Snap-Tight Trebuchet Here's a snap-together trebuchet kit that's perfect for office warfare or household floor-wars! With our precision made kits, you can assemble your own trebuchet in mere minutes and start flinging missiles at your unsuspecting victims. Huzzah! $24.95 more info
TK3 Model Trebuchet, Hobbyist Version The TK3 Trebuchet Model Kit is an ideal science project machine! Use the hanging counterweight bucket for variable weights, or convert it to a fixed counterweight machine, wheels, or no wheels. The choice is yours! $69.00 more info
Floating Arm Trebuchet ™ - Competition Version A fascinating machine that converts potential energy into kinetic and uses it to throw a ball, this machine is only 34 inches tall, 18 inches long and 9 inches wide (not including counterweights), but it hurls a golf ball over 200 feet. $149.00 more info
The Desktop Onager The Mighty Roman ONAGER, Now available in a desktop model. This display-quality model really works and can shoot missiles up to twenty feet. $34.95 more info
The Mini Trebuchet This perfectly tuned miniature trebuchet is a beautiful addition to any desktop, and it really works! It takes up only 4" x 9" of desktop space and stands just 14" tall (7" at the axle). $39.95 more info
The Stirling Warwolf Trebuchet This highly detailed kit includes a working, historically accurate winch, trigger, trolley-block system, authentic half-lap and mortise and tenon joinery and more! $179.00 more info
Greek and Roman Ballista The Greek and Roman Ballista is the granddaddy of all field artillery. This display quality model is fully functional and really works! $89.00 more info
Because the world needs good engineers and scientists, and because the kids who will grow up to become engineers and scientists need a way to get hands-on experience with physics, math and engineering.
In this age of 200-plus channels of TV, the Internet and computer games, kids are also spending far less time building tree houses, tinkering with engines, or designing downhill racers. We believe those are important skills to have. They help form the basis for good problem solving skills and an innate understanding of the real, physical world that you just can't get from a computer game, no matter how good its physics simulation software is.
Ballistic motion was one of the key players in the development of the science of physics. The word "engineer" even originated as the builders and designer of Siege Engines
Why is a budding engineering student expected to take a year or two of calculus in high school, but she isn't expected to have any real-world experience in building or working with machines and materials? Pencil and paper (or computer screens) are only one part of the learning experience. Where will she apply all of the stuff she learned in geometry and trig? Without physical projects to touch, feel and see, the lessons become abstract, their utility questionable.
A catapult project gives students a chance to see that science and engineering really can be fun, and it's a lot more than just numbers on paper. The real payoff for an engineer is in the field, where she can see and enjoy the results of her ingenuity. And it may seem counterintuitive, but engineering projects not only help kids learn math and science, they are also great at getting kids back outdoors, away from the massive over-exposure to video games, TV and the Internet.
Why all this interest in getting kids to study science and engineering? Because it's important to our society, and it's great mental cross training regardless of what field of work the kids eventually go into. Most people develop a sense for what they want to do in life while they are still in high school or even earlier. A catapult project is fun and interesting enough to inspire some kids to study the science behind how they work, and then go on to become the engineers and scientists of tomorrow.