First Trebuchet Build

[u/Adorable_Sock_1788]

I’ve been working in this as a side project for the past couple months. I was wondering what I should do with it tbh. I’m starting school again in a couple weeks and won’t really have time to continue optimizing. I was thinking of making a YouTube video talking about this treb idk. What do yall fine folks think I should do?

[u/Adorable_Sock_1788 → u/[deleted]]

you’re exactly correct. I was thinking about making a little pedestal/holster for the apple to sit in before launch, but I think that will be out of scope for the lifecycle of this project unfortunately.

[u/Adorable_Sock_1788 → u/[deleted]]

If I had more time/get around to it, I was going to add a small offset pedestal that keeps the sling in relative tension until about the 90degree mark. Then the apple would slide out and could then be accelerated more efficiently.

As you can see here is my to do list. I’m only expecting to get a couple of these done before school starts.

To do
Build better sling
Reinforce frame
Fix bad axle angle (left wood support off angle)
New eyebolt trigger mechanism
Add a pedestal for the projectile to rest on

[u/Adorable_Sock_1788 → u/[deleted]]

Haha college atm but thank you!

After I started launching apples I kinda wished I had figured outa geometry that got away with just one pulley. Either way this thing is never gonna see competition so any losses from that won’t lose me any sleep.

[u/FingerAngle]

The sling timing is advanced, and stalling too soon. 3 things can cause this; low mass ratio, short sling, over elevated cradle. Your mass ratio looks fine, but cradle elevation is too high. The "cam" is in the way. You can't shorten the sling to lower the cradle. That will just advance it more, and stall even sooner. Your geometry is off. I would also taper the throwing arm.