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Ballistic Technologies of Antiquity

TK3 Model Trebuchet


Designed and made in the USA for
better quality, better performance!


The TK3 Trebuchet Model Kit is an ideal science project machine! Use the hanging counterweight bucket for variable weights, or convert it to a fixed counterweight machine, wheels, or no wheels. The choice is yours!



The TK3 model trebuchet can demonstrate all the principles of the trebuchet as either a hanging counterweight machine, or quickly convert it to a wheeled fixed counterweight machine (and back again!) Which is better? Which one is more efficient? More accurate? More fun? Now you can be the judge!

This professionally engineered model requires only two or three hours and a little glue to assemble. The only tools you'll need are a pair of scissors and (optionally) a utility knife. It has a 15 inch throwing arm, is 18 inches from front to back, 9 inches wide and 13 inches tall at the axle. This is a working model capable of tossing the included wooden missiles over 40 feet!

Precision cut from high quality solid hardwood, the kit includes everything you need to build a working model!*

The detailed instructions are complete with diagrams, photos, tuning tips, and even efficiency equations for calculating your maximum theoretical range! All parts are pre-cut, pre-drilled and can be assembled to a finished model in one evening (plus glue drying time).

The trebuchet is a fantastic demonstration in physics and dynamics. One of the big debates in recent years among historians is whether trebuchets in history used wheels to increase their efficiency and make them more portable, or if they were built on-site without wheels and with counterweights hanging from the end of the arm. This debate was even explored in a recent TV documentary (NOVA, Secrets of Lost Empires: Medieval Siege).

We've put a lot of time and effort into making this kit as easy and complete as possible. It's a fun way to learn about science and history!


* The counterweight box is supplied, but you'll need to supply the counterweight material to fill the box. For best performance, we recommend using 360 pennies for counterweight and/or two 1.25 lb. barbel weights (barbel mounting inserts also included).


Tools required:
Scissors, Glue, Ruler, and a utility knife. Sandpaper is optional.

Assembly time:
For a Master carpenter doing a sloppy job: about 2 hours.
A person with no kit building experience being extremely meticulous: about six hours.
The model in these photos was built by Ron Toms in about three hours.

Assembled Size:
- Height: 13" at the main axle, 24" to the tip of the arm.
- Length: 18"
- Width: 9"

Additional Counterweight Required: 360 pennies recommended
(Or loose nuts and bolts, other coins, rocks, anything that
can fit into the 2" x 2" x 3" counterweight box.) and/or two 1.25 barbel weights (barbel weight mounting inserts are included, but not the weights.)

Range:
- 20 to 40 feet with the included wooden ball projectiles.
(Optimal range assumes a well tuned machine)

Shipping weight: 2.5 lbs.
Box dimensions: 20" x 12" x 4"



Quantity pricing info:
0 to 4 kits, standard price.
5 to 9 kits, 10% off
10 or more kits, 15% off

Orders of $200 or more qualify for FREE ground shipping!

For more discount pricing info, please visit www.RLT.com/wholesale

WARNING! This is a functional model intended for display and/or educational demonstrations of physics. It contains a fast moving arm and projectile that can cause injury if you make contact when firing. Use only under strict, competent adult supervision.

* The counterweight box is supplied, but you'll need to supply the counterweight material to fill the box. For best performance, we recommend using 360 pennies for counterweight and/or two 1.25 lb. barbel weights (barbel mounting inserts are included).

* Can throw 40 feet when properly constructed and tuned with sufficient counterweights. Your performance may vary.

* TK3 Trebuchet is a trademark of RLT Industries.




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    Price: $59.00
    Minimum age: 12
    Availability: In stock.

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    Item code: 10401

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Definitions

Catapult

A catapult is any kind of device that shoots or launches a projectile by mechanical means. In England, a catapult is what we call a slingshot in the US. A catapult is also the part of an aircraft carrier that launches airplanes off the deck.

But for our purposes, a catapult is any of the ancient types of artillery, including Onagers, Scorpions, Trebuchets, Ballistae, Springalds, Coullards, Bricoles Perriers and more.

But most people tend to think of a catapult as the one-armed torsion machine used by the Romans. This is also known as the Onager or Mangonel.

Mangonel

The word Mangonel derives from the ancient Greek word "Manganon", literally meaning "engine of war". The Romans called it a Manganum. In pre-medieval French the word Manganum was changed to Manganeau, and the English changed that to Mangonel in the 1300s.

The history gets a little sketchy in the middle ages, but some historians believe that "mangonel" was shortened to the word "gonnel" about the same time that cannons were being developed, and later still, "gonnel" was shortened to "gun." And still today, in the military a "gun" is strictly a piece of big artillery.

Onager

Onager is originally the name for the wild Asian donkey. This donkey bucks like a bronco if anyone gets too close to it, and it is known to kick stones at people and predators too. So when the Romans needed a name for their one-armed torsion catapult, they called it the Onager!

The Onager (catapult) has a single arm that is powered by a large skein of twisted ropes. The ropes were usually made from hair or sinew for their elastic properties.

Trebuchet

The word "Trebuchet" is originally French, and meant something like "to fall over or rotate about the middle" as in a see-saw rotating on its axle. It also seems to have meant a big, heavy beam. Today a Trebuchet is any kind of catapult that is powered by a massive counterweight on one end of an arm, and a sling on the other end. This includes Perriers, or "traction" trebuchets which are powered by a mass of people pulling one end of the arm with ropes.

Ballista

This is a two-armed torsion device invented by the Greeks. It works similar to a crossbow, but instead of a flexible bow, it uses two stiff arms powered by twisted rope skeins like an Onager. The ballista predates the Onager by several centuries and was used to hurl stones (lithobolos style ballista) and also bolts or darts.

Obviously, this is where we get the word "ballistic".

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