October 2000 - My Trebuchet


This blog entry is almost 10 years overdue.

My only excuse is that back in the year 2000 (sheesh - has it been that long?) I didn't have a blog. But I'm not one for excuses... so here it is, better later than never :-)

In the late summer of 2000, while I was living in VA, I got inspired to build a trebuchet.

The story goes.... Once upon a time (circa 2000 CE) my good friend, Lee Long (whom I truly do miss) had just discovered the S.C.A.. He was quick to liberate me from the mundane understanding I had about my area. It turns out that I did NOT live in Newport News, VA, but in [SCA] reality, I was actually living dead in the heart of the "Kindom of Atlantia" in the barony of "Tir-y-Don".

...Who knew?!

As is turned out, my buddy Lee owed his loyalty to the neighboring barony, that of "Marinus" and my loyalties were with my buddy. So, needless to say, I got bit by the SCA-bug and started looking for something that tickled my interest... history, garb, knights and food & wine... ah! renaissance re-enactment utopia - I was in love :-))) ...but the truth is.. I'm an engineer... in any time-period. So, I gravitated towards what ANY good engineer would be drawn towards in the SCA... a Siege Weapon!!!! --- specifically.... a trebuchet.

Yes... a trebuchet would be my task.... and what turned out to be a perfect storm of trubuchet construction impetus... the company I worked for at the time was planning it's annual Oktoberfest picnic with a "pumpkin throwing" contest.... this was perfect. I could sanitize my unholy war-machine under the guise of a wholesome pumpkin throwing machine... (*evil laugh .. Muhahahahaha*).

OK. enough words... the following pictures are the only record I have of my momentary lapse of reason.... In my temporary madness, I did not invest much time into documenting this endeavor. The pictures and video that I do have after all these years I owe to my family and friends (who were totally convinced that I was off my rocker. - lol) The only thing I can say now (8 years later) is... I'm better now.... for having done it! that is. And I might yet have one more siege wepon build in me.... who knows???

So, in a nutshell.... It worked great! We were tossing 10-12 lb pumpkins 250+ft before they hit the ground... just like my calculations (again... *evil laugh .. Muhahahahaha*)

So... without further ado... Here are the pics:



























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