Trebuchet fun

Status:

Started and completed March 2001.

Range:

5 to 8 feet, depending on projectile mass.

Description:

The first is a traditional looking hinged counter weight trebuchet made from lollipop sticks.

Building time:

This took three or four evenings to design and build.  A few more evenings were spent investigating trebuchet sites looking for the 'golden rules' of treb design.

Status:

Started and completed June 2001.

Range:

Best throw measured is over 20 feet.

Description:

The second is a modern evolution of a trebuchet again made from lollipop sticks.  It is based on the overall proportions of a radically different machine by a chap called Ron Toms.

Building time:

This took five or six evenings to design and build, and a few evenings thinking about how building one of these from lollipop sticks would differ from building it with timber.

Status:

Started June 2001, completed July 2001.

Range:

Best throw measured is over 100 feet, but estimated throws are 160 feet.  Longer throws are anticipated with more counterweight.

Description:

The third is a three feet tall floating arm trebuchet, a much larger cousin of the second.  It was built from a kit, though nearly all of the wood had to be discarded.  I'm glad in a way though, because now there's much more of me in it.

Building time:

This took ages to build, the original kit was partly built before it got to the point where I realised that the base was warped and the kit as supplied would not make a viable trebuchet.  Once replacement parts had been cut and drilled the treb was built within a weekend.

Status:

Frame completed (started December 2001), arm in progress (still).

Range:

In excess of 40 feet is hoped for.

Description:

Not long before Christmas 2001 I received a mail from a chap who had found this site and was inspired to build a floating arm trebuchet about 13 inches tall.  It threw computer mouse balls some 57 feet!  Inspired by this, I decided that I would build a similar machine as a Christmas holiday project to attempt to beat his throw. I still haven't got around to finishing it though 8-(.

Building time:

The build so far has taken just a few evenings, as this is simply a scaled down version of trebuchet 3 above.

Status:

Frame completed (started April 2002), arm yet to be made.

Range:

Around 40 feet?  Who knows?

Description:

The fifth trebuchet was started as a treb that could be converted between fixed and hinged counterweight.  The frame went together like a dream, but a stupid error on my part meant that the arm that was designed for it was too long, there was insufficient clearance for a hinged counterweight. The arm survived, and a new frame was built for it to become trebuchet 6 below.  No details as yet, but I've taken plenty of photos.

Building time:

The frame was completed on one Saturday, and a few evenings were devoted to deciding upon the overall dimensions using a spreadsheet and Donald B Siano's wintrebstar program to determine the length of the arm from the required counter weight and counter weight drop.

Status:

Started April 2002, completed May 2002.

Range:

Best throw measured is 38 feet.

Description:

The sixth treb is finished (apart from a set of wheels).  It is convertible between a hinged and fixed counter weight configuration.  The only thing it needs to be finished is a set of wheels for the fixed configuration, the hinged config is working.  It's first few throws resulted in placing a mouse ball 38 feet away.

Building time:

This treb was built over a weekend.

Status:

Started end of August 2003, completed mid October 2003.

Range:

Hopefully a 5 to 10 gram projectile will travel 30 feet (if I've done my math correctly).   I realy should make an effort to measure it.  It visited my place of work not long after completion, and was throwing 5 gram wooden beads about 25 feet with half of the anticipated counter weight.

Description:

I needed to build another treb, I got the fever again.  This is a small prototype for a six feet tall treb I've been meaning to build for a while.  This was intended as a confidence booster for me to see if I can do joints and complicated angles with nothing more than hand tools, though I've had to admit defeat and buy a bench drill to ensure that I get perpendicular holes.  I've taken plenty of photos, all of which ended up in the guide.

Building time:

This treb has taken the longest of all the trebs to design and build, because I wanted it to look as reasonably authentic (as far as an 18" tall treb can).  The frame involved a lot of angles and a few simple joints, and I took great care in ensuring that everything was square, even to the point of building the frame on a flat reference surface used for setting up my R/C cars.  The arm and counter weight carriers had to be remade after it became clear that hand tools just weren't going to give me the accuracy that I wanted for this project.  I'd guess that it's taken a couple of weekends and lots of odd hours here and there while the missus watches her rubbish on the TV.

A massive resource dedicated to machines that throw things.  Contains such essential items such as the history of siege warfare, how do trebuchets work?, photos of machines they have built and simulators.  They've also got a very comprehensive set of links.  I'm still discovering new things on their site now.

This is a stunning floating arm trebuchet built as a result of Frank finding these pages.  Frank's machine is beautifully made.  It's little more than a foot tall yet it can throw a Unix station mouse ball over 55 feet!  Even more incredible is the fact that there are no screws or glue used to hold the frame together.  This is definitely the best desktop trebuchet I've seen, well worth a look.

Mike is building a three feet tall FAT like mine, only he knows what he's doing when it comes to woodwork.  His treb is made of oak, and it look's fantastic!  You really should go and see the workmanship, 'cos I'm very jealous.

A site with some interesting titbits about siege warfare, and some nice photos of machines in a museum setting.

These people contributed an expert to the NOVA team that made the TV program.  They've got a page dedicated to their involvement in the project.

These are the lovely people that inspired me.  They have a fantastic companion site for the program.  It includes pictures, a transcript of the program, a history of castle life, resources and a build-your-own-trebuchet game.

This is a small yet perfectly formed introduction to ancient siege weapons, with a discussion about the skills that can be learned in the classroom when siege weapons are the subject of the class. It's worth a look.