so yes, me and some friends got together and built a trebuchet yesterday. it launches croquet balls. today we're modifying it to throw melons, but for now here is Volume One for now. (warning: mild language)

EDIT: VOLUME TWO IS DOWN THERE!

it seems 'making the trebuchet' was a secondary objective to 'standing around doing nothing'.


also on the third test, which did look pretty cool, I can't actually see what's being fired, only the plastic bag waving about..

we only had one drill.

Upon watching that, I have come to two conclusions.

1. You and your friends are complete nerds. There is no hope for any of you.

2. I so need my own trebuchet.

that is all.

The only thing my friends and I ever made, was a 5 ft high GT Racer jump out of wood and snow... Everytime you landed you would bounce 2ft in the air and everyone would then watch your limp body go flailng through the air before impact.

I expect that thing fully Medievalized and mobile to be at my wedding Caz.

Hahahaha, that third test was awesome!

I wish I had that kind of free time. Looks like fun.

Hmm... new summer project: build my own trebuchet.

Projects like that are awesome. We made launchers in my HS physics class. We had a max counterweight of 200 lbs, and the thing had to fit through our classroom door. The best trebuchets were of the "floating arm" design. Basically, the axel is on wheels that move backwards and forwards as the weights drop streight down. We were firing roudabegas(sp?) for about the length of a football field. Unfortunately, with 200 lbs falling from about 6 feet the things tended to take a lot of wear and tear real fast.

yeah, that's the way i would always do a trebuchet.

Something to make after the exams, but I'll use more weight.

Nice, now add 40 more pounds and you might just reach that road in the distance. =D And possibly wreck the trebuchet in the process.

THat needs to be sturdier. Reinforce the wood, and add those stabilizing supports on the side, and reinforce the wood holding up the axis, as well as reinforce the axis, and you should be able to double the weight and distance. Maybe.

Basically, do this to the wood around the axis and on the axis, and it should be much sturdier:

I made a small one in Craft&Design class, can fire lit golfballs when I try, I'll get it from school and take some pictures

Not quite apt, but close enough to use

Watched the video, fun looking stuff. The people on the road must've been slightly scared at times... :p

Great job there, butchering my sig. :p

yeah we're already done, but yeah. we had cables and straps staked into the ground basically doing that same thing. and halfway through today we did put big beams on either side supporting it because we did add weight. when i edit volume two(what happened today) you'll see.

soooo much fruit. and a coffee maker.




basically everyone was looking and half the people slowed down.




yep thats how i did mine for an 8th grade project. thats what the golfball joke was. we're gonna show the video to our old teacher and show him whats up.

the wmv makes it look like a black dot. i assure you, its visible. mainly on the right corners of the screen.

oh, and pictures:






more and bigger ones of these: http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/

Fresh off the server... Volume Two.

add a can of pop and a jug of soy milk to the list at the end.

Good greif, how in the world did you get the arm back down to fire that thing?

I think you probably need a different releasing mechanism, it seems to be releasing it too late. Perhaps attaching a basket or something

Way to stand in front of the trebuchet when it's firing. O_o

bobbert, we've got a rope tied halfway down the arm and ben(big guy) would pull it down and two guys would reach up and grab it down the rest of the way. with the leverage, its really not that hard.

mort, it's actually releasing well for certain fruit. if we cut a cantaloupe in half, that worked the best, and the sling actually released perfectly. grapefruit worked well too. the watermelon never really worked well, but the pop can and milk jug went crazy far.

the sling was basically a long nail in the end of the arm with the tip cut off. we smacked it up and down a bit until it released properly.

zell, we knew basically how far it fired, and we were to the side for the most part. the only injury was day one, kyle (sophomore.. we were expecting it) was trying to be cool and bust up the small boards on a pallet with a sledgehammer and scraped his finger.

Remember kids: Use an HEV suit and a crowbar when smashing wood.

and if you're on 56k and dont want do download ~10MB files... i made animated gifs of just the firings.

http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult01.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult02.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult03.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult04.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult05.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult06.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult07.gif
http://ut2k3net.com/cazor/pult/pult08.gif

You should have gotten a tennis ball, fired it, and tried to get that dog to fetch it.

Seems like the arm below the axl could be a little longer. It would allow for the weights to swing further, creating a little bit more force.

Regardless, that's awesome that you had enough people to do something cool like that.

One of the few internet videos I really didnt mind watching...

Ohhh... part 2 has musak! and a werewolf!

yeah, we didnt know the exact physics behind it. next time we're gonna research that. might even make... plans! *le gaspe* haha.