Palm-Sized Print and Cut Paper Trebuchet
Paper Trebuchet — a fun project for you projectile fans. Kill some time at work by printing the template, cutting it out, and folding it up. Then lay siege to your coworker’s sharpie collection.
This isn’t a traditional trebuchet in that it doesn’t use gravity to actuate the throwing arm, but it nonetheless mimics and demonstrates the motion involved. And it launches little projectiles pretty far! Great for a kid’s project, or homework assignment for you science or history teachers. I used it in a class I taught last summer and the kids loved building it.
Full instructions for assembly and operation are available here: The Paper Trebuchet on Instructables. By Kiteman
From the site: “You will also need two cocktail sticks, gluestick, a paperclip, stickytape, pliers, sewing thread and small weights such as nuts or modelling clay.”
Click the template to download the PDF.
Hi, I'm Mike. I’m the executive editor of Make: magazine, and host of Discovery channel’s Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It, TV shows where I build and explain crazy machines that crush stuff, blow things up, shoot fire, all in the name of science.
I've previously worked at Wired and ReadyMade magazines, writing about how to utilize new technology in our everyday lives.
This site is where I keep a list of instructions for fun projects I've done, am working on, or draw inspiration from. I encourage everyone to get involved — get up and do something!