Ooh, toys...

New baby at our house is a trebuchet, says crazed marsupial.

We're oohing and ahhing over a new arrival these days--a trebuchet built by eccentric genius Kaden.
This was a suprise--and rather late--Christmas gift I ordered for Frank, after reading about Kaden's toys in BoingBoing. I loved it that this particular hanging counterweight trebuchet was "based on the familiar Monty-Python "dead-cow-over-the-castle-wall" catapult."

Kaden invites special requests--for Frank, of course, I wanted "lots of physics." Kaden dug right into it:

This whole physics angle is challenging...I dug up a chunk of brass heat exchanger tubing at Capital Salvage that I'm using half of the outer shell of for the launch trough...representin' thermodynamics in da hood, I guess.

I'm gonna put a hidden compartment in the inside of the weight box. Who doesn't like secret compartments, and the measurable discrepancy between apparent volume and actual mass will serve as a piquant and ironic nod to the ongoing uncertainty regarding Dark Matter.

Or not.

Levers we got covered.

More later...

K

The trebuchet arrived in a large wooden box stamped "ECCENTRIC GENIUS"--I'm sure we'll find a use for the box somewhere too. So far we've used it to shoot blueberries (which the dog likes to fetch but also likes to eat), small potatoes, and more-or-less round chunks of portobello mushroom, which are too light to go far.

It's a gorgeous object, and sits in front of the fireplace when nobody is using it to launch pieces of food. I asked Kaden if I could share some of his email, and he replied:

I'm glad the piece was well received, and that your fireplace is now properly defended. Here's some pictures I took of it prior to shipping...do what you want with 'em, and blog like a crazed marsupial...as long as you spell my name right.

It's Kaden. Thank you, Kaden! We love our new toy.

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[Betsy Devine: Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar?]

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