Tiny Catapults!

For all (six) of you that read this blog and are tired of hearing about bicycles, I give you tiny catapults!

What you will need to construct your miniature siege engines:

1. A couple of nasty looking boards.
2. A 1/2" diameter dowel.
3. A short piece of a 2x2.
4. A length of thin rope.
5. Two 1" wood screws.
6. A 1/2" drill bit.
7. A 3/4" spade bit.
8. A drill or drill press.
9. A table saw or circular saw or handsaw.
10. A miter saw or miter box or motorized miter box
11. Scissors.
12. A screwdriver
13. A lighter.
14. A pencil.
15. A roll of tape.
16. A ruler.
17. A miniature enemy.

First, use your table saw to cut your nasty looking boards into two 7 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles. 
Once you've done this, tape the two boards together with the broad sides touching, then, with your pencil, mark the two longer edges: "top" and "bottom", and the two shorter edges "front" and "back".
Measure 1" up from the "bottom" and 2" from the "front" and draw an X. Next, measure 1" down from the "top" and 3" from the "front" and draw another X.

Next, with your boards still taped together, measure 1/2" up from the "bottom" and 1/2" from the "back" of the board and draw a V. Flip your taped boards over and draw another V in exactly the same place on the other side. 

Last, measure 3 1/2" from the "front" and 1 1/2" from the "bottom" and draw a T. Do the same on the other side.

Fit your 1/2" bit into your drill.

Drill the Xs all the way through.

Drill the Vs to a 1/4" depth.

Drive a screw into each of the Ts so about 1/4" sticks out.

Separate the two boards. 

These are your sides.

They should look like a mirror image of each other when you're finished. The sides with the screws sticking out will face inward.

Next, use your miter saw to cut your dowel into two 5 1/4" lengths and one 4 1/4" length.

Cut your 2x2 to a 7" length.                                                                  With your 3/4" bit, drill

Cut one end into a triangle shape.                 Drill a 1/2" hole.                a 1/4" deep hole.     

This is your catapult arm.

Make sure your bit is sharp so that this doesn't happen

Then use your scissors to cut a 26" piece from your length of rope. If you're using braided nylon or another synthetic like I am, you'll have to use your lighter to melt the ends so they don't fray.

Now that you have all your parts, you can start to assemble your catapult.

Start by tying a knot in each end of your 26" piece of rope. I prefer to use a knot called a double half hitch for this.

 Then attach it to the screws.

Next, pass one of your longer dowels through the smaller hole of your catapult arm.

Fit each end into the lower holes on the sides. This dowel will be a pivot for the arm.

Use the catapult arm to twist the rope around the dowel as shown. There should be a fair amount of tension.

Slip your other longer dowel into the upper holes in front of the arm to maintain the tension in the rope.

Finally, notch the shorter dowel into the shallow holes you drilled toward the back, and you're done. You now have a functioning mechanism with which to wage minuscule siege warfare!

Don't stop there though. Embellish!

 Off to battle!