[Steve Smith]

I'd like to build one inthe next few years, and not one of those dinky 20 footers, either. One that could hurl a piano, a-la Northern Exposure would be nice.

Has anyone here done it?

[mete]

Check www.trebuchet.com that will give you info. If you mack one let us know the results.

[Hkmp5sd]

Never done it, but there is a History Channel documentary on them where they construct a couple of different variations. I was impressed with the accuracy they had.

[Bruz]

Built one with my son for a class he was in, but it was a small one. A big one should be easy, just build a small one with big pieces of wood!

Sounds like fun but be careful out there, even the small one we built gave me a nice knot in the head!

[Andrew Wyatt]

I have.


It was only 12 or so feet high. We use it to launch t- shirts at the football games.

[JShirley]

Very cool. Just don't put a bayonet lug on it...

John

[bobs1066]

Don't paint it black!

[El Tejon]

Yes, for Latin club in high school. It was great, we threw pumpkins.:)

It worked, so obviously I was not the engineer.

[Sir Galahad]

Steve, check out NetSword.com and check the forums for "Medieval Warfare" and "Medieval Missiles". There is a wealth of information over there about this. There is also a website out there that tells you how to build your own ballista using materials found in any hardware store and has downloadable instructions. I think it fires broom sticks. (Attention L.A. residents---broom sticks are over .50 caliber in diameter, so you might want to check your local laws, heheh.) That might be a good warm-up project for you.

[Combat-wombat]

My former friend built one. He's a stupid communist though, so we're not friends anymore. He actually said that communism is a great idea that just hasn't worked yet. Anyway, from what I could tell, it worked pretty well.

[Sir Galahad]

Next time you see your former friend, ask him how many more millions of people have to die in various "attempts" at communism until they "get it right". (Of course, to those "real" communists, getting it "right" is something similar to Orwell's "1984" where they don't kill you, but you wish they would.)

[El Tejon]

Combat, when was your friend elected to the California legislature?

[ACP230]

I have thought about building one since I got a copy of the 1993 Gun Digest. Wilfrid Ward wrote an article about one in England big enough to throw pianos.

Great article.

[Sunray]

Before you start building a Treb big enough to toss a piano, watch the History Channel show, then go learn how to work with big timbers. Models are easy but a full size Treb is another matter.

[Tamara]

I remember one in a Car & Driver article that was used to toss an Austin Mini. The gentleman who built it also used it to fling pianos. Pianos that were soaked in gasoline and set ablaze. There's a mental picture: flaming pianos streaking across the sky of the rolling green English countryside. I want to party with this guy.

His next project was supposed to be a ballista "big enough to launch telegraph poles". I wonder if he ever built it?

[Steve Smith]

There's a mental picture: flaming pianos streaking across the sky of the rolling green English countryside. I want to party with this guy.

Me too. When I build mine, you can come and party. Bring lighter fuel and beer. Lots of beer.

Sunray, what makes big stuff different than little stuff?

[5ptdeerhunter]

A few friends and myself worked on a very little one. It was a lot of fun. It only had between 80 or 100 pounds, and was only 3.5 feet tall with the arm up. But it would throw orange about 15 to 20 yards.

It tooks us a lot of trial and error to get it to go 10 feet at first.