Trebuchet Construction Instructions Follow these instructions step by step to create your trebuchet. Materials: Trebuchet Template (6 pages cardstock) Trebuchet Template (1 page paper) One unsharpened No. 2 pencil Paperclip String Patch of fabric Elmer's glue Scissors Box knife Guidelines: It is very important to read every direction in here and follow them exactly as you build your trebuchet. Shaded areas will be glued to another piece. The number in the shaded area corresponds to the piece that it will be glued to. Solid lines are the exterior border of the pieces and should be carefully cut out. Dashed lines are places where the parts will be folded down. When you are going to fold a dashed line, it is necessary to SCORE the dashed line with a ballpoint pen. This will help you fold the creases exactly on the dashed lines. All "pizzas" should have their 4 diameter pieces cut (but not the circle circumference) so that they can have a pencil push through without tearing. These need to be cut before folding and gluing these pieces. Make sure that you have a surface that is safe to cut on so that you do not cut or scratch the table that you are working on. Also USE CAUTION with the box knife so that you do not cut yourself. When you glue pieces together, hold them with pressure for 45 seconds to a minute until it will stick by itself. Do not handle freshly glued pieces until they have sufficiently dried. 1
Pieces 2 & 4 1. Locate and cut out pieces 1, 2, 3, and 4. Pieces 1 & 3 2. On pieces #2 & #4, additional slots must be cut on each side as shown. Be careful not to cut past the line in the shaded area. Do this two times on #2 and two times on #4 Piece # 2 shown, cut slits where the bold lines are, but DO NOT cut past the dashed line in the shaded area. 3. Score and fold all the dashed lines on pieces 1, 2, 3, and 4. Fold #1 and #3 into the 3-D shape and glue it to itself as shown. Fold #2 and #4 into the 3-D shape and glue it to itself as shown. Allow glue to dry. 2
4. Glue # 1 into # 2 at a 90 angle. Remember that all the shaded areas get glue. Glue # 3 into # 2 at a 90 angle. Remember that all the shaded areas get glue. Allow the glue to dry so the pieces won't move before handling. 5. Glue both ends of # 4 to # 1 and # 3 just as you did before. The end result is a rectangle that will be the 4- sided frame which is the base of your trebuchet. Let this finished piece rest flat on the table to finish drying. Lay the final result flat so that the glue can continue to dry as you move on to the next part. 6. Cut out the uprights of the trebuchet: pieces 5, 6, 7, & 8. Carefully cut the pieces of the "pizza" on all 4 pieces. * see page 1 if "pizza" confuses you. DO NOT CUT TOWARDS YOUR FINGER IN CASE YOU SLIP ALSO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING UNDER YOUR CARDSTOCK WHEN YOU CUT SO YOU DON'T SCRATCH THE TABLE. 3
7. Pieces 5, 6, 7, & 8 need a final trim. Cut down the bold line and cut out the small triangle. Cut the bold line and carefully cut out and remove the small triangle 8. Pieces 5, 6, 7, & 8 need a final trim. Cut down the bold line and cut out the two small triangle. 4
9. Score and fold the dashed lines of pieces 5, 6, 7, and 8. Glue the pieces to make the upright arms The small tabs at the bottom must be glued. 10. On the regular copy paper, cut out strips # 9 and # 10. Use a pencil for shape and roll the strip # 9 around the pencil and glue them so they will stay. Repeat for strip # 10. Also repeat for strips #15, #18, #23 & #24. Make sure you do not accidentally glue the strips to your pencil. strips should be just loose enough so they will easily side on and off your pencil. It may help to slightly sharpen your pencil. 5
11. Fit uprights together and put in base, but do not glue yet. Take rolled paper #9 (once it is dry) and while on pencil, carefully push it through the overlapping ends of the uprights. It is easiest to push the pencil through and then push the rolled paper through the "pizza" cut openings. Take rolled paper #10 and while on pencil, carefully push it through the overlapping ends of the uprights. 12. Once the upright have the paper rolls through them, leave the pencil all the way through and glue the uprights to the corners of the base. The pencil will help hold everything straight. Only glue one at a time, and hold these to make sure they are sturdy before moving on to the next step. 6
13. Cut out # 11 and # 12. Slice the "pizza" * see page 1 if "pizza" confuses you. Score all dashed lines and fold. 14. Attach # 11 and # 12 to the top of the trebuchet arms. You may have to skip this step until the upright arms have completely dried and will not pull off of the base. Glue in place. 7
15. While that is drying, find piece #13. Cut out, score, fold and glue piece # 13. Score and fold the dot-dash line up. Once # 13 is dry, it should be glued to the base lengthwise in the center. 16. Cut out and score piece # 14. CAREFULLY Slice the 4 "pizzas." Also cut out the ovals that have arrows point to them. 8
17. Starting where the arrow is, fold inward and glue the arrowed segment to the shorter shaded area. 18. The rest of the folds go the opposite way. Glue the edge to the shaded area. This will be the swing arm. 19. Cut out, score and fold piece # 21. This is the end of the swing arm. 9
20. Cut out the circles # 16, #17,#19,& #20 CAREFULLY Slice the 4 "pizzas." Glue them on top of the "pizzas" on the thick end of the swing arm. Make sure you only glue the shaded area and no the "pizza" pieces. This will reinforce and strengthen the swing arm. 21. Cut out, score, fold, and glue pieces #22,#25, and #26. Cut slits where the arrows point towards the bold lines. Glue the bucket handle reinforcements after cutting the "pizza" pieces. CAREFULLY Slice the 4 "pizzas." 10
22. Assemble the counterweight bucket. 23. Push the medium length paper tubes through the swing arm. 24. Push the short paper tubes through the counter weight bucket handles. 11
25. Obtain a paperclip. straighten the end and remove the tip. Cut a strip of scrap paper and tuck it into the paper clip and wrap it around and glue. It is important that the loop of the paper clip and the straight piece stick out slightly. 26. Glue the paper clip you just made and stick it in the narrow end of the swing arm. It should stick out approx 1 cm. 27. Assemble your swing arm and counter weight bucket to the base and uprights. Make sure you remembered to glue piece # 13 to the base across the bottom. 12
28. Obtain approx 35 cm of string and a 5 cm by 5 cm piece of fabric. Securely tie one end of the string to the paper clip loop that sticks out the end of the swing arm. Cut this string where it reaches just pas the pivot bar holding the swing arm. Tie a loop in the remaining string and hang that loop on the straight paper clip piece extending out the tip of the swing arm. Fold the fabric in half, and again in half. Staple the fabric so the fabric pouch is closed on the end but open enough to hold a marble Use a stapler to attach the string to the sling. YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING TO PUT IN THE COUNTER WEIGHT BUCKET TO OPERATE YOUR TREBUCHET. I suggest you bring in a bunch of pennies to put in there, but anything small and heavy will work. You should practice using your trebuchet to launch projectiles. Tinker with the angle of the paperclip which will change the launch angle of the projectile and therefore how far the projectile will travel. You will get two trials during the lab, make sure you can operate your trebuchet. To get a good grade for functionality, your trebuchet must launch the projectile 8x the length of the base. You should decorate your trebuchet, but be careful not to alter the functionality of it. 13