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The Construction of the Crossbow
Now rub beeswax all over the skein till its threads stick together.
This will make the bow-string impervious to water or damp and will preserve
it indefinitely.
Without removing the skein from the pegs, wrap a long well-waxed length
of strong silk - in turns 1/8 in. apart - round its entire length, and
a little closer (by the aid of a darning-needle) at its ends where they
pass round the pegs, B, fig. 67.
Without this wrapping, the skein is sure to fall (especially at its
ends), into a hopeless tangle during the process of converting it into
the bow-string.
With some hard twine - about the substance of an ordinary knitting-needle
- tightly wrap the skein (or bow-string as it may now be called), as shown
in C, fig. 67.
The centre wrapping, which lies above the groove in the stock, is 4
in. long, and the end wrappings are each 3 in. long. The centre wrapping
may be overlaid at its centre, for 1 in., with a little crimson silk, to
show the exact centre of the bow-string, so that should the bow shift a
trifle in use, the movement can be at once detected and the bow re-adjusted
in the stock.
The loops at each end of the bow-string should be wrapped, if possible,
without removing the skein from the pegs in the board. If this cannot be
achieved, on no account lift the skein off the pegs till the centre and
end wrappings are completed.
When the bow-string is finished, the silk can be removed where it shows
between the wrappings. |
