Jean Henri Chandler wrote: |
I think we are in agreement, and I applaud your efforts as I'm sure you know. Hopefully more data will come to light.
Regarding your ratios of thickness and dimensions to draw weight, would that not also depend on the specific temper of the steel, how stiff / springy it was? Maybe that is one of the elusive factors. Certainly period forging techniques and, I know this is somewhat controversial but I suspect period metalurgy and steel were better for making swords than modern steels, which are ideal for making i-beams, rebar, washing machines etc. Maybe there are similar factors at work with crossbow prods. Do you forge the shape of your prods or do you use stock reduction? Also... I totally understand your concern about testing stronger prods. It could be very dangerous. I wonder what kind of testing-rig Royal Armouries used... J |
I must jump in here in defence of modern steels . the idea that old steel is better for making swords or crossbows of any kind is simply not true.
and I may hasten to add that I am someone who is much enamoured by ancient steel and spends a lot of time making the stuff from ore and carburised wrought iron in order to re visit these old steels. They are beautiful materials and you can make good weapons with them but.....
The reality is that modern steels are in every way better and if you replace "washing machine" and "I beam" with "jet engine components" and" racing car suspension" you will see modern steels performing in ways simple wrought steel will never manage ,no matter how they were treated.
The same goes for heat treatment , in the modern world it is both repeatable and precise.
There is great skill in a lot of old metalwork but no magic..........
May I ask what the evidence for old crossbow performance actually is based on ?
Mythes and misinformation abound when talking about weapons of any kind is there any factual modern information ?
Temper or hardness of a spring be it a crossbow or sword has no relation how stiff it is . this is counter intuitive and I have done experiments to confirm to my self that this is actually the case , a fully hard piece of steel will deflect the same as an annealed piece under a given load providing that the materials elastic limit is not exceeded.