New Northwest Onager

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New Northwest Onager

Postby BobP » Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:16 pm

I think that shortly before the demise of the late, lamented CatMess, I posted my plans to build a new onager. Today, it is effectively finished.

Vital Statistics:
Frame length: Six Feet
Frame width: Variable, about 2.4 feet.
Arm length: Six feet from bundle center
Bundle: About 60 feet of 3/8 nylon rope. (Didn't measure, should have.)
Trailer Mounted. (A first for me.)
Secret Weapon: Hydraulic jacks to tighten the bundle!

I actually started this project way back in the spring of 2013, while still recovering from breaking my back and leg in a fall. As soon as I was able, I bought some wood (hobbling into Lowe's on a cane) and started construction. NONE of that is being use this year due to bad wood and construction quality, but I learned a lot. That construction was tagged "mockup only". And I used it as such.
6
This year, I started over. Decided to get a trailer, and did. Assembled it.

Decided to change the concept for the crossmembers to use steel brackets instead of wood. Made the steel brackets and added them to last years crossmembers.

Made a throwing arm. For real, not just a mockup. 2x6 main member with 2x4 "triplers". Looks ok. I hope to make a spare before Snohomish.

Put the crossmembers, frames, and arm onto the trailer. Mockup complete! Didn't look bad.

Got some decent wood and built new frame and cross-members. Much better. I learned a good deal about construction techniques after last year's false start.

Started putting it all together. It takes a while, but it all came together, so today:

FINISHED!!!

Today's work was making some blocks for when the jacks aren't there, a trigger setup, sling lines, and other odds and ends. I shall attempt to attach a picture.

Ok, here's the best I can do for now.

Hope that works!

Nope, It didn't. Try again later.
Last edited by BobP on Thu Sep 04, 2014 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Northwest Onage

Postby KerikM » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:57 am

Great! So how far does it launch? And how do you prevent this from happening prematurely?
See you in about 10 days...
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby BobP » Thu Sep 04, 2014 4:19 pm

How far: Don't know. Hoping for a couple of hundred feet.
What direction: Don't know. Hoping for forward.
How do I prevent this from happening prematurely? Make a best guess at tuning.

The machine is completely untested and will remain so until Snohomish. It's an adventure!
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby BobP » Thu Sep 04, 2014 4:32 pm

Ok, I've uploaded a picture to the galley, let's see if I can link it in here.

[album]http://hurlingforums.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=10&image_id=46&display=popup[/album]

The picture is called "Finished", which is of course rather silly. Like all of my catapults, it'll never actually be finished until it's rotting/rusting in pieces.

Edit: I've clearly got to learn how to do pictures. You can find it in the gallery.

Since I'm editing, I'll add that I spent some of today making up additional sling lines, making a simple stand for the trailer tongue, creating a new, more secure, safety; and improving winch function. Like I said, never finished.
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby madmattd » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:27 pm

BobP wrote:Edit: I've clearly got to learn how to do pictures. You can find it in the gallery.


Bob, some information on pictures and the image galleries can be found at the following link: http://hurlingforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18. You can also directly attach an image to your post without adding it to a gallery if you want. See the "Upload Attachment" tab in the post editor.

It looks like you tried to embed the album itself instead of the picture.

Code: Select all
[url=http://hurlingforums.com/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=10&image_id=46&display=popup][img]http://hurlingforums.com/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=10&image_id=46&mode=thumbnail&display=popup[/img][/url]

Image

Looks cool Bob. Can't wait to hear how it works!
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby KerikM » Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:29 pm

It might be a good idea to not apprise the people running the event, of your machine's untried state. They might not be real enthusiastic about such an unknown. Make the announcement after it has definitively proven itself functional. You might be able to go there early and do this as practice...If not, can you possibly find a field somewhere to first-time it in [relative] privacy? Yes, I know that a couple of machines have made that transition before an audience, but it wouldn't be my first choice.
Whatever you do, I won't tell if you won't tell.
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby BobP » Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:54 pm

This is Snohomish, where Squash-O-Fire routinely tosses backward across the road and they had me set up where I was almost trampled by a very large horse. I think my untried machine is pretty benign. That said, I'm going to be pretty cautious about working into the higher power realms. And I'll get there as early as I can to get a couple of shots off before there's much crowd.

Matt: Thanks for the help. I'm not finding the "upload attachment" tab, however.
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby madmattd » Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:16 am

BobP wrote:Matt: Thanks for the help. I'm not finding the "upload attachment" tab, however.


When you hit the button to add a reply, it should show up underneath the text box where you type your post. See the attached image. If it isn't showing for you, I'll do some digging.

Aha, a thought. If you are hitting "Quick Reply" you won't get the full editor which allows you to do that, format text, etc. Either hit "Post Reply", "Quote" (to format someone's post as a quote), or hit "Full Editor" after hitting the quick reply button if you decide you want to add an image later, etc.
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby BobP » Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:46 am

Ok, here goes with (hopefully) a torsion bundle.

Ok, preview looks good, hitting "submit". Thanks Matt.
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Re: New Northwest Onager

Postby KerikM » Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:33 pm

You might want to bring some extra ropes also, just in case...
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