Mini Medieval Catapult Construction is Complete!

Hello!

Yesterday afternoon I completed the construction of the mini medieval catapult and even did a couple of test firings!

It works of course (not really hard to get the actual launching part working).

I had a slight change in plans during construction. Originally I had planned on trying to replicate the power source of the original catapults by using a rubber band.

However, I really wanted to get this prototype done so I can get on to other projects. This first project does not need to be perfect because it is only a prototype, version one, whatever you want to call it. Using what was learned from this project will allow a better catapult to be constructed next time and allow you to build a better catapult the first time.

Anyway, I ended up using the energy of tension on the catapult arm itself to perform the launches. By wedging one end in the base and "locking it" so it could not move pressure is then applied to the other end of the catapult arm to build up tension energy within the arm itself. Releasing the pressure naturally results in that end of the catapult arm flinging back up to the straight position launching the projectile in the process.

Putting it simply, the catpult arm is flicking things. Imagine taking a tree limb and bending it back at one end, tension energy builds within the limb itself, right? Let go of the end you have pulled back and what happens? The limb flies back to straighten itself out. That is how the catapult arm is working.

Next I will paint the catapult and then post a picture on this blog as well as add details to the pages on my sites of how I built this mini catapult (with a lot of work being done by Morghan - I want to give her credit because she did at least 50% of the actual construction of the catapult if not more).

That's it for now.

Garfield Benjamin
Medieval Castles - Medieval Siege Weapons
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