beaver scouts project... catapults!

[Ajcoholic]

Wanted to do a group project for the two dozen members of my son`s troupe.

Decided small catapults would be fun. Received good feedback for the idea - we will just get the kids to sand them up, put them together and fire plasticine balls at cans or something..

Ran the Bot`for 4 hours today to cut up a full 4x8 sheet of 6mm Baltic birch, and another part sheet. I dont push the one eighth bit too fast, just 120 IPM.

That large regen blower raised my shop temp 4 or 5 degrees! Nice benefit now that I have the furnace running anyhow.

prototype..

[Burkhardt]

Great project, I bet the kids will love it.

Actually, even adults enjoy such stuff. A while ago I built a trebuchet for a company picnic event (not on the CNC, just some pine rods and boards) maybe 3 feet tall with a gallon jug of milk as drive weight and rubber frogs as missiles. You would not believe how silly some grownups get when trying to compete with such a contraption...

[Ajcoholic]

Oh I know.. I still like to make things that shoot projectiles, sling shots, etc and stuff like boomerangs, etc. Its all fun!

So tonight went well. There were 18 of the 20 kids there. We all got things together and had time to shoot some plasticine balls around the gymnasium.

Now to think of what to make next! Im open to ideas!





Me and the kids:

[Burkhardt]

......Now to think of what to make next! Im open to ideas!....

Maybe not as sophisticated: when my son was about that age and a cub scout (sigh... 20 years ago) I had a group build very simple boats, just a 5" long boat shaped flat piece of 1/2" plywood that I had pre-cut. They attached a dowel rod as mast and a piece of plastic as "sail" (just cosmetic), put their name on it and had a competition who's boat floated fastest down a local creek without capsizing. Great fun and they ran up that creek probably 20 times to repeat. Could of course be anything that floats but the self-assembled boats somehow made it more interesting than let's say a rubber ducky.

Would not work nowadays with the drought here in SoCal. The creek is now completely dry.

[tri4sale]

Now to think of what to make next! Im open to ideas!

Targets for the kids to aim at. When hit, they spin around and present a new target. Have a total of 3 targets, and who ever hits target 3 wins. Could be used with the catapults, or design a rubber band gun to shoot at the target.

[Bob Eustace]

Love these posts Andrew - thank you!

[scottp55]

Looks like they had a LOT of fun Andrew!
How long do you think it will take before they discover marbles and large ball bearings fit the bucket?
How about architectural building blocks, so they can construct castles to knock down, and learn stable construction at the same time?
I like the boat idea, but perhaps Ice boats would be better
Yep, nice side effect in winter...found myself running the Fein for 20 minutes yesterday to get the "Fines" out of the air(really an excuse to get shop warmer
scott

[genek]

Andrew since you like to make things that shoot. when I get the new shop up and running this week will get you a copy of a rubber band gun I make.. neat and easy to make out of any wood and a cloths pin.

Oh I know.. I still like to make things that shoot projectiles, sling shots, etc and stuff like boomerangs, etc. Its all fun!

So tonight went well. There were 18 of the 20 kids there. We all got things together and had time to shoot some plasticine balls around the gymnasium.

Now to think of what to make next! Im open to ideas!





Me and the kids:

[genek]

Also great Idea... where did you get the pattern... would love to make a few fro my nephews to use at school... I have a 9 year old and a 12 year old both are in advance classes the 12 year old is already in a engineering class. I have been allowing him to make things with the cnc. Would be a great project for him..

Andrew since you like to make things that shoot. when I get the new shop up and running this week will get you a copy of a rubber band gun I make.. neat and easy to make out of any wood and a cloths pin.

[Ajcoholic]

Eugene,
I will attach the .DXF file so you can make some. It was something I drew up one evening watching TV. Tweaked it a bit so when you put it together, the rubber band (regular #64) holds everything together. I used a single 1/4-20 threaded rod about 4 3/4" long, and 6 nuts to hold the shaft on, and the catapult arm centered on the rod.

Id love to try your gun. Just shoot me a pm or email when you get a chance. Thanks!

Andrew