“Mechanical Engineers build weapons and Civil Engineers build targets” is the slogan on a tshirt the amused me when I saw it.

Trebu-JJ

Being a (student) Mechanical Engineer I built a weapon. Doesn’t do anything fancy but I was pleased with the range and it’s fairly accurate. I must make another Trebuchet one day. I’m thinking a war with Jenga block medieval castles!

It’s made from the base of a hard drive and wire soldered to make the frame. It needs to be sturdy because the ballast needed to get decent range is fairly heavy. The projectiles are made from ball bearings coated in blu-tack and sellotape with piece of wire to hook onto the trebuchet.

There is a more authentic desktop trebuchet over at Maker Shed. It even has a trigger mechanism, Tempting!