They are actually pretty easy to make. I manufactured a handheld version myself some time ago. What I did was just making a wooden rectangle in which I drilled holes for the ropes. Then i just mounted that rectangle on the stock and assembled the limbs with ropes.
@@HistoricalWeapons I don't think I ever tried pulling the bowstring with both arms and legs. I remember lifting one arm 1cm off the frame with full effort and I couldn't string it. It is a small engine and I never spent time fitting a scale to measure the draw weight.
@@Acroballistics Thanks man, did it have good stretch; just curious on why you chose it. I have tried a few ropes, Nylon seems to be quite stretchy and that's my go to. On my smaller ballista's I prefer horse hair, but it is very expensive and can deteriorated and rip apart. The horse hair had the best performance when I compared it to nylon on my smaller ballista's.
@@jkhippie5929interesting. I chose masons line because it was cheap and easily accessible. I am not sure it is nylon, it probably is low quality nylon because of the elasticity but also could be another kind of plastic, it was not specified by the seller or manufacturer. I tried monofilament fishing line and observed less hysterisis or deterioration of torque over time when compared to the masons line. monofilament was also more expensive. You can see the monofilament and masons line springs in the lastest onager short video I have uploaded ruclips.net/user/shortsQXcF0Kbq4cg
Bro the most underrated ancient weapons channel
Dang! Almost 250fps! That was as fast as any primitive flight archery shot that I measured
Much heavier too
Thank you for wearing safety gear! Made it much easier for me to watch knowing you were safe.
Nice ballista and good test 👍
The angle of the trajectory to the chronograph should be 180 degrees. Otherwise, the measurements will show a speed lower than it actually is.
This is awesome!
Have you considered experimenting with an In-swinging version?
Yes it is in my plans to make a not historically accurate experimental inswinger. it might fail in early stages though...
They are actually pretty easy to make. I manufactured a handheld version myself some time ago. What I did was just making a wooden rectangle in which I drilled holes for the ropes. Then i just mounted that rectangle on the stock and assembled the limbs with ropes.
Very cool!
Could you try shooting down a drone? or a banner pulled by a drone? I want to see how useful this would be agaisnt dragons XD?
Wow that's some impressive speed! Any idea the draw weights?
I don't know yet, I can't fit a small but strong scale between the winch and the slider
@@Acroballistics
If you just try to pull it with your feet and hands, can you do it?
@@HistoricalWeapons I don't think I ever tried pulling the bowstring with both arms and legs. I remember lifting one arm 1cm off the frame with full effort and I couldn't string it. It is a small engine and I never spent time fitting a scale to measure the draw weight.
my ballista's only manage 180fps.. good work, what is the rope that you use ?
it's masons line, twisted not braided. at higher setting it reached 288fps
@@Acroballistics Thanks man, did it have good stretch; just curious on why you chose it. I have tried a few ropes, Nylon seems to be quite stretchy and that's my go to. On my smaller ballista's I prefer horse hair, but it is very expensive and can deteriorated and rip apart. The horse hair had the best performance when I compared it to nylon on my smaller ballista's.
@@jkhippie5929interesting. I chose masons line because it was cheap and easily accessible. I am not sure it is nylon, it probably is low quality nylon because of the elasticity but also could be another kind of plastic, it was not specified by the seller or manufacturer. I tried monofilament fishing line and observed less hysterisis or deterioration of torque over time when compared to the masons line. monofilament was also more expensive.
You can see the monofilament and masons line springs in the lastest onager short video I have uploaded ruclips.net/user/shortsQXcF0Kbq4cg
What's a weigth of an arrow?
around 16g
😮