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Lego Trebuchet
An anonymous reader submitted linkage to a
trebuchet made of legos. Using
australian coins for counterweights, it is able to throw a marble 50 feet or
more. I wish they had some photos of it in action, and maybe some
schematics for do it yourselfers, but regardless, looks like a fun
project if you have a pile of legos and a 4-day weekend ;)
It was first broadcast about a year ago, part of a series called "Secrets of Lost Empires", and also included a nice Construction of a Chinese Rainbow Bridge.
The Trebuchet episode is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Tuesday, July 16, 2002, in the States.
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
Although the photos section mentiones that the wheels are not quite necesassry, they are indeed:
The motion of the counterweight falling tries to pull the treb over. A counter to this is to put the trebuchet on wheels. So, as the counterweight falls, the treb rolls forward, allowing the counterweigtht to fall more vertically. This also dramatically increases the distance the treb can make.
More info on DIY trebuchets here
The site links to another site where they got some inspiration from. The first product listed is a desktop trebuchet for $49.00.
a trebuchet sounds cool but this guy took it into modern warfare, and built a Beretta!!
He even put out a manual so you can build it yourself.
If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.--David Brent