Archive: Rail Road Spike Launcher - The Explosives and Weapons Forum

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Rail Road Spike Launcher

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Author	Topic: Rail Road Spike Launcher
Ho ju Moderator	posted January 22, 2000 02:16 PM I am sure some, (if not most) of you have seen the movie "The Good Son" If you have and remember the part where the kid makes the "bolt" launcher out of a heavy ass spring and kills a dog?? with it, would you be able to provide any info concerning the making of it? thanks ------------------ -Knowledge is power, power leads to corruption, corruption is a crime, crime doesn't pay. So if you know to much you will go broke!!!
Dr-D Frequent Poster	posted January 22, 2000 09:24 PM i thought about making something like that, It was for a bolt& fire potato sniper type gun I never got past the thought of "could a spring be as powerfull as 150psi?" I was going to fire concrete bullets (small ones just hit and explode into a powder or marbles for ammo.
Ho ju Moderator	posted January 22, 2000 10:08 PM well if i was really going to get into something like this i would use some pretty hefty springs. like maybe some scrap springs used in garage doors that have been stretched. that is why i would like some info. ------------------ -Knowledge is power, power leads to corruption, corruption is a crime, crime doesn't pay. So if you know to much you will go broke!!!
nbk2000 Moderator	posted January 22, 2000 10:27 PM Leaf springs from a car make perfect megacrossbow springs. Just drill a hole in the middle for the bolt to go through and it's on. You'll never be able to manually draw the string so you'll need a winch. The springs have something like a 500 pound draw. There was an article in an old Popular Mechanics or Science from the '30s on making crossbows like the one your interested in. ------------------ "The knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them." www.50megs.com/nbk2000
Ho ju Moderator	posted January 22, 2000 10:43 PM yeah i think the kid in "the good son" used a wrench to crank back the "megacrossbow" (as you put it) what is a leaf spring (i.e. what does it look like and how much do you think it would set me back by?)thanks is this a leaf spring? ------------------ -Knowledge is power, power leads to corruption, corruption is a crime, crime doesn't pay. So if you know to much you will go broke!!! [This message has been edited by Ho ju (edited January 22, 2000).]
nbk2000 Moderator	posted January 23, 2000 03:45 AM That's exactly what a leaf spring looks like. Except you would use only 1 and not 2 as the bow for the megacrossbow. Where the bolt is located is where the hole would be drilled to allow the projectile to pass through. A person would need to use steel cable for the drawstring since the bow would have several hundred pounds of draw and a regular bow string wouldn't be able to handle it. I've seen a book at the library, and it was all about how these guys made they're own ballista (giant seige crossbow) and slingshot (throwing boulders). Very informative. Don'yt remember the exact title though. ------------------ "The knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them." www.50megs.com/nbk2000
Ho ju Moderator	posted January 23, 2000 01:41 PM how "heavy" is the steel used to make these things. what i mean by that is how easy is it to drill through the metal? (i tried to add a picture [3 times] but it would not let me) ------------------ -Knowledge is power, power leads to corruption, corruption is a crime, crime doesn't pay. So if you know to much you will go broke!!! [This message has been edited by Ho ju (edited January 23, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Ho ju (edited January 23, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Ho ju (edited January 23, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Ho ju (edited January 23, 2000).]
BaDSeeD Frequent Poster	posted January 23, 2000 05:35 PM Leaf springs are hardened and tempered. Your going to need a carbide drill to put a hole through it unless you aneal the steel first. But if you aneal the steel... it's likely to bend in half when you use it...or crack, as your likely to never be able to get the right hardness back to the steel with home equipment. Buy a carbide drill... but thats going to be pretty damned expensive.. trust me. You can go to a junk yard and get leaf springs at scrap cost. But i'd suggest just going to your local junk yard and see if they have any pieces of spring steel, or order some from a distributor. You can get the hardness and size you want, which would be a heck of a lot easier than getting a leaf spring to conform. ------------------ Knowledge is the true power, ignorance will bring your demise.
Predator Frequent Poster	posted January 23, 2000 05:55 PM or do as I did... Spring steel.. never try to saw the little shits I remember acquiring a strong mainspring upgrade for my air rifle, but it was too long. I went to the hardware store, and bought a pack of 20 hacksaw blades and a file. I got home and started sawing.... and snapped all fucking 20 blades and only managed to scratch the surface of the spring! The file wasn't any better either So I went to the university labs.. and got some old codger to use the wheel saw machine ( forgot what they're called ) on it If you don't have access to a univeristy laboratory, try a motorcycle garage or a car garage... they're likely to have the tools for the job, and they won't be suspicious over a hole or 2..
BaDSeeD Frequent Poster	posted January 24, 2000 11:57 AM He probably used an abrasive saw on the spring. Told ya there were hardened Thats why the carbide drill Just make sure if ya use an abrasive saw.. that they use coolant with it... or it'll heat it up too much and screw up the temper on it. ------------------ Knowledge is the true power, ignorance will bring your demise.
catch22 Frequent Poster	posted January 29, 2000 03:04 PM Well if your not Hell Bent on using steal as the bow arms for a cross bow you can make one that can be hand held or about the size of a traditional cross bow. Lexane... the stuff thats like plexiglass is perfect,a 1/4" x 30" x 4" piece is all you need. Leave the middle 4 inches alone but taper from that point out to the tips down to about 1" sory if thats hard to understand. If some one knows how to post a picture i could send them a bitmap immage and they could post it. Catch 22 ------------------ "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" -Appocolypse Now
DaRkDwArF Frequent Poster	posted February 18, 2000 08:35 PM take a look at the "crossbow" post in miscellanious
poison Frequent Poster	posted February 20, 2000 08:55 PM Why not just git a carbide hacksaw blade? There made for cutting hardened steal, springs, and ect. Or a more expensive but a lot of people already have them and come to a lot of use is a "rotary tool". -Poison

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