The French Made This?- A Trebuchet Story: Day 1- Framework

Stardate -310337.44 (May 4th, 2013)- Captain's Log- The plans I acquired a few days before had vanished (server error) sooooo I went in blind with a gist that my father and I came up with before figuring out what we had and what we would need.

The cement blocks were for the garden. Not catapult ready.

One sheet of plywood = base frame of a trebuchet

Sand was the original weight. That changed later.

Rope. Can't have a trebuchet without rope.

Cold steel pressed 3 foot, 1/2in. diameter rod. Aka the axel

Trigger mechanism to be

Weight holder and part of arm

Liquid cement for the PVC pipe

Back at home base, the supplies are put out and plans are made. After getting a game plan in place, it was decided that today's goal would be to create the framework of the trebuchet. On Wednesday the arm/sling would be built and then Saturday (May 11th) testing and tweaking would be done as needed.

Somehow that will all become a French death machine (oxymoron?)

Critical to the frame

Odds and ends

Weight- To be. Or not to be. That is the question.

Like father, like son. (My Dad is in construction, hence every tool imaginable.)

Rocking the power saw

The base rectangle. 3ft x 1ft

Using clamps, a square (with an identity crisis), power drill, and screws, I screwed the box together

Science. Pure science.

Once the box was screwed together, the arms need to be screwed on. I used three fence posts to create a triangle structure on the sides of the box. Using the square (with an identity crisis), I measure the angles for a 30 60 90 triangle, so that the dimensions would be symmetrical on both sides.

Solid structure

Clamps are a man's best friend

Action shot

The middle arm of the triangle is straight up and meets the other two at the top for sound support. This would be mirrored on both sides for symmetry. Then the arm would be placed between the two triangles at the top.