Leonardo da Vinci's giant cross-bow

Wheels

Regular conventional crossbows would have been carried by the soldiers who wielded them, however Leonardo's crossbow was far to large to be carried and instead had 6 wheels so that it could be pushed or pulled by either men or horses.

Wheels

Firing System

Firing

System

Leonardo da Vinci's giant crossbow, would have used a holding pin to lock the string in place once a soldier has pulled it back using a wooden crank. Then, another soldier would load a large stone or bomb as a projectile and would use a mallet to disslodge the holding pin thus firing the crossbow.

Bow

The bow part of the crossbow is what creates resistance on the crossbows string so that it can launch projectiles. Leonardo's crossbow would have been made mostly out of wooden material, and same goes for the bow portion of this weapon.

Reinforced String

The way a cross bow works is that a string is pulled back, creating resistance, and is locked into place until the trigger is pulled and then the string snaps back launching a projectile. Leonardo's crossbow was very large and therefore would have made use of a string-like rope to create enough resistance to launch the huge projectiles being used.

Steps to make and materials needed

Materials needed - Popsicle Sticks, elastic bands, skewers, button, carboard wheels, and hot glue.

Step 1 - Create a solid base out of Popsicle sticks by attaching them side by side, using hot glue.

Step 2 - Reinforce this base by adding in popsicle sticks on the bottom, using hot glue.

Step 3 - Then cut off the ends of two popsicle sticks and hot glue them on the front of the solid base facing vertically.

Step 4 - Then take two posicle sticks and cut off one of their ends diagonally so that they fit in an arrow position.

Step 5 - Then hot glue the two popsicle sticks from the previous step onto the end of another popsicle stick.

Step 6 - Cut off a small portion of a skewer and glue it to the back of the popsicle that was used as a base in the previous step.

Step 7 - Then cut off the end of another popsicle stick and use an elastic band to rap in place with the skewer from the previous step creating a pin.

Step 8 - Cut two holes on the ends of the two popsicle sticks that have been placed in an arrow shape and tie an elastic band through the holes to create the crossbows string.

Step 9 - Glue the cross bow you have just constructed onto the original bas with the arrow portion of the crossbow resting atoop the vertically placed popsicles on the base.

Step 10 - Cut 3 holes on either side of the original bas and thread skewers through the holes and place 6 cardboard on the skewers, one on each skewer.