I'm working on a unique project and I'm looking for a crossbow bowyer who is very skilled with mechanics. What I'm looking to make is a functional version of the crossbow of Waylander the Slayer from the books of David Gemmel.

Hi Derek,
Awsome sounding project,
I spoke to a custom maker in the UK who could do this but the price was very high,worth it but high,
at last check Raven Armoury were considering waylander's sabre and knife set up,(throwing) on hold at the mo i think while skilgannons swords are being done,
currently this thread is running,third post down is a custom maker,
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=6838&highlight=

Be very interested in how you get on with the project as i'm a big Gemmel fan, :cool:

Thanks Lee

Price is definately a concern. While I'm probably willing to spend quite a bit more than your average joe for something like this, I'm not rich enough to spend say 10 large on it. Hopefully I'll find someone who has enough interest in the project to not shake me upside down trying to empty my bank account, but I guess I'll find out. The link was a good one. In fact, I tried to find a lot of those websites that were listed, but were dead links on my earlier search. The book Legend got me hooked on David Gemmel and I'm hoping to find someone in my price range to reproduce some of that work.
Anyway, thanks for the info. I'm also going to try Robert MacPherson. He's mostly an armourer, but does crossbow work and since he has experience repairing and designing watches I"m sure mechanics are not a problem for him.

I don't know anything about the crossbow you would like to have made: I assume it's some sort of fantasy design ?

I guess it would depend on how practical the design would be and how much design work it would take to make something that works in real life if it's something exotic like a repeating crossbow or something ?

Price: I really don't know, but creating an original design might be much more costly than making a known, proven to work, and traditional design.

A heavy, historical crossbow would cost at least $1000 and could go up to $2000 or more.

I guess a maker might give you a very friendly price if he liked the idea enough to make a prototype and you allowed him to make more for sale ???

In any case I hope you can find an affordable way to get your project done. :D

hi Derek,
I found the chaps details,when we spoke originally i only had a name and phone number,
Robin Knight,
nice chap,the single hand bow that he had at the show was a nice small one in a presentation box with bolts included,a good few extras to it as it was a custom order,that one went around £500 two to three years ago,

http://www.period-crossbows.demon.co.uk/
might have been a custom of this,
http://www.period-crossbows.demon.co.uk/assassin.htm
The gemmel book i first had was king beyond the gate,one of the few books i've read cover to cover in one sitting,then went on to track down all the rest,

Jean,
Yep a fantasy inspired xbow,single hander,two bows,firing independant of each other, one sitting atop the other,short range assasin weapon,

The website was worth waiting for. It is a really good one and I'll definately bookmark it. The ballistini definately was a good start in the right direction, but the best thing is that it shows the maker will probably have an interest in my project.
Its a little too short range for Waylanders bow as the book states it is accurate up to 20 feet. I'm not entirely clear on whether there are two prods or not. All the pictures of the bow show it to be almost like a double barrelled shotgun but with only one prod. I guess I'll have to reread Waylander to get the details again. I know it was smaller than most crossbows with two triggers that allows one arrow or two to be fired at a time. That means it would have to have two prods unless there was a mechanism that allowed selectivity by raising or lowering one if you want to fire only one bolt. Having only one prod also brings up a lot of technical issues. I know a crossbow could probably be designed like an overunder shotgun with a heavier main prod and a lighter prod. That would reduce the overall weight and give you an armor piercer with a longer range and a shorter range bolt for closer up. It could be designed with two triggers or a selectivity lever that allows you two fire both at once. Waylanders might be like that except with two light to medium prods. Obviously the draw distance would have to be a little more than the Ballistini. Six feet range? The draw strength wasn't enough to penetrate armour so I'm guessing people must have forgot how to use a knife by the 15th century. Even the assassins put style over practicality in those days.