Siege weapon to defend the shop

I’ve wanted to build one of these for the longest time. I had vacation this week so mark that one off the list!

Made from some mystery-mahogany like wood that was a piece of shipping dunnage that a buddy gave to me a while back. I searched the web for a plan and found this one, seemed pretty simple and sized to fit on a bench top. I wanted to build it with adjustability in mind. I had another buddy get me some very small bearings for the arm pivot point. They have an I.D. of 1/8” and rides on a 1/8” brass rod. To keep the arm center and not wander on the rod, it put two lengths of brass tubing over the rod and they hold the bearings in place. I drilled out 7 bearing holes on each side of the arm and every other bearing hole has a screw hole that gets a washer to hold the bearings in place inside the arm. The pin angle is adjustable, as is the arm catch which changes when the arm pivot point is changed.

I made all of the brass parts by hand: the sling hook, the sling pin, trigger hook, lanyard rings and more. I used jute string for the sling and trigger hook lanyard. I cut up a piece of scrap leather from a local shop and made the sling pouch.

My daughter and I had a great time today testing it, making adjustments until it was able to throw a 2oz shrader valve 20ft with only one oops! But no damage done thanks to my daughter’s ninja-like reflexes.

https://youtu.be/DJxpmwkvx-8

https://youtu.be/PV6WfszRxLw

. . . . and Fail!

https://youtu.be/YVDuRknYD9U

Have a great day.

Wayne

-- "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins."