I built one in celebration of my thirtieth birthday. It was 8 feet tall and we used about 680 lbs of countereweight. We were getting 10 lb objects over 200 feet. Here is the website I made about it with video. http://home.cinci.rr.com/catapultparty/
If you have ever wanted to build one, just do it. If you are worried about getting it right, go to the library and take out the video “Medieval Siege” its an episode of Nova that I just watched and it really boosted my confidence to know that these guys who are experts ran into most of the same problems that I did in the design and testing. Because to be honest, we’re all just guessing. Go here for some simulators that helped me with axle placement, sling length and counterweight. http://www.ripcord.ws/simulators.html Cheers and good luck. A.
yggdrasil76's Life List
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1. Hitchhike Europe
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2. Live in New Zealand
219 people -
3. Find my happiness
13 people -
4. Integration of all my pieces
1 person -
5. make my own biodeisel
44 people -
6. create a graphic novel
248 people -
7. have better posture
7,719 people -
8. Make sculpture
8 people -
9. Visit Iceland
785 people -
10. Visit Nepal
68 people -
11. Learn french and Japanese
11 people -
12. be an artist again
1 cheer6 people
How I did it: I would start to work on it only to find myself falling back into old habits. Sometimes I would get rid of everything and a few months later I would be back to square 1. It took several years to reach the last straw but once I did it sort of happened on its own. I was surprised by the psychological an spiritual repercussions that accompanied it. Letting go of stuff seems analogous to "letting go" on more than a metaphorical le… Read how I did it…
I first saw pictures of the Hagia Sophia in an art history class. When the opportunity arose to visit Istanbul, I jumped at the chance without any idea how to afford it. The universe aligned and I made it. The Hagia Sophia is nothing short of incredible. The Blue Mosque next door is more beautiful from the outside but the interior of the HS took my breath away (even though they were fixing the top dome and there was the largest scaffold I have ever seen filling up the middle of it. If you ever have even the remotest chance of visiting Istanbul, go. Spend several days in Sultanahmet, it’s all there. The HS, the Blue Mosque, the old roman cystern, The bazaar, the sultan’s palace, ancient homes built into a 2000 year old city wall. And the people (the Turks anyway) are so kind. Best time of my life.
