location : Adriatic

Post n°9

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Sun Jul 20, 2025 8:22 am

There probably is a method but I believe it depends very much on the material and design of the prod, with deflexed steel requiring the least grains per pound. I don't really have much experience with that, so I just go by feel. If a 30g bolt has a point blank range of 30m or more I'm content, that seems to me like an analogy how an average wooden bow with an average arrow would perform. I don't build heavier than what I can pull by hand so don't really know about the higher part of the spectrum. In a sense, I match my prods to what would be considered an average target or hunting arrow weight, not the other way around.

p.s. point blank as aiming without any vertical gap between the bolt tip and the target

Juniper: Fresh Blood
Doesn't mean
I'm new to crossbows; Posts : 34
Join date : 2011-11-13
Location : Adriatic

Post n°10

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Tue Jul 22, 2025 2:38 am

Here's a fletching idea intended originally for arrows due to feather shortage, but it works on bolts also. Not the most durable but they can be quickly rearranged/reshaped when running diagnostics. I used shaved reed strip as a base but many things could be used.

Making bolts Krepfl10

kenh: Crossbow Junkie
I live here!; Posts : 899
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Post n°11

Re: Making bolts

by kenh Tue Jul 22, 2025 4:01 pm

I just use Titebond (tm) to glue the fletching on, after sanding the old arrow shaft to get down to bare wood for the fletch/shaft junction.

stuckinthemud1: Crossbow Junkie
I live here!; Posts : 557
Join date : 2014-02-05
Age : 58
Location : south wales valleys

Post n°12

Re: Making bolts

by stuckinthemud1 Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:52 pm

Thanks all. This is where I'm at. The flights are Poplar tremulosa -some kind of aspen hybrid - an awesome timber for shafts and flights- if you get any chance to get some grab it with both hands, I can easily see why it was reserved exclusively for arrows by law in England. Making bolts Img_20250813_184256419_mfnr-e1755107841429

Making bolts Img_20250813_184256419_mfnr-e1755107841429

Juniper: Fresh Blood
Doesn't mean
I'm new to crossbows; Posts : 34
Join date : 2011-11-13
Location : Adriatic

Post n°13

Re: Making bolts

by Juniper Mon Aug 18, 2025 4:13 am

That looks really good, I hope they fly well. Will try poplar for sure, from what I saw it feels light but tenacious.

hullutiedemies: Workshop Savvy
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Join date : 2012-07-03
Location : Fennoscandia

Post n°14

Re: Making bolts

by hullutiedemies Sat Aug 30, 2025 5:42 am

stuckinthemud1 wrote:
Is there a grain per pound of draw weight I should be aiming for?

"Grain per pound" approach does not work for crossbows, because crossbow has arbitary drawlength thus there is no fixed correlation between limb mass and draw-weight. GPP can only be applied to archery bows that have a standard drawlength.

The bolt mass should be matched with mass and geometry of the limbs.

There is a simple rule.
For a 1:3 brace-height:powerstroke ratio, and the limb shape like the one you now have, the optimal bolt is likely to be about 1/15- 1/10 of the mass of the prod. You should be able to safely go to 1/20 or even bit lower if more speed is desired.

If a bow is braced to 1:1 ratio , middle of bolt table, like the period art suggests was medieval standard, then the optimal bolt mass would be about 1/40 of the bow mass.

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stuckinthemud1: Crossbow Junkie
I live here!; Posts : 557
Join date : 2014-02-05
Age : 58
Location : south wales valleys

Post n°15

Re: Making bolts

by stuckinthemud1 Sat Aug 30, 2025 2:28 pm

Thankyou, that is really useful information and gives me an excellent starting point.

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Post n°16

Re: Making bolts

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