build a trebuchet

It took a lot longer than I anticipated to plane the beams to an acceptable degree of smoothness. No sense in handling something prone to giving one splinters, right? (Slivers, to my Euro friends.) But I finally managed to get an acceptable finish by removing just a small chip at a time, then hand sanding, then taking another chip, and sanding again… Well, let’s just say I’m glad that part of the project is done.

I’m also glad I began with somewhat oversized logs. You know how it is when one is trying to get things just right. Take of a bit here, and it looks like maybe one needs to balance things by taking off another bit there… Anyway, I’m done with the shaping and smoothing. Forward!

:)

Before I begin to actually assemble the trebuchet, though, Mrs. Hawkmeister insists I haul away the shavings. I thought I’d fill an extra garbage can each week and set it out for our regular weekly pick up, but on reflection I decided to just have someone come by and take it all at once. Or twice.

After they take the last load, I’ll be ready to proceed!

:D

Still a little rough, dammit

Now, just need to trim and smooth ‘em out…

...and cut it into logs. Next… Trim the logs to length and shape.

First, I’ll need the timbers. I chose this tree because it has massive branches all about the same size, so I won’t have to do as much trimming.

stay tuned

:)

So now I have the space to actually do it, this should make a good summer project. Now the question is scale. Do I want a trebuchet capable of hurling a large pumpkin 600 feet, or one capable of hurling a Mini Cooper 100 feet?