Paper Trebuchet

In this Instructable. I am going to show you how to make a paper Trebuchet.

What Is a Trebuchet

A trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. There are two main types of trebuchets. The first is the traction trebuchet, or mangonel, which uses manpower to swing the arm.

You will need the following for this project

1. Waste news paper
2. Hot glue gun
3. Ruler
4. Tape
5. String
6. Paper clip
7. Counter weight (here i use a container)

Start by rolling a sheet of paper around a toothpick and tape it off.

Use some of these paper rolls of apt size to build the basic frame of the trebuchet which consist of rectangular base and triangular side.The height of the trebuchet must be enough for the counter weight and short side of the arm to rotate freely.

Take a paper roll.Roll another piece of paper around it.Cut the pieces to size so that it fits the the top of the frame.

Bigger piece made around the small piece will rotate around small piece.Glue the axle into place.

Arm too is a cylindrical paper roll.Glue arm to the rotating part such that length of the arm in front of rotating part is making a ratio of 3.75:1 with the length of the arm beyond the rotating part where counter weight is going to be mounted.

For counter weight I use a cylindrical container which is completely filled with water.Take a paper roll and flatten it (make 2) to hold counter weight.

Now we can mount the counter weight on the short end of the arm.

Take a paper and cut it in an oval shape.Take a string and tie one end of it around the long side of the arm of our trebuchet. Next,see how long the string needs to be and cut it . Tie a loop so that it slides over the metal wire placed over the metal wire placed in the end of the arm.Tape the oval shaped paper which carries our paper ball over the string.