16thC cranequin hunting bow repro -- myArmoury.com

Leo Todeschini · Industry Professional

HI All,

This is a reproduction of an early 16thC hunting crossbow spanned by a cranequin.

The bow itself is based off an original piece and draws at around 600lbs so it needs a substantial spanning method and so this sports a cranequin.

The crossbow has hemp safety cords lashed to the front face, which is a usual feature of medieval hunting bows and is lashed onto the cherry stock using dyed hemp cord and finished off with a woven leather binding. The stock has a bone deck and detailing to the underneath with further bone detailing to the sides.

The bow itself has a two axel trigger system so that the usual rotating nut and trigger bar now has a third component between them and this has the effect of making the trigger lighter and safer. This is an early development along the route of complex triggers and requires the trigger to be set so the small hole next to the trigger is used for a small pin to be poked in to reset the trigger.

The cranequin itself is a of a fairly normal type for the late 15thC and uses period correct gears, pinions and teeth and is riveted and brazed where possible. The top of the case and the lever are pinned on rather than screwed, which again is normal for the period.

I will be posting up some videos about this bow in due course.

If you have any questions or comments, please fire away.

Tod

Kai Lawson · Posted: Tue 16 May, 2017 1:18 pm Post subject:

As usual, this bow looks superb, and I'm sure it functions just as well. I'm sort of running out of superlatives for the regular quality you share here...absolutely lovely to see.

Hadrian Coffin · Industry Professional

That bow looks brilliant... but it is begging, just begging, for some scrimshaw! Are you ever up for making/doing one? I know you did some scrimshanding work for your recent Taboo Knives.
In anycase, great work as usual, I always look forward to seeing your posts!

Best,
Hadrian

Examples:
A (almost identical bow form), B, C, and D.

Dan Howard · Posted: Tue 16 May, 2017 5:05 pm Post subject:

Very very cool.

Gregg Sobocinski · Posted: Tue 16 May, 2017 5:51 pm Post subject:

Wow! Yeah, just "Wow!". Fantastic.

Leo Todeschini · Industry Professional

Thanks very much for the positive response guys, always very welcome especially after a long and messy job like this one.

Hadrian Coffin wrote That bow looks brilliant... but it is begging, just begging, for some scrimshaw! Are you ever up for making/doing one? I know you did some scrimshanding work for your recent Taboo Knives.