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aaaaa (guest) 01 Apr 2022 16:02
in discussion Hidden / Per page discussions » FAKA - Floating Axle King Arthur

This page is completely non formatted correctly looking at the other pages.

by aaaaa (guest), 01 Apr 2022 16:02

Looks like my old site is down and I just linked it from there. I guess that what happens when I just leave something on a server for 10 years and don't pay attention.
You can view an old copy thanks to the fantastic internet archive project here: https://web.archive.org/web/20080611155243/http://www.spincraftsoftware.com/Files/MyHurl/HurlingBeliefEssay.html

benefits of hurling missing
‌ ‌ ‌ (guest) 27 Nov 2018 15:13
in discussion Site Discussions / Questions? » benefits of hurling missing

i am trying to do a school project and would like to know the benefits of hurling. unfortunately, the link on the introduction page that links to "Craig's Essay on the benefits of hurling" does not work. i was wondering if there was any way to see the benefits of hurling.

benefits of hurling missing by ‌ ‌ ‌ (guest), 27 Nov 2018 15:13
Re: BAKA??
Craig MacomberCraig Macomber 13 Dec 2017 06:28
in discussion Site Discussions / Questions? » BAKA??

All I know about them is some anonymous user authored the baka page.

From the description I can infer that if it achieves CW or arm stall it would have to be with the CW well in front of the axle (or it would hit the ground), and has a short arm rotation (angle wise), which explains why it only works well for low mass ratios.

It shouldn't be very hard to make one in a simulator if you want to see how they work. To help you get started I added a really horrible simulation of one to the baka page.

Re: BAKA?? by Craig MacomberCraig Macomber, 13 Dec 2017 06:28
BAKA??
ZooliganZooligan 12 Dec 2017 14:12
in discussion Site Discussions / Questions? » BAKA??

I see reference to the BAKA but I cannot seem to find any good pics/video anywhere. Can anyone direct me to some good spots?

Thanks in advance!

BAKA?? by ZooliganZooligan, 12 Dec 2017 14:12

Most trebuchets throw a distance much longer than their release height, so its not really significant. (Ex: A couple of my throw a distance over 50 times their release height)

Typically difficult to model factors like aerodynamic drag (on the sling and projectile) and projectile spin are actually far more important.

In an ideal friction-less vacuum when throwing on flat ground in uniform gravity, the optimal throw from ground level is at 45 degrees. If your throwing from higher, the optimal angle will be a bit lower.

Assuming you you have a low drag sling (so its less of an issue than projectile drag) you will typically want to throw below 45 degrees anyway, and ideally with top spin. This is because aerodynamic drag on the projectile becomes a large factor for most typical trebuchets sizes and projectiles.

Note that for a particular trebushet, especially a poorly tuned one (ex bad arm ratio, or sling length) you may be able to get far more energy into the projectile throwing at some otherwise horrible angle. Optimal throwing angles in terms of distance for the energy really only come into play once you have a well tuned machine that is getting all the available energy into the projectile.

Its also worth noting that rather extreme machines often have rather strange tuning effects. For example some very large trebushets throwing pumpkins are basically unaffected by projectile weight: their arm speed is not effected by the sling significantly. Thus the arm swings right through where you would want arm stall, and they benefit from longer slings and later releases.

Anyway, release height is almost always going to be a bit less than long arm length + axle height + sling length if the trebuchet is anywhere near well tuned. In an optimal case the arm is nearly stopped at release, and pointing almost vertically, so you can consider the projectile to be going in a circle around the end of the arm, and use a bit of trigonometry to get a more accurate height.

I recommend looking at videos of trebuchets and pausing them at release. Looking at the first two frames after release tell you the angle (and velocity) of the throw and release position. For similar and well tuned trebuchets, the positioning is always nearly the same.

Does anyone know if there is a function for the height of release of a projectile in terms of angle of release and trebuchet dimensions for a counterweight trebuchet. Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

Streetta

Height of Projectile release by StreettaStreetta, 18 Jun 2017 05:57
madmattd (guest) 05 Mar 2014 18:37
in discussion Other / Other » What happened to TheHurl.org?

A new forum is now up to fill the void of TheHurl.org. Come on over to hurlingforums.com. A bunch of the old guard from TheHurl have made the move already.

by madmattd (guest), 05 Mar 2014 18:37

Quite some time ago, Ron Toms (who ran thehurl.org) had to close down account creation due to an issue (I think it was spam). There were also performance issues with the site, and eventually it was shutdown because Ron no longer was willing to donate the time and resources to keep it alive. There may have been other problems leading to its end as well, I'm unclear on the details. It's unfortunate that it had to come to an end, but at least we were given such a great place for so long.

I didn't use the site much during its final few years, so I can't say much more than that. I wish I had saved the farewell message Ron posted before it was taken down around thanksgiving last year.

Anybody know what happened the thehurl.org?

Thats news to me, but it does seem to be the case. Thats too bad really. My ~8 year old account there is fine, but it seems like you are stuck since you don't have one.

Some time when I have more time, I may try and check whats up with that, since I don't see any updates on the issue in almost a year.

thanks for the input. yeah that counterweight bar was our restriction. we actually did put some weights in the middle but the track width prohibited how many. Solid bar — its a necessity really.

now as far as the hurl.org, i tried that but there didnt seem to be a way to register, and i crawled into the help section, seems to say new user registration is disabled… is there a secret trick?

Re: Cal Lab F2k pumpkin hurl by idonahuidonahu, 06 Nov 2013 02:59

Looks nice. I don't see anything horribly wrong with it (which is somewhat rare for first projects, well done).

I'd guess you could get some more range with a lower area sling. It looks like yours has quite a lot of drag. Tuning looks pretty good, but I haven't worked with an F2K personally. I can't say for sure, but maybe a higher arm ratio might have helped get some of the counter weight energy out before the very bottom, for perhaps better range and less stress on the counterweight bar. Thats mostly a guess on my part though.

Note that the energy that went into bending your counterweight bar (assuming a stronger one, and proper tuning) could have gone into the throw.

A forked SA (put some of the weights in the middle) would have reduced the stress on the counterweight bar quite a bit, which looked like it ended up being the limiting factor. Its also possible to spread the counterweight across multiple shorter bars, which can make finding strong enough bars easier.

Your trigger design is interesting. I haven't seen one like that before, but looks like it does its job. Well done and I'm glad you guys had fun! Thanks for sharing.

Its mostly just me on the forums here; there is a much larger and more active community of even more knowledgeable folks over at www.thehurl.org forums.

watch?v=AWfyvWsa3zc

search this string in youtube, please.

the link above is a series of fires with a treb the Cal Lab built in our off-time built for a Subbase New London Morale boosting event.

We had a ton of fun doing it. Especially since we all work in the electronics field and got to wrap our heads around a mechanical, physical problem.

Throwing arm is 8 ft. 105" weight drop of 195 lbs (I think underpowered but out bar was 1/2" blackiron pipe, maxed out). axle is 2.75 feet from weighted end. After tuning (you can see a couple shots go not so well in the first part of vid) sling length was 6 ft., release pin at about a 50 degree angle. Max distance was 67 yards by laser rangefinder and spotter.

So it was the first time we did something like this, and we got outshot by only one of the other trebuchets, who had the full 15 ft throwing arm and 750 lbs of counterweight allowed in the rules, not too bad.

Wanted to share this beast and look for some constructive criticism. enjoy, and fire away.

Cal Lab F2k pumpkin hurl by idonahuidonahu, 03 Nov 2013 00:01

Use a simulator to work out things like the hanger length, arm ratio, sling length etc.

Looks like your mass ratio is ~37.5:1. Thats pretty low (Normal is ~100:1, which would mean 3 pound ammo here), so I'd guess, especially given that you have wheels, that you will get better results with a fixed counterweight than a hinged one. Either way, you will want a pretty low arm ratio, maybe even as low as 2:1 ( A simulator should help greatly here).

Also, personally I've found fixed counterweight trebuchets simpler to tune (and to work better when poorly tuned), but its been a long time since I worked with either type.

Anyway, I strongly recommend checking out a simulator of some kind. It will let you get a good sense of what dimensions to choose, and what adjustments have what effects.

Sadly I haven't kept this site very up to date, so there might be some newer/better simulators around. If you find any, feel free to add them to the simulators page.

Lastly, its mostly just me here. You will get lots more great advice at the The Hurl Message Board. Especially if you want structural advice, you will get much better help there, since I haven't built anything very strong at that scale, and many of them have.

Good luck, and stay safe! A treb that size can be pretty dangerous (Remember, you are very likely to throw backwards, or trigger unexpectedly for example!)

Building 8' tall HCW. Have 14' solid red oak 2"x8" for TA which I plan on tapering from 8" to 3". I have 300 lbs weight available. Want to throw jugs of water about 8lbs. Pls help with ratio. Where to drill axel, where to hang CW. Any other info I need please. I'm ready to taper TA. Have frame already built. 40" wide, 8' long, 8' high on 12" wheels. Please help. Thank you.

Honestly, I don't have experience with anything that size, so I can't offer much. Also, the type of steel has a pretty big impact. Since not many other people post here, you likely won't run into someone that has a good answer here. But this site: http://www.thehurl.org/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=1 will provide some good feedback I'm sure.

Good luck!

My school is having a contest to throw 1 gallon jugs of water in a few months. I have designed a FAT with about 300lb of counterweight total, but I'm unsure of how large to make the CW axle. The arm is 4.5" wide, and the distance between the vertical supports is 18.5". Each support is 1.5" thick, so from counterweight bucket to counterweight bucket is 21.5", and I was planning on having each bucket about 12" wide. How thick of a steel axle am I going to need so that it doesn't deform after each throw?

Thanks for your help!

I'm glad my tuning article looks comprehensible and useful. Thanks. My newest onager is only 1.5 inches long (Tiny Onager), so its not quite suited for the big chunk. I was at the Burlington Pumpkin Pitch a few times, but I really haven't been doing any hurling in the last couple of years. I just check in in the fall and see what new treb designs are out, and if Chucky has beaten the air cannons yet ;)

Re: excelent work craig by Craig MacomberCraig Macomber, 28 Sep 2012 04:38

chucky 3 has a couple of new things up her sleaves. some safety, some logistics and ease of operation and of course performance. we are realy looking foward to great year of fun comraderie taking down those damn cannons!

chucky 3 ready for 2012 by CHUCKY 3CHUCKY 3, 28 Sep 2012 04:20
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