The Office Siege Weapon Series: the Pencil Trebuchet

this is the ultimant office war-waging weapon. now, you can have this beutiful piece of history on your office desk for only 5$ or less. this project may look complicated, but really it shouldnt take you long to be firing paperclips and staples across the cubicles. (Its too bad i didnt know about instructables during the office supplies challenge!)
i am not responsible for anything you hapen to do with this. it would be a good idea not to aim staples at people, by the way.

P.S. (this is my first instructable, please help me out with constructive critism. Thanks!)

If you enjoyed this ible, you'll really like my pencil ballista:
https://www.instructables.com/id/EODEB4BFAQDX01M/
Enjoy!

Step 1: Materials

if you are like me, i usually look at the materials and say 'too many, not gonna do it.' but trust me, most of this stuff you can find sitting at your desk.

What you need for materials is:

-A box of 12 or more pencils(1$)

-Thick paperclips(1$)

-tape (I used electrical tape) (50 cents)

-rubber bands (1$)

-film canister for counterwheight (I used pill bottle ) ( fill with whatever, fishwheight,rocks, batteries, ect.)


as for tools, all you really need is:

-Drill or dremel tool with really small drillbit (about the width of paperclip)

-exacto-knife or pocketknife

-glue gun and glue

-protractor

Step 2: Make the Frame Part One

to make the frame for your trebuchet, the first thing you do is cut half of the tips off of the wood end of four pencils (look at pics). glue two together at about a 60 degree angle.

now, cut an indentation about 3 inches above the eraser end of the frame on both sides. then, trim another pencil to fit in these, so that you end up with an A-frame shape. (you should have two A-frames now.) Next, drill a hole in the top of the A frame where the two pencils are joined.

Step 3: Make the Frame Part 2

to conect your two A frames, cut one pencil in half. then, slot the ends like in step one and glue together the A frames at the base. Do this on both sides as shown.

Step 4: Make the Throwing Arm

first, you need to take two scrap pecies of pencil and glue them as shown. then, renforce the connection with electrical tape so the two pencils dont wiggle. (you may need to use three scrap pieces to connect them. i used three because i ran out of hot glue.)

then, you drill a hole at each end and one about three inches up from one side paralel to the other two.

after that, cut a piece off of a paperclip about two inches long. then, secure it to the longer end of the arm with rubber bands or glue.

Step 5: Make the Counterwieght

for the counterwhieght, first you must drill a hole through both sides of the container. fill the container with your wheight (water(not recamended), sand, fishwheights.)

then, bend a strong paperclip into the shape below. thread the paperclip shape through the hole closest to the hole in the middle of the arm so the arm is in the raised part of the shape.

you then thread the ends of the paperclip into the holes in the container.

Step 6: Make the Sling

to make the sling, first cut two lengths of string two inches longer than a pencil. then make a tiny loop out of a paperclip. tie this to one end of a string. tie the other legth of string through the hole at the other end of the arm.

to make the actual sling, take two pieces of electrical tape about three inches long each and stick them together. cut a tiny hole in each end of the sling. then, tie one legth of string through each hole as shone.

Step 7: Finish It Up!

to finish this project, you unbend one of your paperclips and slide it through the holes you made in the A frames. as you do that, also slide the paperclip through the hole in the middle of your throwing arm. next you need to twist the ends of the paperclip around the A frame.the last thing you need is to cut a notecard in half. then, tape it to one end of the frame to form a ramp.

Hooray! you finished the Pencil Trebuchet!

fyi: (you can also make a realease system out of string and paperclips.please, if you have any ideas on a good reasease system, please post a pic!)