We recently posted a blog on the growing trend in 3D printing parts for Steambow products and how, in some cases, it was a great idea to let your creativity come up with new add-ons while in other respects it was a recipe for disaster that Steambow cannot encourage in the slightest.
This blog has a similar safety message, only this one is even more fundamental: homemade crossbows and why these are just a bad idea, particularly if you decide to base them around Steambow parts.
Little financial incentive
First, let’s agree on a few points for the sake of argument (or lack of). Steambow’s AR-Series of crossbows are pretty good value for money.
Let’s take the AR-6 Compact as an example. Whether EUR or USD, 249 of either will bag you this very versatile crossbow. It can benefit from virtually all of the Steambow accessories on offer, with the exception of the most powerful limbs and any bits relating to the shoulder stock.
Another 50 more, and you can walk away with the market-leading AR-6 Tactical. The same integral magazine but with the shoulder stock, which makes all limb strengths a viable option. The point is that for these sums, you can choose from two damn good repeating crossbows. They won’t break the bank. And they won’t break. These are solid, proven designs, and if used and maintained properly, will last you indefinitely.
All that to say, that cost saving isn’t a valid reason to go out and build something completely untested.
Performance boost or risk increase?
Steambow is the only manufacturer in this sector to have adopted such a comprehensive approach to making a modular platform for its enthusiasts. The fact you can buy parts individually is indeed a bonus.
Therefore, if we agree that cost is not a good enough reason to fiddle, then is performance really any more valid an argument? Being modular, Steambow lets you upgrade as per your wishes and needs. The strongest limb available with a boxed Steambow AR-Series crossbow is the 75-lb Advanced limb on the detachable box magazine M10 Tactical crossbow.
You can buy more powerful limbs (90-, 120-, and 150-lb variants) in their webshop. The idea is to improve the performance of your AR-series crossbow. The idea is not to allow you to make a home-grown version.
Time to bring physics into the picture. The only way Steambow’s limbs will launch an arrow faster is a lighter arrow, which risks limb damage, or building a longer power-stroke which, you guessed, risks limb damage.
Steambow, like any responsible manufacturer, sets their bows’ power strokes as what they are for a reason–and a homemade DIY crossbow that exceeds that power stroke is to move out of the safe operating parameters of the limb. With such a crossbow, you will almost certainly be shooting on borrowed time since a catastrophic limb failure will become more probable, and that’s not something you want to be around.
Return or regret on investment?
There it is. You’ve had the slimmest of insights into the depth of thinking that goes into crossbow designs. Time for another insight into what you risk by attempting to do it yourself. We’ve already explained that any performance increase will put parts outside their safe operating parameters. And that this increases the risks of failure. What might that failure look like?
Your string, over-stretched and running down a less-than-ideal surface, fails. This is essentially a dryfire, so your limbs may fail, too.
What if you’ve built your own trigger release, and it’s not up to the job? It could fail at any moment, and you’ll have little control over where that arrow flies. Any arrow that leaves your crossbow is your responsibility, as is the damage or harm it causes.
There you have it. The main take-home here should be don’t make your own crossbow unless you really know what you are doing: 99% of us do not. Regardless of your competence, if you decide you want to, know that Steambow does not support using their products to do this in any way, shape, or form. And with that, obviously, Steambow takes absolutely no responsibility for what happens if you decide to use their products incorrectly.
The smart choice is to buy complete bows from Steambow, use them as recommended, and enjoy your purchase rather than regretting your creation. Leave crossbow design to the professionals. For a closer look at Steambow’s excellent range of AR-Series crossbows, visit the webshop.
