Pocket Catapult

Hi There, I've been toying around with wooden peg ideas using elastic bands to give them grip when it dawned on me. The same principle could be used to create a really simple and really small catapult.

So here it is, a step by step guide to make the worlds simplest catapult. Ive used 3D models drawn in Google Sketchup for each step as I thought it might help you guys understand each step a little better.

If you have trouble reading any of the dimensions in the pictures try downloading the instructable as they are difficult to read on mobile devices but I made sure they look fine in normal PC/Mac browsers :)

What you will need:
A scrap piece of wood
1x 25mm of dowel (approx 9mm in diameter)
1x elastic band

Step 1 Marking out

Although the actual size of the catapult is not important the proportions kind of are, so for the prototype I made I used simple sizes to illustrate the proportions as best I could.

Start of with a block of wood and mark it out as shown. Please note the diagonal line will only only shown on this step and on the step it is required for in order to save confusion.

Comments

[I am in the shed!]

Brilliant ! - Some of us never grow up... I had to make one but due to having fingers like sausages I had to adapt it like so...

[MrF_DT_teacher]

Hehe. My dad suffers from the same problem. He couldn't use it either. Looks great!

[coppertop8]

Genius. Hopen for a snow day tomorrow so I can make 1. I foresee trouble in the classroom : ) ...

[nattyclem]

Good design and I love the simplicity of it.
As I still go to school and do DT, I would love the teacher to get us to do something like this.

[jonnyd55]

If you teach electronics it would be super cool to mod this idea to be held open with electro magnet or solenoid latch connected to a pic chip circuit which triggers the catapult with a given input, push button, LDR, pressure sensor etc....?

[madelyn russo]

THIS IS LIKE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I

[sashadistan]

This is really awesome. I have just qualified as an NQT DT teacher is resistant materials this would make a great focused practical task, along the idea of letting year 10's make weapons is slightly worrying. brilliant project, thanks.

[MrF_DT_teacher]

Well done!!!! I teach resistant materials, electronics and graphics. It's a great idea to have lots of little things like this as extension activities. As a focused practical I don't think there is enough in it unless you turn it into a mini design and make activity. They could make this little catapult then have to design some kind of desktop game for it, like a series of holes worth different points and lights flash when the ball passes through each one :) Keep me posted on anything you come up with related to this instructable or not. Thanks :)

[eti1206]

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[Air_Assassin]

cool

[kyao]

genuis

[l0b0]

Neat! Which software did you use for the design? It looks very print friendly.

[MrF_DT_teacher]

Google sketchup. Love it and it's free to download

[zmike1]

i bet you could modify i clothes pin?

[MrF_DT_teacher]

Defiantly. I think there are some instructables out there which do that. I wanted to make a bespoke catapult that looked like an actual catapult as opposed to something modified :) thanks for the post