Dallas MotherChuckers!
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Maker Monster?
Particle accelerator?
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Good suggestions, since this is an unconventional trebuchet (steel instead of wood), something different from the typical medieval theme would be good.
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I think Game of Throws is the best, if not too cheesy.
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Iron Giant?
Fe-Rail?
There once was a man from Nantucket
Who needed twenty characters
Got in lots of parts, one question is how much we trust these $22 each 8" v groove caster wheels, the casting looks pretty bad in spots. From a reputable supplier the wheels would be 3-5x more
What are they being used for? How critical is the diameter? Fulton supply in Denton sells them.
These are the pivot on the arm, as weight drops these wheels ride along a rail, up to a few thousand pounds of force is going to be transmitted through these wheels (wheels provide force to stop the falling of the weight)
See 2" versions in small scale:
I was calling it the Industrial Iron Dragon yesterday.
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Ahh got ya. I don’t blame you for not trusting them. You could however sandwich them with plate to ensure they don’t just kinda split.
Put together a todo list for next steps so multiple people can jump into the different things that need done on Sunday
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Had lots of help on sunday so we were able to complete a lot
Initial mockup of arm pivot wheels
Drilling base pivot wheel axle holes in rails
Faced off then bored the spacer/mount that the 5/8" arm pivot axle will go through
Mocked up arm pivot, there will not be much clearance at all, so will probably have to use cotter pins to retain wheels on axle.
@lukeiamyourfather helped plasma the 20 gauge steel sheets into 3 inch strips, these will be the rim / form for the concrete weights. CNC plasma was perfect for this
Half of the arm will be made of wood, we laminated together some strips of 4" birch
Lots of welding, the floor isn’t level in there, so had to rely on just making everything perpendicular to the uprights and assuming that we will be able to level it when we fire it
Put some wheels on it for easy mobility, but it is 9.5’ tall, so fitting through doors takes some maneuvering
The goal is to test fire it by October 16th
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Apologies for missing the meeting yesterday, the progress looks so fantastic I cant wait to see it up close.
Are those wheels and frame welded onto the base? If they are, will they take the brunt of the weight falling onto it?
It is truly an imposing sight.
The wheels are only for moving it around. Once in place, the wheels will be removed and the apparatus guyed down for action.
Yeah that was the initial design. It just looks welded on the photo.
So excited to fire the beast
Suspect it’s going to be ready to test fire well before then.
The tricky part will be our complex trigger and winch system. I do have a lot of vacation days saved up at work…
Anyone want to take bets on if the clamping force of two 3/8 nuts would be enough to hold the release pin on the end of the arm at a given angle? (One end of the rope going to sling slides off this at the right angle to control when it releases the projectile).
The idea is that this needs to be easily adjustable, so here I have it mounted on a 3/8" threaded rod with only two flange nuts clamping onto the release pin made of 3/16" thick sheet metal (loosen nut, and can set pin to any angle, then tighten nuts to lock it in place). The rod is welded to the two stands at the end. In theory the clamping force is over 5,000 pounds and the nuts would be tightened to 30-40 foot pounds, only the clamping force of those nuts would be holding the pin at the desired angle. The pin is 2 inches tall, and should be subject to less than 200 pounds of force when launching the 5-10 pound projectile.
Double nut it so it can’t come loose?