The Office supplies trebuchet

Bored at work? Build your own 3" trebuchet out of paperclips and throw balls of blu-tac up to an amazing 4 feet. WOW!!
Please excuse the number of steps. It is really easy and can be made within an hour and from bits lying around the office, hence very cheaply.

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Step 1: The tools and materials list

You will need:

1 pair of pliers (needle nose would be best, where available)
1 pair of scissors (yay for scissors)
8 paperclips
Cellotape
thin string/thread
Blu-tac
Corrugated card (approx 6"X6")
Ballast (I used a bunch of batteries from our recycling box)
Rubber band

blakesusername says: Jun 10, 2012. 9:22 PM

Cool, I made one of these at work, I used a D cell battery for the counterweight, and for a projectile I used a penny taped to a short piece of string, this string has a loop at the end and attaches to a hook on the end of the trebuchet arm. It can launch the penny about 10 feet with pretty good accuracy I was actually able to launch the penny into a cup. :) yes my job is very boring.

vincent7520 says: Jun 10, 2012. 4:04 AM

No video showing how to target you boss( left eye, and the face he makes when he gets it's on his sandwich at lunch time ???

Thank for the inst' anyway !â¦

;)

123456789115 says: Dec 18, 2008. 3:21 PM

you took this idea from another website you fail!!

Scissorman (author) in reply to 123456789115Feb 7, 2012. 6:25 PM

Actually quite interested where you saw this. If it was the Discovery site, that was me. Anywhere else and they copied me.

Scissorman (author) in reply to 123456789115Feb 7, 2012. 6:05 PM

No I didn't.

Redmonkey17 says: Dec 5, 2011. 8:36 PM

P.S. it makes it much more stable.

Redmonkey17 says: Dec 5, 2011. 8:35 PM

Instead of taping the two a-frame posts together, add an ex-paperclip support to make a tripod

Mustapha69 says: Nov 18, 2011. 4:32 AM

model magic also works

Eviil~~PikmiN__{7} says: Nov 23, 2010. 6:06 PM

of course we all have PLIERS laying around the office

The nerdling in reply to Eviil~~PikmiN__{7}May 8, 2011. 8:01 PM

you could use the handle of the scisors as pliers

Scissorman (author) in reply to Eviil~~PikmiN__{7}Nov 24, 2010. 2:37 AM

Why wouldn't you?

bassclarinet23 in reply to ScissormanJun 18, 2011. 6:15 PM

I do...

ductapeman in reply to ScissormanApr 28, 2011. 6:46 AM

:D its funny because its sarcatistly true

Fieldownage in reply to ScissormanDec 10, 2010. 11:11 AM

I carry at least a Leatherman Wave and a small swiss army knife with me always? He's not prepared?

Scissorman (author) in reply to FieldownageDec 10, 2010. 5:23 PM

Well, "someone" is not going to survive the zombie apocalypse. :)

martzsam in reply to ScissormanJul 17, 2011. 7:23 PM

lawls

ductapeman says: Apr 28, 2011. 6:44 AM

dduuuude make a 1 paper tat u can fold up

the dudemaster says: Apr 17, 2011. 6:26 PM

this instructable would be 100% percent better if you added more measurements. i just grabbed eight paperclips out of my computer desk and got to work and my clips were to long so i had to guess my base measurements and the result wasn't pretty.

venom1539 says: Apr 5, 2011. 4:49 PM

and also, what size of batteries are those

venom1539 says: Apr 5, 2011. 4:49 PM

I've been trying to build a portable trebuchet so that i can bring it to school and shoot erasers during indoor recess but just having one is fine. Now i can shoot erasers at my friends when they come over.

steeler65 says: Nov 2, 2009. 2:31 PM

i wonder if it can be used with different sized paper clips becasue i cant ever find seven of the same paper clips

nutsandbolts_64 in reply to steeler65Mar 12, 2010. 1:28 AM

cut all of the paper clips to the size of the smallest one you have. unless it was ridiculously small... most pliers have a v-notch thing that allows you to cout wire so you can use that.

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Jan 28, 2011. 7:20 PM

then cut the small paper clip to the size of the big one

nutsandbolts_64 in reply to DumchickenJan 28, 2011. 10:52 PM

Lol, how ridiculous.

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Feb 11, 2011. 3:45 PM

I:(

nutsandbolts_64 in reply to DumchickenFeb 13, 2011. 3:53 AM

No no, seriously, how can you cut a small thing to make it bigger? Maybe you misinterpreted my comment. Got any sarcasm left in you?

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Mar 3, 2011. 3:22 PM

duct tape :P

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Mar 3, 2011. 3:22 PM

solder

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Feb 21, 2011. 2:05 PM

spliceing

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Feb 21, 2011. 1:59 PM

I:(

nutsandbolts_64 in reply to DumchickenMar 4, 2011. 2:46 AM

maybe... lol

Scissorman (author) in reply to nutsandbolts_64Feb 13, 2011. 2:55 PM

Play nice people. (But I can cut a hole in a postcard that I can fit through. Maybe I'll Instructablise that one)

nutsandbolts_64 in reply to ScissormanFeb 13, 2011. 10:44 PM

haha :D He probably mistook it as an offensive statement, but I don't want to take it further.

Dumchicken in reply to nutsandbolts_64Mar 3, 2011. 3:24 PM

I:(

MSM85 in reply to steeler65Jan 6, 2010. 2:13 PM

Use The same length for the 5 that make up your A frames and throwing arm, and the others could be just about any size. Mine works well with larger clips for the A-frames and arm, and smaller ones for the axle and trigger.