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We work on our machines all year long. This log tracks what we are up to any given month. Log: Oct 15, 2017 Launch a pumpkin 1489 ft. We win 2nd place in Torsion / Catapult division! Oct 14, 2017 Launch a pumpkin 1229 ft, then 1507 ft! Oct 13, 2017 Travel to Extreme Chunkin in New Hampsire. Setup Mista Ballsita. Oct 7, 2017 Pack up Mista Ballista's gear, prep for Exreme Chunkin. Remove top hydraulic winding mount. Replace with sturdier frame. Mar 8, 2017 For Mini ethos model, add dogs to pin modies in place during testing. Do base load measurements. Feb 22, 2017 Restring test mini-ethos ballsita using nylon ropes. Feb 18, 2017 Base testing of new mini-ethos ballista model. Paracord is the wrong rope to use. Feb 2, 2017 Assembly of new ballista mini-ethos model using a discrete bundles. Nov 27, 2016 Winterize Mr. B Start building a new mini-ethos ballista model using a discrete style bundles. Nov 30, 2016 Test wind new bundle model in mini ethos ballista with some paracord and a plywood test arm. Oct 17, 2016 Inspect broken bowstring. Oct 16, 2016 Trevor throws a pumpkin 1232.9ft. Demo shot goes slightly over 1100 ft Trash the bowstring and throwing pouch during demo shot Win 3rd place in Unlimited Catapult and Torsion division! Pack up and go home Oct 15, 2016 Throw a pumpkin 966ft Add more torque to the bundles Pie the next pumpkin. Oct 14, 2016 Arrive at Extreme Chunkin Assemble the ballista Oct 8, 2016 Screw decking down to trailer. Finish and test trailer wiring Add dump frame front support posts. Make 18" stand off supports to use when in the field. Oct 2, 2016 Trailer is now painted. Do final assembly for big feet attachments to trailer. Begin wiring. Tailgate assembly. Sept 25, 2016 Buy lumber, cut lumber down to fit to trailer for Mr. B Strengthen new fender attachment to trailer. Weld on interface plates for big feet onto trailer Sept 18, 2016 Build new bell hangers for Mr. B's dump frame. Replace lower dumpframe long members. Aug 13, 2016 Bring Mr. B to CT. Measure things out to start designing a new trailer. Cut out base frame, and weld together. Oct 25, 2015 Throw a pumpkin 936 ft. No damage done. Pack up and go home Oct 24, 2015 Throw a pumpkin 1031 ft! Throw a pie Tear the pouch. Sew it back up again. Crack the lower dump-frame. Jack it up and weld it back together. Oct 23, 2015 Fix up bowstring for compounding. Finish sewing pouch. Torque up Mr. B, bend our hydraulic support frame. Oct 22, 2015 Arrive at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Setup ballista, and pick out some punkins. Oct 20, 2015 Sew up new pouch using nylong strapping and kevlar thread. Oct 17, 2015 Repair trailer wiring Repair rotted cribbings used for lifting ballista. Create new arm wedges to handle new fatter arm butts. July 11, 2015 Cut back Mista Ballista's arm to recover from broken butt end. Weld up butt plate on arm, anchor safety cable. Discuss compounding. Nov 3, 2013 Launched a punkin 1059ft. Nov 2, 2013 Launched a punkin 840ft. Nov 1, 2013 Launched a punkin 538ft. Oct 31, 2013 Drive down to the World Championship Punkin Chunk, and setup Mista Ballista. Oct 7, 2013 Replace front axle on Mr. B, replace springs with bigger ones. (Last year, rear axle spring broke.) March 9, 2013 Blowing up Snowmen. March 3, 2013 Making Snow Bullets. Feb 3, 2013 Making small scale modles of modies and an arm of our next competition machine. Nov 5, 2012 First Pass updating 2012 punkin chunk web pages. Nov 4, 2012 Second Shot in the morning. Shot 1213 ft, and tore up the pouch. Compounded the bowstring by anchoring the bowline tag ends to the winch mount. Ran threaded rod through the holes in our compound pulley keepers to fix twisting problem. Third shot in the afternoon. Shot 813 ft compounded. Nothing broke. Nifty! Nov 3, 2012 Got ready to shoot first thing in the morning. Got to wait a few hours, then got out first shot. 991 ft. Torqued up the machine for the second shot tomorrow. Spliced up bowline anchor extensions. Discovered they weren't long enough! Arg! Noted that pulley bowline keepers twisted during firing. Arg! That might pinch the bowline. Nov 2, 2012 Built Mr. B at the Punkin Chunk. Nov 1, 2012 Drove down to the Punkin Chunk Oct 29, 2012 Hurricane Sandy came through. Kevin C built some cool bowline connectors and Pulleys for Mr. B compounding. Oct 28, 2012 Packed up the gear Mr. B needs to go to the Punkin Chunk. Agreed that we will attempt to compound the Ballista on the field for one of our later shots, and how to do it. Oct 18, 2012 Fixed Mista Ballista's bowstring that we broke during last years context. The pullback strands that needed replacing require the most splice work. Sept 19, 2012 Measured / photographed arm tips pulleys for purposes of designing pulleys. Sept 6, 2012 Pulled out Mr. B's bowstring. Examined Damage. Scavenged material from a retired bowline for replacement pieces. Experimented with compounding by testing the friction against metal behavior for Vectran, our bowline material. Vectran does not abrade or melt against a fast spinning steel bar. Nor does it catch on fire with a lighter. Things should work. Dec 10, 2011 Mr. B came home this week. Winterizing with snow-proof roof for the bundles and other gear. Nov 9, 2011 Update web site to include 2011 punkin chunk stories. Nov 6, 2011 Mista Ballista fires over 1000ft! The team is excited about finally hitting that milestone. Break bowstring during that spectacular launch. Pack up, drive home. Nov 5, 2011 Mista Ballista fires 950+ feet. Twist up Mr. B for tomorrow. Nov 4, 2011 Mista Ballista pies our first shot, break pouch. Fix pouch. Nov 3, 2011 Mista Ballista breaks both rear leaf springs. Nearby a trailer parts store. Springs are replaced, and the journey continues. Setup Mr B for first competition shot tomorrow. Nov 2, 2011 Mista Ballista is collected, and driven and starts the journey to Delaware. Oct 29, 2011 Pretension left bundle. In the snow. How unpleasant. Finish packing transverse regulea and some other equipment onto the trailer. Oct 28, 2011 Unwind the left rope bundle in prep for tomorrow pretionsion. Rig up framework for tarp structure for rain deflection since snow is due in the afternoon. Oct 26, 2011 Replace lashing where the trigger holds the bowline. Add tubing sheath where pouch wraps around the bowstring. Lined up tubing sheath where bowline separators belong over the poly-p bowline protectors. Inspect all splices for damage. All looks good. Oct 25, 2011 Pack Mr. B's 'coffin' with long items. (Regulea, hydraulic cylinder, etc) Oct 23, 2011 Pretension the right bundle. It is now ready for the chunk! Weld on broken fender mounts. Test the trailer lights and breaks. Problems with both. Oct 22, 2011 Improved the electrics on the hydraulic pump & filled tank. Packed aux trailer with Mr. B's equipment. Oct 2, 2011 Hack old pouch of our bowstring. Put new pouch onto bowstring. Put Pumpkin in pouch. Shoot pumpkin. We were at about 3/4 twist, so but under half power. 10 lbs went about 250ft at a line drive (no elevation.) Broke pouch (as we had predicted, but wanted to test) added reinforcement. Tried again. Hit the pond! Oct 1, 2011 Sew up a new pouch for Mista Ballista. Sept 17, 2011 Build Mr. B for bowstring testing. Shoot stuff with mini cannon. Aug 3, 2011 Made a wooden frame to mount our mini-cannon on. Launch many apples. July 31, 2011 Finish Building control box for the mini cannon. Hydro test mini cannon. Launch apples with mini cannon. What could be better? July 30, 2011 Help Dave with his barn storage shelf lighting. Pick up tank for mini cannon that was welded at Karl's. Build the control box for the mini cannon. Glue PVC barrel for mini cannon. July 20, 2011 Make a wooden wedge for use smoothing surfaces on our worm gear for our monster winch. April 16, 2011 Disassemble monster winch to fix broken clutch dog. Clean misc rolling parts and misc rust off of the winch. Jan 30, 2011 Discuss plans for our next big torsion engine. Nov 7, 2010 Pie our last pumpkin. Break down Mr. B and drive home. Nov 6, 2010 Throw a pumpkin 803 feet! Nov 5, 2010 Finish setting up Mr. B. Pie our first punkin. Nov 4, 2010 Mista Ballista arrives at the Punkin Chunk. Tow Mr. B through a mud puddle, and get it off the ground Nov 3, 2010 Finish packing Mr. B. Leave for the Punkin Chunk Nov 1,2, 2010 Pack up Mr. B for the Punkin Chunk Oct 26, 2010 Change oil in hydraulic pump motor. Top off hydraulic tank Replace some of Mr. B's bolts that weren't threading well anymore. Oct 24, 2010 Peel template tape from job box to reveal logo. Neighbor Doug helped undeploy Mr. B and pack up many items onto the trailer. Build travel location for new jack stands. Cut a 8' segment out of a fallen tree for Doug's future Anvil stand. Oct 21, 2010 Replace right inner arm stop to stanchion. Stow rope into outer stanchions. Regrease Mr. B trailer bearings Oct 20, 2010 Painted whiskers and rope clamp frames. Print and trim logo templates for job box. Paint ovals on job box for framing T2 logo Oct 19, 2010 Painted job box and fixed moose. Touch-up paint on dyno-frame. Clean whiskers and prep for paint. Oct 17, 2010 Pretension Mr. B's right bundle. Started 10:30am, finish at 6pm. Oct 4, 2010 Paint dyno frame. Paint touch-ups on misc parts. Prep job-box for paint. Oct 3, 2010 Pretension Mr. B's left bundle. Took longer than this short notice implies. Oct 1, 2010 Repair new rope clamp brackets to avoid abrading ropes by relieving all the corners, and buffing out the grinder burs. Sept 26, 2010 Unwind left bundle. Try out new rope clamps for pretension. They fail. Try to add more bite. That failed. Add link to old clamps and test unclamping. Works great. Start pretensioning, old clamps pull through, and bend old frames. Rope has had its easy stretch removed. Forge up new brackets. Try them out. 1 works ok, the other damages the rope. More work to do. Try out big jack stands for deployment. They work great. Huzzah! Sept 9, 2010 Karl and Kevin C finish fab of Big Jack Stands for Mr. B deployment. Aug 15, 2010 Build drill to landing gear adapter for Mr. B deployment. Aug 14, 2010 Design system for getting Mr. B up on its cribbing. Build starter cribbing for getting Mr. B up the first 30". Aug 7, 2010 Dave installs fancy new shelving in his barn. Design and build parts of PowerPak exhaust, air filter, hydraulic mount. June 4, 2010 Mista Ballista returns home. June 1, 2010 Throw blocks of ice at the MathWorks low rise. May 29, 2010 Tow Mista Ballista to The MathWorks construction site. Set it up. Take four practice shots with 10lb bricks of ice. Hit building at 20 degrees. Success declared. May 28, 2010 Pack Mr. B for early morning departure. May 27, 2010 Fix Aux trailer jack. Get large items into trailer. April 17, 2010 Clean winch internals, re-install on Mr. B. Get hydraulic setup running again. Seems ok after the winter. Remove toes from wooden cribbing. Resurrect stone throwing bowstring. Prep for resizing for new arms. Re-install bundle shims. Re-inflate a flat tire on Mr. B. Feb 27, 2010 Most of the team gets together to design and strategize. Developed upgrade plan for Mr. B. Dec 10, 2009 inventories remaining hydraulic components for sale moved all small hydraulic components to Dave's house stowed larger hydraulic items out of the way at Eric's house Dec 3, 2009 Painted small metal toolbox. Cleaned bottom of our big job box in prep for paint. Dec 1, 2009 Cleaned and painted fair lead frame for Mr. B's winch. Nov 22, 2009 Pulled dyno frame and winch off of Mr. B to do indoor maintenance this winter. Cleaned new flame-cut areas, and the cleats on the tail on Mr. B. Painted tail of Mr. B. Nov 19, 2009 Pull wood rope shims off Mr. B. Extract parts from coffin that shouldn't get wet over winter for storage indoors. Move Job box indoors in preparation of cleaning and paint job. Nov 16, 2009 Gave one of our storage boxes a fancy new paint-job. Nov 15, 2009 Cleaned a base-painted one of our toolboxes. Eric picked up a used wood/metal bandsaw. I see new catapults parts in its future. Nov 11, 2009 Parked Mr B for the winter in Eric's backyard Dropped off remaining tools from the Chunk Nov 10, 2009 Put away most tools from the chunk Nov 9, 2009 Put away some equipment. Mow under where Mr. B will be parked. Nov 8, 2009 Mr. B shoots 693 feet! Pack up, head home. Nov 7, 2009 Mr. B pies both measured shots today. Get 1 good practice shot off. Nov 6, 2009 Finish setting up Mr. B. Chunk line never makes it to torsion. Nov 5, 2009 Setup Mr. B at chunk site. Nov 4, 2009 Mr. B and crew heads off to the Chunk! Nov 3, 2009 Eric/Kevin build wooden platform feet. Run out of threaded rod. Build new arm insertion wedges with metal strike plates. Oct 31, 2009 Finish packing misc parts onto Mr. B's travel trailer. Get hydraulic pump working with gumout. Oct 30, 2009 Dave attempt to clean rear cleats. Jeff attempt to fix hydraulic pump motor. Oct 29, 2009 Disassemble machine, bolt down travel bolt tabs. Oct 25, 2009 Assemble machine. Practice inserting an arm into a pretensioned bundle with wedges. Weld first two cleats onto the base of the scapus. Oct 24, 2000 tie-off first bundle. Bowline on start, and pretension then whip the tag. Pretension/wind the second bundle. Oct 23, 2009 Finish winding 3rd layer of the first bundle. Delay tie-off till tomorrow. Oct 22, 2009 Wind some more of the first bundle, second layer. Oct 21, 2009 Get part way through second winding layer on first bundle. Modify topside rope clamp to be slightly bigger and perhaps easier to remove. Oct 20, 2009 Wind the first layer of Mr. B on the first bundle. Lots of modifications of rope clamps and pretensioning lever system. Oct 17, 2009 Unwind one bundle. Try out Dave's new pretensioning lever and inline clamps. Lever brings up 1000lbs, clamps slip. Modify clamps for a while till they appear to no longer slip, but the day is spent. Pretensioning levers tools are now affectionately termed "Moose" Oct 15, 2009 Fit pretension handles to modies, and mark for attachment point. Drill out auriculea for pretensioner handles, and add paint. Mock up cribbing to raise Mr. B. Oct 8, 2009 Finish off cleats. Build pretension handles, ready for fitting. Oct 1, 2009 Round ends of giant cleats for arm stops. Collected material for pretensioning rig for Mr. B. Sept 24. 2009 Weld bits together on cams for rope clamps. Turn legs for 4 cleats to use on Mr. B's arm stops. Sept 17, 2009 Build parts for inline rope clamp for 1" rope for pretensioning Mr. B. Aug 13, 2009 Get hydraulic pump working Unpack transverse regulea and tailgate to begin Mr. B assembly in back yard. Clear and improve some drain-holes on Mr. B to get rid of rain-water. Aug 3, 2009 Visit Yankee Siege site with Hatra Ballista. Shoot stuff with R. Lee Ermey. Semper Fi. July 30, 2009 Prepare for trip to Yankee Siege site for history channel filming. Start unpacking Mr. B for deployment testing. July 23, 2009 Prepare lumber for cribbing to raise Mr. B's platform. May 7, 2009 Roger & Eric prototype inline rope clamp for bundle pretentioning tests. Needs some work. Mar 31, 2009 Dave and Eric photograph some hydraulic bits for sale. Mar 26, 2009 Roger and Eric pull flat tire of Mr. B. Jan 29, 2009 Eric and Jeff rig up some bent arms for UTM for testing. Jan 24, 2009 Ancient Roman day at the Higgins. Chat with some Catapulea builders. Dec 11, 2008 Roger and Eric sort and store Mr. B's assembly bolts and straps. Dec 4, 2008 Roger and Eric unpack parts off of Mr. B's trailer to be stored indoors. Tarp Mr. B. Nov 9, 2008 Dave and Eric unpack and put away tools and misc catapult parts. Nov 2, 2008 Hatra Ballista shoots ~250ft Mr. B is cranked up, pies its shot, and breaks its arms. Pack up and go home. Nov 1, 2008 Hatra Ballista shoots 269.6ft for 3rd place 10 & under catapult division. Resplice Mr. B's bowstring for shorter arms with new adjustable eye splices. More shim testing on Mr. B. Take cautious approach. Mr. B shoots 430ft. Oct 31, 2008 Assemble Hatra Ballista. Shoot ~250 ft. Install new arms into Mr. B. Test twist. Discover issues. Attempt to resolve. Attempt basic shimming experiments. Oct 30, 2008 Drive onto the field. Finish drilling pin-down holes in the scutulas Weld trunion mounts onto the front of Mr. B. Build hand-crank torsion arm. Assemble Mr. B. Oct 29, 2008 Pack up Mr. B, and head down to Delaware Oct 28, 2008 Jeff finished replumbing hydraulic pump. Test fit material for trunion mounts Oct 26, 2008 Sand down all scutula holes on Mr. B to get new modiolii to fit. Install all modiolii and epizygii in Mr. B. Rebuild hydraulic setup in old hydraulic generator. Cut all meterial for Trunion mounts. Oct 23, 2008 Drill and tap all mounting holes for epizygis holders onto modiolii. Lathe rod into modiolii pins. Start reconfiguring hydraulic plumbing in old hydraulic generator. split glu-lam backup arms for Mr.B Oct 21, 2008 Resurect Mr. B's spare tires. Cut 2 rope retention brackets for test fit later. Begin reconfiguring hydraulic pump. Oct 19, 2008 Dave cut and fit bracket for hydraulic valves. Oct 16, 2008 Register, and move Mr. B to Dave's Begin splitting backup arms from glulam. Bevel edges on modiolii. Clean Mr. B's scutulas in prep for new modies and ION. Finished tapping epizygii Started drilling modiolus to auriculae bolt holes. Prep plates for trunion mounts. Affixed nylatron blanks to wood backing for lathe work Drilled mount holes for hydraulic base plate Oct 14, 2008 Pumped up a flat on Mr. B Fixed wiring harness for right/front running light. Painted some rusty bits on Mr. B's stanchions. Oct 12, 2008 Cut nylatron into big circles. Unwind Mr. B to prepare for new modiolii. Stow rope into big trash barrels. A surprisingly good solution. Cut new drainage hole in from stanchion where water was collecting. Oct 9, 2008 drill ends of epizygus drill 'top' mounting hole in auriculae begin finish cut nylatron patterns begin locating pieces for trunnion mounts Oct 7, 2008 Make nylatron cutout templates in particle board. Oct 5, 2008 Dave retrieves new Modiolii from manufacturer. Oct 2, 2008 Find stock for modi pins. Clean up auriculae. Sept 26, 2008 Torch cut eight epizygus auriculae Designed hydraulic valve setup for this year and made purchase list of fittings Wired and tested belt grinder Sharpened our most commonly used drill bits Sept 18, 2008 First round of UTM measurements for predicting ideal arm length for Mr. B. Sept 16, 2008 Cutting out auriculae for holding the Epizygis onto the new modioluses for Mr. B. Pump mounts for new power pak. Sept 11, 2008 Dave fabricates new modiolii from parts at [name here] in Connecticut. Sept 9, 2008 Dave picks up new sprokets for modiolii. Extract epizygis material for new modiolii. Jeff turns wooden jig for hub alignment. Settle on final patterns for new modiolii assembly. Sept 2, 2008 Jeff brings out new hubs for new modiolii Measured old bolt circle so new modies won't intersect. Resurected generator from hybernation. Tried to resurect our hydraulic pump. It is in sad shape. post mortem on broken arm. It is non-recoverable. Thought: Can we cut it and have shorter arms? Aug 20, 2008 Finished drilling holes in power-3 panel. Installed several components on panel. Discovered welder leads must be rotated 90 degrees requiring 8 more 1/4" holes. Discovered scavenged breakers are paired, and both will trip or reset together. They are not usable as 2 distinct individuals. Stumbled into hydraulic manifold; left with valve on Eric's bench. Aug 19, 2008 Installed diesel tank on power pak. Install grille. Unload two massive I-beams for Mr. H. Ballista. Stored behind Dave's barn. Aug 13, 2008 Zukapult 2008 contest. Onager Jr, and Hatra Ballista both competed. Aug 12, 2008 Bowstring work on UTM. More work on the power pak panel (engine gauges finished, weld control finished, weld leads done, 12v done, 110v done.) Aug 10, 2008 Test fire Hatra Ballista with Zuccini in preparation of the Zukapult contest. July 29, 2008 drilled 3 holes for engine monitoring; need to be reamed a tiny bit so the gauges fit through drilled 3 holes for welder control mount drilled large hole for welder control; needs to be reamed a tiny bit to allow the handle to rotate freely bought on/ off, idle/ run, on/ off for glow plugs, and start button everything still at eric's July 22, 2008 managed to keep logan out of the house for about an hour even though it was raining did rough layout of the pieces being placed on the panel; stowed all the parts in roger's truck July 15, 2008 Mounting the panel on the power pack. Fuel tank prep. Battery box bolt-down rods added to hold in batteries. July 8, 2008 Add support for battery box on power-pack frame Weld on tabs for panel for power pack. July 6, 2008 Built stand for UTM. Resolved arm-stop location mechanism. Set at about 5 degrees. Lay out bowstring for UTM. Need a needle to stitch together. Cut arms for UTM at 8", 12", and 16". Did full assembly, and did pullback test at low tension. July 1, 2008 Power Pack work today. Try and tap plug for fuel tank fill port. Clean old air filter. Inside was rusted out pretty badly. Oogle at Dave's new son Alden. June 29, 2008 Build UTM winch mount w/ compounding mount point. Build UTM scapus extension for extended compounding mode. June 24, 2008 Build scapus (short-form) for UTM. Adjustable pivot point and top of UTM stand. June 21, 2008 Bring medium sized torsion machines to Upton Town Fireworks. June 10, 2008 Photograph various hydraulic parts in order to sell them off. June 3, 2008 Battery box basic assembly. Grille for radiator More plumbing on power pak. June 1, 2008 UTM narrow-gap, short bundle framing done. May 27, 2008 plumb in oil filter add more plumbing to fuel line mount and wire voltage regulator test hydraulic oil transfer pump May 20, 2008 Finish welding engine moutning feet for power-pak. Bolt on engine. Mount fuel filter, cut panel mounting cross bars, belts, radiator hose. May 13, 2008 Weld on power-pak engine mounting feet. Unsieze power-pak engine, and lube the engine so it turns smoothly. May 6, 2008 Drill wedge-holes for narrow aperature V-spring frame on UTM. Cut wedges (metal rod) for two sets of spring frames. Test Assembly. April 22, 2008 Cut top/bottom regulea for narrow aperature V-spring frame on UTM. Cut tennons and most of the motises on the regulea. April 15, 2008 Smooth out 4 UTM Modies. Wind the 2 short UTM bundles. 10 strands narrow braided nylon/side. Try out the UTM bundle torsion measuring frame. Roger and Jeff discuss epizygii auriculae shear and welding, Jeff will model in solid works for next week April 8, 2008 Start equalization frame for home-made engine mount buffers. Design UTM V-Spring regulea April 6, 2008 Mock up of torsion normilzation frame for UTM. First 4 epizygis for UTM. April 1, 2008 squirt power pack diesel with marvel mystery oil unload diesel from frame drill holes in generator end for mounting swap around oil plumbing fittings load diesel back into frame Kevin brought over his Dynabow. We studied the pullies, and think we can repro easily. Fit UTM bundle frame to Dynabow frame. Sizing seems ok. Build and install UTM 0d arm stops. Cut out the modiolus buffers. March 25, 2008 determine coolant hose routing for power pak Finish drilling, cutting, and bending last 4 modioluses for UTM Clean all mortises for UTM. March 18, 2008 Started building motor-mounts for diesel in the new power-pack. March 11, 2008 Remove broken lathe from Dave's barn. Tool Shuffle. March 3, 2008 Go back to auction place, and scavange more hydraulic parts off of machines that we will need. Tried to get shafts for new big motors, but could not figure out how to get them. Feb 26, 2008 Dave bought a couple lots of hydraulic parts, plus 4 big motors at auction last week. Sorted hydraulic parts for the pieces we need, batched up the rest for resale. Started devising how we'll use the big hydraulic motors. (In icon. A little more that 12" diameter) Got new modiolus rings for Mr B. from manufacturer. Sent with Jeff for machining operation. Feb 19, 2008 Ordered 4 steel plates to form the basis of Mr. B's new modioluses. Got an accurate measurement of Mr. B's total pullback length. Ran some more geometric ballista simulations with new numbers to calculate ideal features. Started torsion-bundle geometric simulation. Finished automatic cord layout. Feb 12, 2008 Scavanged a free UPS to see if we could use the inverter in our powerpak. Answer: Nope. Cut arm notches into 4 "outer" stanchions on UTM Layed out and cut 4 more mini-modioluses for UTM Cut holes in UTM scutulas. Debated arm-stop mechamism for UTM. Feb 5, 2008 Layout panel for power pack. Layout next set of cuts for UTM. Jan 29, 2008 Cut 18" stanchions for second pair of UTM bundles. Jan 22, 2008 Test new coils for some electric hydraulic valvles. Exhastive list for finishing new power pak made Cut Left-hand side scutulas for UTM. Cut first batch of 1' stanchions for UTM Jan 15, 2008 Desengage generator head from power pak. Motor is still siezed. :( Cut right-hand side scutulas for UTM. Jan 8, 2008 Discuss 2008 and 2009 goals. Discuss 2008 and 2009 machines. Dec 29, 2007 Improve packing frame for Hatra Ballista Dec 4, 2007 Redistribute lost tools. Park Mr. B back where he belongs. Discuss the output of various ballista bowstring simulations. Nov 4, 2007 Hatra Ballista shoots 330 feet with the better bowstring, and some more torsion. Mr. B and Hatra are packed up for going home. Hatra Ballista takes home the 2nd place trophy! Nov 3, 2007 Hatra Ballista shoots 115ft into a raining wind. Mr. B blows an arm, pies it's shot, and is out of the contest. Re tie a new bowstring for Hatra Ballista in the afternoon. Nov 2, 2007 Setup Hatra Ballista, shoot the Hatra Ballista 168ft Finish adding lots of torsion to Mr. B, shoot 582 ft. Nov 1, 2007 Finish driving to Delaware. aka - get flat tire at 3am, fix flat tire, drive onto the field around 7:30am. Finish fitting torsion arms to the modioluses Setup Mr. B, try out new torsion cylinder and trunnion mount. It works great! Take lots of pictures Oct 31, 2007 Finish packing up Mr B, and start driving to Delaware Oct 30, 2007 Pack more stuff for our trip to the Chunk. Fit busted torsion arm with new pins. It almost worked. It will need a bit of grinding on-site. Weld new support onto trailer for newly repaired fender. Weld support-trailer tailgate back together after a road hazard ripped off a supporting bracket yesterday. Oct 28, 2007 Finish fixing and tidying Mr. B's lighting wires. Bolt fenders back on. Make new inner arm stops, bolt them on. Pack up Mr. B's coffin for travel. Build Hatra Ballista lift frame (for lifting onto the roof of a van) Inventory HB for travel. Hatra is now packed and ready for a trip to Delaware Oct 27, 2007 Hatra Ballista travel skid and pads. Horn post. Mr. B Bolt inventory; we need to replace some. Oct 25, 2007 Fix wiring on Mr. B tailgate to use backup lights. Add wiring for new side-lights. Discover that Mr. B's lighting is really messed up. Fit new cylinder to both trunnions. Perfect! Finish welding both trunnions Grind down extra weld on pins of working torsion arm. Drill out busted bins on broken torsion arm. Oct 23, 2007 Hatra ballista arm stop pads fixup, rear stand, bowstring, wheels, and trigger setup. Hatra ballista shoots 2.5lb pumpkin 210ft at low torque Huzzah! Pack up Mr. B for travel. (not yet ready to travel) Oct 21, 2007 Arm stands for Mr B. (Used during setup.) Hatra Ballista arm-stop pads. Paint tube on trunnion. Oct 20, 2007 Trevor and Owen compete against Dad to see who can wind 1 side of Hatra Ballista fastest. Build pins for arms. Oct 19, 2007 Amy knits pouch for Hatra Ballista Oct 18, 2007 New power pak engine is locked up. Delay fix till 2008. Prep both trunnion forks for welding. Tack first trunnion together. Weld new material onto working torsion arm. Break apart broken torsion arm in preparation for repairs. Oct 16, 2007 Cut new pipe for holding the new hydraulic cyliner onto the trunnion. Discovered the engine on our new power-pack was locked up. Attempted to investigate. Oct 11, 2007 Generate list of all remaining parts needed to make the new power pack work. Oct 10, 2007 Hatra ballista lower frame. Hatra ballsita scutula plates installed. Oct 9, 2007 More with Costa Mantis Mount more parts onto the power pack, including air, fuel, and hydraulic filteres. More milling on the trunnion. Oct 7, 2007 Costa Mantis stops by and films us trying out our new trunnion mount hydraulic cylinder mounts. Flying Pumpkins 2007 chunk Oct 6, 2007 Dave Welded up new trunion mounts for yellow cylinders for testing on Sunday (Oct 7th) Finish scapus/transverse regulea mounting bracket on Hatra Ballista Oct 4, 2007 Worked some more on our power pack. Did more part layout and creation of brackets. Oct 2, 2007 Build transverse-regulea to Scapus reenforcement brackets for Hatra Ballista. Mount radiator in Mr. B's power pack Work on trunions for hydraulic cylinder winding. Jeff fixed his tailpipe out back. Sept 27, 2007 Fender repair for Mr. B. Sept 25, 2007 Build Hatra winch mount Build brackets for mounting parts on the power pak. Build trunions for yellow hydraulics for new winding system. Sept 23, 2007 Build bracket for aft of hatra scapus for mounting the winch. Sept 18, 2007 Weld uprights onto power pack frame Select material for trunnion mounts for new torsioning cylinders Sept 13, 2007 Build uprights for power pack frame. Sept 11, 2007 Weld half of upper frame onto power pack. Resolve some new modiolus weight and design issues. Sept 8, 2007 Bolt on top-bracket of Hatra Ballista transverse regulea Build bracket to attach transverse regulea to top of spring frame. Sept 5, 2007 Final black paint on Transverse Regulea top bracket. Final coat of varnish on transverse regulea and scapus for Hatra B. Sept 4, 2007 Wire up tailgate for Mr. B. Wash/Prime Transverse Regulea top bracket. Another coat of varnish on transverse regulea and scapus for Hatra B. Sept 3, 2007 Build top-bracket for transverse regulea on Hatra Ballista Aug 28, 2007 Finish up design of new Modioluses for sending to manufacturer. Aug 21, 2007 Build bolt-mount for hydraulic tanks. Make fork-lift extensions. Fix old battery charger. Aug 18, 2007 Assembled layout of all major frame components to Hatra Ballista Aug 14, 2007 Picked out center support for tanks on powerpak frame. Worked on Fork-lift extensions Aug 07, 2007 Mount hyldraulic tank brackets onto power pak frame Identify gages from motor that could be re-used. July 31, 2007 Plumb hydraulic tanks together for new power pak Weld mounts for the hydraulic tanks onto power pak frame. July 24, 2007 measuring and checking of modioli drawing versus the real thing discussion of hydraulic ram setup for pulling chain/ winding July 17, 2007 cube aux equipment layout begins first draft of modioli engineering drawings July 10, 2007 power cube work unloaded sheet steel from dave's truck decided to drop flex-drives, concentrate on getting new modioli built for us July 3, 2007 nothing, i presume June 26, 2007 power cube work, i presume June 19, 2007 power pack work, i presume June 12, 2007 coaxed generator head onto diesel output shaft installed 4 (temporary) bolts holding generator head to housing poked about trying to figure out how to mount gen-head from bottom primed hydraulic oil tanks June 5, 2007 put diesel on its frame de-rusted diesel, generator, and coupling shafts; made new keys since old were not found mounted 'fan coupling' placed generator on frame, but can not coax shaft into coupling June 2, 2007 Painted powerpak frame. May 29, 2007 Finish welding final crossbar into powerpak frame. Weigh various parts to estimate total weight for transport. May 22, 2007 Put light into new fender. Weld backup light mounting brackets into Mr. B's tailgate. Place order for hydraulic pump system parts. May 17, 2007 Junkyard trip nets York compressor and cooling system May 15, 2007 Remove generator/welder head from old frame. Position final crossbar in powerpack frame. May 8, 2007 Align generator bracket onto adaptor plate. Weld into location May 1, 2007 Bolt newly painted adaptor to engine. Test fit generator bracket onto adaptor plate. April 24, 2007 Fit, drill, and tap adaptors between Generator head and engine for power pack. April 17, 2007 Cut and shape new scutulas and stanchions for new baby straight-spring ballista model More repair work on big lathe needed for Mr. B's modioluses. April 10, 2007 Add alignment pins to powerpack engine for adaptor shaft. Cut keyway in adaptor shaft. April 03, 2007 Fix Dave's Mig welder. Fit Generator head housing to engine face plate. Start centering adaptor shaft for engine/generator. Add more welds to adaptor shaft. March 27, 2007 Mount engine onto lower frame of power pack. Line up secondary engine mount, and weld on bracket. March 20, 2007 Mark and cut interface plate between deisel engine and generator head. Strip unneeded parts off old generator head. Shovel a bunch o snow. March 13, 2007 Weld half base frame for new power pack together March 6, 2007 Finish painting springs and brackets. Fix Dave's bender's angle stop. Bend new baby ballista modii's. Feb 27, 2007 Paint 1/2 of springs and brackets for arm stops on Mr. B. Cut out parts for new modiis on baby ballista Feb 21, 2007 Test fitting adapter shaft between diesel motor and generator head for power-pak. Feb 15, 2007 Starting taking apart big lathe since previous fixit attempts were unsuccessful. Feb 8, 2007 Tried to make space in Dave's barn so we could work on some stuff. Feb 01, 2007 Worked outside in the cold getting things organized so we can do catapult things next week. Jan 25 2007 Braved 5 degree weather for 2+ hours to get something done Measured diesel engine for new adapter plate Prepped and welded feet to bottom of powerpak frame rails Cut dexion to length for powerpak frame ends Topped off fluids in milling machine Jan 18 2007 Checked fit of diesel engine to welder adapter plates Organized powerpak frame pieces Determined hookups for fuel and oil to diesel engine Jan 11 2007 Wire up milling machine and check all functions Procure stock for diesel engine to welder shaft adapter Dec 11, 2006 Clean leaf springs for Mr. B arm stops in prep for painting. Dec 7, 2006 Fix milling machine for use on new modiolii. Nov 30, 2006 Winterize Mr. B. Nov 16, 2006 Wind old Poly-P bundles up on spools to be sold. Stow arms for winter. Discuss compounding strategies for Mr. B. Measure for new fender for Mr. B's trailer. Nov 9, 2006 Unpack more stuff from Chunk Devise plans for new winding system. Experiment with compounding Baby Ballista Nov 5, 2006 Shoot a punkin 670 feet! Pack up. Nov 4, 2006 Shoot a punkin 607 feet! Nov 3, 2006 Break a torsion arm as left bundle unwinds. Fix the torsion arm. Retighten our left bundle Nov 2, 2006 Drive to chunk Setup Mr. B Oct 29, 2006 Build case for the dyno and seacatch. Build fancy adjustible bow string seperators to protect our punkins. Put in Mr. B's arms, torsion up and see how things work. Install eye bolts for bundle tipping. Start packing for the chunk on Nov 3rd. Oct 28, 2006 Clean up modiolii for Hatra Ballista Jr. Create epizysis. Add clevis notches in them. Cut epizytis notches into modiolii. Oct 27, 2006 Cut new modiolii for Hatra Ballista Jr. Oct 26, 2006 Begin Mr. B. Bowline construction using new technique suggested by a rope engineer. Cut new bowline protectors for front regulea/stanchion Oct 25, 2006 Varnished spring frame on Hatra Ballista. Mounted bands and installed pins into tree of HB Tested slide-lock brackets against tree. Designed regulea frame for HB. Oct 22, 2006 Finished drilling out metal parts for Hatra ballista. Painted metal parts for Hatra Ballista. Fitted dyno-shelf onto Mista Ballista. Oct 19, 2006 Begin setting up Mr. B for testing. Oct 18, 2006 Hinge tree to spring frame for Hatra Ballsita. Fabricate slide-lock brackets for scapus-to-tree. Build slide lock pin reenforcement brackets. Build skein sleeve holders. Oct 15, 2006 Fabricate steel endcaps for Hatra Ballista spring frame. Round all sharp edges on wood in spring frame. Fabricate long pins for holding front/back of springframe together. Oct 14, 2006 Mista Ballista returns to Eric's field. Paint a few stray bits on Mr. B we missed last time. Grind out hatra-ballista scutulas till the rope slieve fits. Paint the hatra ballista scutulas Oct 12, 2006 Wind rope into the second bundle. Tie extra rope into front-stanchion channel. Fix broken welds on transverse regulea. Re-grease wheel bearings on Ballista trailer. Cut holes in hatra ballista scutula plates. Oct 5, 2006 Wind rope into our first bundle. Using less rope this year. Sept 28, 2006 Put rope bundle frame onto scapus. Clean bearing surfaces of scutulas. Sept 21, 2006 Weld Mista Ballista outer stanchions into place. Cut scutula plates for Hatra Ballista Sept 18, 2006 Cut metal brackets for Hatra Ballista spring-frame end-caps. Sept 17, 2006 Build stock & tree for Hatra Ballista frame Sept 7, 2006 Tighten all bolts for new stanchion position. Flip bundle frame. Prep one side for welding. Sept 3, 2006 Continued construction of a larger Hatra Ballista Aug 31, 2006 Find new positions of outer stanchions. Mark, drill, tap holes to bolt lower part of stanchions down. Fix neighbor's lawn tractor. Aug 24, 2006 grind 'smooth' cut ends of bundle stanchions grind 'smooth' cut side of scutulae Varnish more of the arms. Build parts of dyno-shelf. Aug 19, 2006 Zukapult Contest. Onager Jr takes 2nd place with a longest shot around 200ft. Aug 17, 2006 Mr B Identify approximate location of relocated outer stanchion Remove bundles from ballista Remove outer stanchions from bundles Onager Jr Finish last repairs. Test fire, tune pouch length for zucchini Aug 14, 2006 Install new longer epyzigis for left-side of Onager Jr. Rewind Onager Jr w/ 200ft of 3/8" nylon. Aug 13, 2006 Repair Onager Jr's stop bar which broke at the West Hartford school chunk. Aug 12, 2006 Begin construction of Hatra Ballista Jr frame. (Tax Free day for buying lumber in MA!) Aug 10, 2006 Varnish Mr. B's arms. Add stops to the Arm Centering Tool Locate parts for dyno-shelf in the rear winch-frame Aug 3, 2006 Remove rope from Mr. B's engine. Coil rope back onto spools. Scout out some materials for Hatra Ballista Jr. (10 and under division) Aug 2, 2006 Mr B. drives off to Dave's shop for stanchion rearrangement. July 27, 2006 Pack Mr. B up for travel to Dave's so we can make some serious changes. July 13, 2006 Record things we learned to improve the ballista. July 10, 2006 Shoot stuff w/ the History Channel. Knock down targets with a rock. Launch video cameras embeded in cabbages! July 9, 2006 Finish painting Mr. B. July 8, 2006 Painted more of the dump frame. July 6, 2006 Attach the big feet to the rear of the ballista. Paint some of the scapus and dump frame. July 5, 2006 Paint the other half of the trailer. July 1, 2006 Finish painting the rear big feet. Paint 1/2 Mr. B trailer June 29, 2006 Paint 3/4ths of the rear big feet. Fix winch line eye. Make a pair of arm stops (outer stanchions) June 24, 2006 Clean gook off rear big feet in prep for painting. Drill pin hole in big foot pin (ankle?) for use of quick-connect pin. June 17, 2006 Brush off rust, and begin priming parts of Mr. B. Film some B Roll for Jeff's upcomming Scrapheap Challenge at the end of June. Attempt to film a commercial for my wife's company. June 14, 2006 History Channel interested in re-filming our very rainy ballista day. Starting to schedule. June 7, 2006 Chunk with the History Channel June 6, 2006 Bag arms tips to assist cure. Sand smoothing compound on end of arms. First stage torsioning of Mr. B. June 5, 2006 Build arm centering tool for bundle insertion. Insert arms into bundls. Add smoothing agent over tows on arms. June 4, 2006 Start baking the arms. Erect rope bundles in morning, install regulea assemblies. June 3, 2006 Drill out holes in arms for new pins. (Long painful process) Bond pins into arms. Wrap load-transfer tows around pins. Fix winch battery. Get equipment needed for Tormented shirt fabrication. June 1, 2006 Add carbon fiber reinforcements to tips of the new arms. Ballista arrives at Eric's Back yard in preperation for filming on June 7th. May 30, 2006 Dave welds on bits needed to attach big feet onto the trailer. May 25, 2006 Smooth the ends of the arms with goo. Dave prepares to add our new big feet to the stern of the machine. May 23, 2006 Remove bagging from arms. Bring arms home. Build oven to cook arms to cure the composites. May 22, 2006 Work with Custom Composites to make fancy new arms. Thanks Steve! May 20, 2006 Glue the layers of ash together for the core of the new arms. May 19, 2006 Cut V notch out of new ash cores. May 18, 2006 Made ash cores for new arms. Pressed pins out of old arms for use in new arms. May 11, 2006 Pull our raw ash pieces to be used as cores for new arms. Fix battery in Kevin's Car. Plan out days for getting things ready for History Channel. May 8, 2006 Confirmation on fabrication of new arms for Mr. B. with CCTI. Confirmation from producer at History Channel for filming Br. B in action in June. May 4, 2006 Attempted to assemble faceplate onto Big Lathe again. It still wiggles. Cleaned Dave's new monster drill press (needed for drilling holes in new modiolii.) April 27, 2006 Drained Dave's new monster drill press of vital fluids. Replace oil level sites. More Big Lathe assembly work. First contact from a producer for a History Channel show on filming Mr. B in action as an example of a "Modern Ballista." Apr 13, 2006 Found a place to (hopefully) help us make new arms for Mr. B. Various arm design discussions. March 30, 2006 Finished fixing Dave's big lathe for use on modiolii. March 16, 2006 New roller-chain for torsioning system arrives Finalized design on new torsioning system. Worked on getting a big lathe ready to fabricate torsioning gears for the modiolus. March 9, 2006 Design session for torsioning system. March 2, 2006 Worked on the big lathe to get it ready for turning new modiolii Jan 12, 2006 Measured and laid out parts for new mobile hydraulic/electrical system. Debated the merits of various torsioning systems. Jan 5, 2006 Experimented with big-feet crank systems. Dec 15, 2005 Purchased extra big-feet for the ballista trailer in AM. Designed new winding system. Dec 8, 2005 Stabalized gas in our motors. Investigated our big hydraulic pump to collect specs for mounting on our new big diesel. Dec 1, 2005 Removed engine from a malfunctioning gas-powered generator. Fixed exhaust manifold for our diesel engine. Nov 9, 2005 Unpacked tools from the Chunk. Nov 6, 2005 Captured 3rd place with Pumpkin Putter in Human Powered Centripetal division. Nov 5, 2005 Broke both our arms on Mr. B. Nov 4, 2005 Missed our first shot. Tightened up our rope bundles. Nov 3, 2005 Drove to Chunk site. Build Mista B, and Pumpkin Putter on the chunk field. Oct 30, 2005 Packed Putter for the chunk. Affixed new storage box onto ballista trailer. Bolted dump-frame front down to trailer. Finished packing a majority of stuff needed for chunk. Oct 27, 2005 Loaded rope bundles back onto the trailer (and broke Dave's fork-lift.) Added pin and bushings to 2nd ballista arm. Built last bits of drawback winch pulley. installed storage box onto trailer. packed Oct 22, 2005 Installed hitch reciever on a truck that will be towing the auxiliary trailer. Fixed a drill press. Drilled out one hole on torsioning arm to accept new chain extender. Oct 20, 2005 Put last winding into last rope bundle for Mr. B. and tied off. Created new pins for the arms. Drilled and tapped them for holding bowstring-bushings. Welded new cross brace into trailer. Oct 13, 2005 Wound the other rope bundle for Mr. B. Oct 6, 2005 Wound one rope bundle for Mr. B. Sept 29, 2005 Fit new epizygis caps onto epizigii. Build lid to storage box for Mr. B's trailer. Sept 25, 2005 Assemble base putter to test some new dimensions. Paint modiolii for Mr. B. Sept 22, 2005 Cut torsion-arm extension chain segments. Cut new cross-member for trailer (for raising to a higher angle.) Cut epizygis caps to length. Prepare for fitting. Fired up hydraulic pump engine to make sure it's ok. Sept 15, 2005 Unload ballista trailer, and prepare for re-assembly. Sept 8, 2005 Finished painting the rope-bundle frame. More work done on Dave's big lathe. Sept 1, 2005 Pumpkin putter recieves new bike mount bars for a more stable connection. August 25, 2005 Paint more of the of the rope bundles. Modify cables to Dave's welder. August 20, 2005 Eric gets 2nd place at the Vermont Zukapult contest. August 18, 2005 Jeff brings Mr. B's epizigi toppers to account for new engine rope. Build first storage box for Mr. B's trailer. Finish lift kit and pouch extender for Onager Jr and pack for Zukapult contest. August 17, 2005 Plan out, and build half a lift-kit for Onager Jr. August 11, 2005 Wirebrushed and cleaned top half of rope bundles. Painted cleaned portions of rope bundles. Investigated large lathe gearbox. Nasty sounds are due to worn gears, which will be ignored in the short term. Lathe is ready to roll. Wired up mig to start building up modiolii to the correct diameter. July 29, 2005 Finished last welds for stanchion reinforcements. Ground off many knobby bits of regulae frame in preparation for painting. Installed motor and wired big lathe. Heard grumpy sounds in gearbox. July 21, 2005 Took trailer measurements for travel boxes. Welded 3-1/4 long seams on rope bundles. Mounted new pulley on lathe motor. Cleaned ways on big lathe. July 14, 2005 Devise construction plan for storage containers needed for Mr. B's trailer. Finished welding all ends for new stanchion strengheners. Welded 1 & 1/2 long seams on stanchions. Began mounting new motor onto big lathe needed for machining modiolus July 7, 2005 Welded more of the stanchion strengtheners onto Mr. B. Got fork-lift stuck in the dirt. Attempt to drive fork-lift from dirt with assistance Set fork-lift on fire. Put out fire. Came up with alternate means for removing fork-lift from dirt. July 2, 2005 Degreased and painted primer on the epizigi, and torsioning arms. June 30, 2005 Put mountain bike cranks onto putter platform bike. Devised storage mechanisms for ballista. Full-welded one side of all stanchion strengtheners on Mr. B. Started repairs on big lathe needed to turn the modioli for improved fit. Investigated pumpkin patch. It is doing well. June 28, 2005 Siege-engine.com has moved to a new web-host. Thanks Ron for many years of serving up www.siege-engine.com! June 26, 2005 Finished grinding off knobby bits from epizigi for Mr. B. June 23, 2005 Shortened stays on 'putter for new shorter arms. Removed crank shaft from mountain bike. Laid out to convert to the 'putter bike. Planned for re-gearing the 'putter to improve the gear ratio for faster foot speed. Tried to find a house to rent for the 2005 chunk. June 16, 2005 Attempt to fit a mountain bike onto the putter bike platform. Decide we need to put the pedal arms onto the original putter bike instead. Check on pumpkin patch. They seem to be growing well. June 9, 2005 Eric launches small stones over 250 ft with baby ballista. (First measured shot) Pumpkin Putter plans are made. Planted a pumpkin patch. May 27, 2005 Attempt to mail in chunk machine applications. May 19, 2005 fitted up and tacked the last two pieces of stanchion strengthening plate. The big lathe was uncovered, surveyed, and a test fit of a modiolus on existing 3-jaw chuck was successful. Jeff and Dave welded about 3/4 of the new stanchion plates that were facing up. May 12, 2005 Wandered around aimlessly. April 28, 2005 Tacked on 6 more stanchion strengtheners. Roger came! Yay! April 21, 2005 flipped and moved rope bundles with forklift fully welded face of two reinforced stanchions April 14, 2005 Tacked strengtheners onto a second stanchion. Cleared large items off Dave's back hill so he can get some gravel imported. April 9, 2005 Removed rope-bundle frame (scutula/stanchions & regulea) from trailer. Split all our plate into stanchion strengtheners Cut, fit, and tacked in one stanchion's strengthener. Test fit, and used new extra-long welder cables. Removed broken header off new diesel motor. Repaired break. March 17, 2005 Revamped various todo lists Got Jeff a new password. Feb 17, 2005 Tweaked seacatch jaws so it is easier to open. Revised splicing technique for future bowstrings. Feb 3, 2005 Refresh to-do lists. Complain about the weather. Jan 20, 2005 Trimmed chain off other end of all epizygi. Trimmed 'putter arms to be slightly shorter. attempted to resuscitate monster chain bits. Watched the 2004 punkin chunk DVD. Dec 16, 2004 Trimmed all epizygi to 14" Nov 26, 2004 Aquired old Air Force generator. Many possible futures are in store for it. Nov 20, 2004 Went to 2 different scrap yards. Found steel needed to fix Mr. B. Aquired a used job-box. Nov 18, 2004 Removed rope from rope bundles. Removed epizigii from modiolii. Packed up rope for possible later use. Stabalized gas in the generator and hydraulic punp system. Nov 11, 2004 Unpacked from the Chunk Scheduled a scrap yard run for materials needed for fixing bent stanchions. Nov 7, 2004 Pumpkin Putter takes 1st place (and presumably the record distance throw) with a personal best of 176.84 Nov 6, 2004 Mista Ballista takes 3rd place with a new personal best of 358.73 ft Nov 5, 2004 Mr. B. misses first shot. Putter does ok. Nov 4, 2004 Set up machines at the chunk. Nov 3, 2004 Pack up ballista and pumpkin putter for road trip. Nov 2, 2004 Pack up pumpkin putter into Roger's truck for transport to chunk. Nov 1, 2004 Finished assmbling pumpkin putter. Two successful shots with a bouncy ball. Oct 31, 2004 Mista Ballista Mocked up torsioning assembly and drilled scutula holes for hydraulics Notched tensioning arms for clearance and finished welding them Inserted arms into rope bundles and measured for bowstring Pumpkin Putter Assembled machine. Tested new trigger mechanism. Oct 30, 2004 Finished new fancy arms for Mista Ballista. Fixed bend in broken steel arm. Added solid back-inner-stays to steel arms. Finished drilling and tapping holes for nydo-hookup. Fixed leak in hydralics setup. Prepped torsioning arms to accept hydralic eye attachment. Oct 28, 2004 Finished drilling mounts for dyn-hookup frame. Finished welding dyno-hookup frame. Drilled holes for connecting eye. Finished sanding down fancy new arms. Pressed bowstring pins into fancy new arms. Oct 23, 2004 Finishing work on torsioning arms. Test fit of hydraulic cylinders on modiolus. Started preparing new scapus bolt-down tabs. Started dyno hookup frame. (got one side bolted in) Oct 21, 2004 finished drilling torsioning arms bolt holes finished tapping torsioning arms bolt holes welded hydraulic ends of torsioning arms to modilus ends (re)located wooden dowel and aluminum tube Oct 14, 2004 ground off extra weld from torsioning arms locating posts piloted rest of torsioning arms bolt holes drilled to tappable size 3/4 of torsioning arms bolt holes tapped ~1/2 of torsioning arms bolt holes prepped hydraulic end of winding gizmo for welding to modiolus end Oct 11, 2004 Jeff and Dave begin drilling the a modiolus for the new winding arms. One hole down, 39 to go. Oct 10, 2004 Exercised the lifting hydraulics on Mista Ballista. Added cross bracing to dump frame for strength and rigidity. Oct 7, 2004 Ian was born to Amy and Eric at 10:33 am. 6lbs 4oz 19in. Roger and Kevin apply the last batch of fluff to the arms. Sept 25, 2004 Built new pouch and trigger for the Pumpkin Putter -- Return of the vice-grips. Sept 23, 2004 added fluff to one side of butt end on each arm added fluff to 1.5 sides of peg end on each arm 12 pumps is much better than 20 jeff demonstrated pullback mechanics to dave and noted items yet to be completed agreed that 6mm v12 rope is what we are going to buy, kevin will purchase Sept 16, 2004 Extracted all known pumpkin putter parts and evaluated resurection statagies. Sept 9th, 2004 Roger buys more fluff. Sept 4, 2004 Roger moves to new house. Sept 2, 2004 Attempted to add smoothing fluff to arms, and screwed up. Aug 30, 2004 Eric buys and moves to new house. Aug 26, 2004 Added more smooth-coat to the new arms where they will be in the rope bundles. Aug 19, 2004 Sanded arms down to prepare them for smooth-coat. Ran more wire in Dave's Garage. Aug 12, 2004 Move monster winch to Dave's. Found resin work we had done earlier had dried and hardened nicely. July 22, 2004 Test out resin filler for removing rough edges on new catapult arms. More wiring done in Dave's barn. July 20, 2004 Team Captian Eric signs P&S on new house with better catapult range. July 8, 2004 Fit arms to rope bundles and measured for bowstring placement. Did a little more work on Dave's barn. Bought epoxy, hardener, and filler July 1, 2004 Ballista moves to Dave's house. June 17,2004 Planted some pumpkins Found local source of some composite materials June 10, 2004 Jeff brings base for new torsioning arms. Fit and tac pins. Drill holes in fibreglass arms to accept bowstring pins. June 6, 2004 Roger gets married. April 20, 2004 Made a different modiolus template out of metal that was more satisfactory. April 6, 2004 Made modiolus template out of cardboard for torsioning arms. Ran wires for backup lights on trailer. April 29, 2004 mopped floor in daves garage relocated lathe, steel, more steel, tool steel and tooling blanks, pvc pipe, forklift, electrical supplies (fittings, junction boxes, box covers, flexible conduit (bx?), romex, transformers, etc), roll pins and other miscellaneous hardware, cutters, bits, blades, assorted consumables, miscellaneous supplies, lawn mower, rototiller, leaf blower, welding table, chop saw, 36 volt charger (1p), 36 volt charger (3p), various electric motors, a bench grinder, at least 2 vises (one w/ a rotary base), and a other few sundry items to allow heater ingress and installation in daves garage April 24, 2004 Built new arms for Mr. B with Mark Caron at Custom Composite Technologies shop. Fixed plumbing in my cottage. April 22, 2004 Made blanks for new arms on Mr. B. April 15, 2004 Basic planning for upcomming arm construction April 8, 2004 Tested strengths of a white pumpkin vs indian pumpkin. (And collected seeds.) Transfered various catapult related bits between keepers. First bar-b-q of season. March 11, 2004 Basic design on wooden arm stubs for next generation ballista arms. March 4, 2004 Dave aquires new 1" nylon rope at auction for Mr. B's engine. Feb 26, 2004 Devised plans for fixing/modifying dump-frame. Extracted worm from monster-winch for fixing. Feb 19, 2004 Test fired small ballista. .3oz tomatoes went over 200ft with the new bowstring and pouch design. Scheduled time to build new arms for Ballista. Feb 12, 2004 Wove pouch onto new bowstring. Test fired superball into a box. Very loud. Feb 5, 2004 bought a rope sample, 7 strand single braid polypropelene 5/32" built new set of arms for baby w/ peg ends (1/4" diameter?) built bowstring with eye splices for ends bowstring half lengths are amazingly accurate! scavanged pouch from last weeks endeavor, and dowels for possible reuse discussed merits of 'through string' vs 'behind string' separator mounting to no conclusion *for next week mount the pouch and separators to the new string, shoot mor e tomatoes, and take pictures Jan 29, 2004 build another bowstring for baby ballista, this one w/ a pouch shot ~10 tomatoes from the basement out the door into the woods took video, need faster frame rate to see more only 3 problem children - 1 didnt leave the pouch, 1 we squashed loading, and 1 hit the door frame we think we have had an unqualified success Jan 22, 2004 Build bowstring for babyballista using new style. Works great! Jan 15, 2004 reviewed trailer change options to eliminate the upper dump frame high option: raise scapus to ~40" over deck to allow 'full down' assembly mid option: leave scapus height as it is low option: move scapus to deck height, prop rope bundles did not discuss whether or not to keep lower dump frame, but all above options retain it decided to not eliminate dump upper dump frame this year Jan 8, 2004 reviewed bowstring choices - spectra appears to be the winner over nylon, technora, vectran reviewed bundle choices - nylon, polyester are prime candidates; we need to review climbing rope vs the industrial equivalent at a later time more arm discussions - 2x6 aluminum box, 1" plus diameter stays (<= 2"), 2x6 tower, long stays welded or plugged w/ tabs, back stay is a heim joint (tie rod end) ~5/8" diameter question of video conference for some of these meetings was raised Dec 18, 2003 More planning and discussion Dec 11, 2003 Design aluminum arms. Jeff to take shopping list out for pricing. Designed new torsioning method. Added to task list. Created shopping list for all parts needed for trailer upgrades. Got shopping list for generator/pump mobility improvements. Designed new lifting mechanism. Jeff to model in computer. Started task list for next week. Dec 4, 2003 More TODO list management. Come up with task list for next week. Nov 13, 2003 Prioritized our to-do list. Nov 8, 2003 Eric drilled drain holes in front stanchions Nov 6, 2003 Roger and Kevin debate the merits of various lines for our bowstring. Eric finds someone to make Carbon Fibre arms for Mista Ballista. Nov 3, 2003 Won 3rd place in the Torsion division. Broke the left arm on the machine. Broke our torsion twisting mechanism. Nov 2, 2003 Threw a pumpkin 290.5 feet! Broke our torsion twisting mechanism. Fixed it. Nov 1, 2003 Missed our shot because it takes so long to set things up. Broke our pouch. Oct 31, 2003 Went to the Punkin Chunk. Set up machines. Oct 28, 2003 Dry fire machine. After minimal winding, 500lbs pullback. Took ballista apart. Bolted rope bundles down for travel. Lost a 9/16th wrench. Found 1 leaky hydraulic cylinder, and one good one. The pump engine needs some help. Oct 27, 2003 Looked out the window into the rain at our sad machine. Oct 26, 2003 Positioned transverse (diagonal) regulea. Position, and welded on front hinge. Positioned and hinged side transvese regulea. Fashioned new transverse regulea winch-end attachment. Added brace half way down length of transverse regulea. Added back-side arm bridge abutments. Inserted arms into rope bundles. Tightened. Built bowstring for metal arms. Fixed leak in hydraulic pump carborator. Oct 23, 2003 Ground metal arms smooth and added stays. Rigged hydraulic cylinder and valve for bundle tightening. Ground front of scapus and raised rope bundles. Drilled and welded rope bundle travel tabs. Welded drive nut and made connecting pipe for big feet. Oct 20, 2003 Found rope bundle travel position on trailer. (Balance point.) Drilled last front bolt down hole for dump frame to trailer. Moved rope bundles to front, determined that some work needs to be done to the nose of the machine. Ground down one of the new metal arms to smooth it out for use in the rope bundle. Oct 16, 2003 Attached toes to big feet. Finished bolting big feet to trailer. Cut off remaining bits of support beam from last year. Added spacers under front of dump frame to raise it up so the cylinder drain plug did not rest on the trailer cross bar. Bolted front of dump frame to trailer. Made last transverse regulea hinge piece. Attached new flow regulator to dump cylinder so we can control descent more reliably. Tested batteries with winch. They worked! Oct 9, 2003 finished pouch exoskeleton mounted upper dump frame travel tabs cut rope bundle travel tabs mounted big feet raised dump frame w/ hyd pump cut off rope bundle's stray feet Oct 6, 2003 Mounted winch Welded feet side tabs to big feet Cut trailer side tabs to mount big feet Cut off last years pouch/ bowstring mounting rig Oct 2, 2003 Finished winch mount Finished welding pyramid section of pouch Prepared new mounts for big feet, feet side identified trailer side biig feet mount raw material unloaded oxygen tank from torch cart cut the arm/ bowstring attachment bars Oct 1, 2003 Jeff fits hydraulic system w/ new pump. Everything tests fine. Sept 29, 2003 Drilled and bolted rear scapus to dump frame connectors. Beefed up welds on I-beams for winch mount. Finished welding all box on pouch. Installed and welded winch mount cross pieces. Ground reliefs in I-beams for winch fairlead. Cut and welded all round adapters to standoffs for top of diagonal regulae. Sept 28, 2003 Cut and fit pouch pieces. Tacked all pieces together, using square box in place of round rod. Sept 25, 2003 Welded new winch mount onto back of scapus. Welded rear scapus support tabs onto scapus and dump-frame. Removed cruft from old I-beam from front of scapus. Welded new round front scapus support w/ pulley ring to front of machine. Prepped, and began adding hing to top of transverse regulea. Cut and fit 1/2 of new pouch design together. Drilled many holes in tabs prior to adding Rope Bundle lock down tabs to scapus. (Travelling lock-downs) Start moving starter switch on hydraulic engine. Drain hydraulic tank to prepare for pump replacement. Sept 20, 2003 Cleaned big feet for paint. Sept 18, 2003 Cut steel angle for scapus to upper dump frame and upper dump frame to trailer traveling brackets. Designed mounting for monster trailer feet and disassembled bases. Welded in reinforcements to rusty section of monster trailer feet. Finished assembling and tested hydraulic system. Unfortunately our 7 hp motor is about 13 hp too small to run the pump we used. It immediately stalls whenever any load is applied (and I mean fast). Looks like we'll be trading in the pump for something much smaller. Cut some I-beam for new winch mounts. Added new wheels to hydraulic power source and bandsaw. Deconstructed old pouch and cut new pieces to complete new pouch. Designed newer, easier way to raise rope bundles. Sept 4, 2003 Trimmed, matched, and glued new ballista arms. (8x8 white ash.) Cut some dump frame extenders. Discovered welder was on loan and left them on machine. Decking ferring strip updates Sept 3, 2003 Devise scheme for our hydraulic parts. Drain main cylinder on dump-frame in preparation for pump. Aug 28, 2003 Hack off no-longer needed feet of ballista. Position ballista more accurately on trailer. Mount hydraulic pump onto our old snowblower motor. Reposition rope-bundles for balance on trailer for storage/travel. Bolt ballista to trailer Aug 21, 2003 Put ballista on its trailer! Huzzah! Aug 17, 2003 Dave Gets Married! Aug 15, 2003 Aquire plate for trailer. Aug 14, 2003 Bolt deck onto trailer Determine best means for bolting hydraulic pump onto lawn tractor. Aug 8, 2003 Dave aquire's salvage VIN for the ballista trailer. We're legal now! Yay! Aug 7, 2003 Pulled winch from Roger's truck to prepare for use on ballista. July 31, 2003 Put fenders on trailer. Bolted tail onto trailer. July 24, 2003 Tested second red hydraulic cylinder. Filled with fluid. Tested behavior of our valve collection July 17, 2003 Disassemble winch for inspection and to grease bearing surfaces. Discovered main worm gear was sitting in water and was rusty and unusable. Boo! July 12, 2003 Threw water bottles for The MathWorks July 9, 2003 Jeff finishes wiring the trailer. Jeff reassembles the generator's carborator June 28, 2003 Painted Trailer Wired trailer for lights. June 19,2003 Delivered winch to Eric's garage. Disassembled generator's carborator. Painted parts of the trailer. June 18, 2003 Bought winch, spool valves, and other necessary bits. June 15, 2003 Repacked some wheel bearings for trailer. Put wheels on trailer. Added jack and chains to trailer. Drove trailer to Eric's house for storage. June 14, 2003 Built the trailer. Took lots of pictures. June 12, 2003 Welded side-rails for trailer together. Welded wheel mounting brackets onto side-mounts. Test fit a wheel to verify positioning. June 7, 2003 Picked up the last of the steel needed for a trailer. Picked up trailer hardware such as light kit, jack, etc. June 5, 2003 Evaluated generator again. Discovered a fuel leak. Wrote shopping list for this Sat. May 29, 2003 Generator fails to start again. Probably needs better fuel. Assess the large collection of hydraulic hoses that had arrived yesterday as satisfying our immediate needs. Powered up the electric hydraulic pump, and made a small red cylinder move in and out. Decided that the small electric hydraulic pump was non-intuitive in its plumbing. May 23, 2003 Kevin submitted plans for trailer. Designed hydraulic piping system for Mista Ballista Organized order list for our supplier for hoses. Aquired 7000 Watt generator off Ebay. Fixed and ran generator. Set battery on charger. May 8, 2003 Tested warning horn on tractor. It works well. Designed plans for the trailer based on actual material aquired. Extended a red hydraulic cylinder to verify it was still in good shape. Analyzed hydraulic fittings we had availble to us. April 26, 2003 Went to the Scrap Yard. Got some steel for the trailer. Found some spiff crank-down feet from a tractor tailer. April 24, 2003 Cut I beam off front of scapus. Found places to get more steel for our trailer. Roger drove the lawn tractor around. April 15, 2003 Lawn tractor is made to run again. It shall be our mobile power source and lunch fetching vehicle. Examine and verified running of hydralic pump aquired last year. April 14, 2003 Roger drops off third axel for ballista which will act as spare tire/parts. April 11, 2003 Dave aquires donor lawn tractor with broken transmission. This will serve as our hydralic motor. April 2, 2003 Re-assembled Dave's forklift for resale. March 18, 2003 Aquired and stored a set of trailer wheels for the ballista. Jan 28, 2003 Verified plans for new arms, pouch upgrade, and deployment. Jan 21, 2003 Too bloody cold to do anything. Jan 14, 2003 Finally came up with a plan of attack for our upcoming tasks. We intend to update the arms and bowstring, and to update improve deployment. Jan 7, 2003 Jeff and Eric try to figure out how best to rebuild our arms, and mount the ballista on a trailer. Jan 6, 2003 Roger and Eric plot out tactics for the coming year. Dec 30, 2003 Kevin and Dave dissasemble the fork lift engine, and discover that it is a really sad state. Dec 17, 2002 Removed motor from Dave's fork lift. Dec 10, 2002 Disassembled Dave's fork lift to get to motor. Motor has oil in the cylinders. Needs to be pulled. We need the fork lift so we can take Mista Ballista apart so we can work on it some more. Dec 3, 2002 Put Roger's winch back on his vehicle. Brief budget discussions Nov 26, 2002 Cleaned up Dave's driveway and garage. Sorted tools from the Tormented toolbox. Nov 25, 2002 Threw water bottles for Bennington High School science students. Nov 19, 2002 Moved Mista Ballista to winter resting place. Nov 12, 2002 Moved meeting day to Tuesdays. Discussed plans for the coming year. Aquired lumber for moving Ballista off of Jeff B.'s trailer. Nov 3, 2002 Destroyed some more pumpkins. Bent the arms Nov 2, 2002 Finished throwing pouch Assembled machine for the first time Destroyed some pumpkins Nov 1, 2002 Wound rope bundles Loaded up trailer for trip to Chunk Oct 31, 2002 Welded extensions to dump frame. Welded on mounts for winch to end of scapus Made metal arms Wound rope bundles. Finished drilling holes in last modiolus. Oct 30, 2002 Picked up more structural box stock for dump frame, and other nefarious purposes. Welded secondary hinge onto dump frame and scapus. Welded twisiting chain to epizygis Templated out to fix hole-circle on last modiolus Oct 29, 2002 Milled out more modiolus holes. Cut dangly bits off dump truck base. Cut hole for winch cable in back end of scapus. Attempted fitting dump-frame and scapus together. Oct 28, 2002 Welded secondary hinge support into dump-frame. Finished fitting last modiolus to an epizygis. Drilled holes in another modiolus. Built brackets for winch. Oct 27, 2002 Finish cutting slots in all modiolus Fit epizygis into three modiolus Start cutting holes into modioluses Finished all welds on scapus and regulea Ported dump truck bed to Dave's Formed extra cross beam for secondary dump hinge Decided how to mount winch on end of machine. Oct 26, 2002 Finished 3 ash arms for the ballista. Finished motor mount. Used bike parts for throttle. Finished drilling all centering holes in all modiolus. Slotted a second modiolus Welded rings onto throwing pouch frame. Removed Roger's winch from his truck. Added lanyard to sea catch. Oct 25, 2002 Finished drilling holes for regulea strengtheners. Drilled more holes in modioli. Welded pouch frame together. Welded strenthener onto most broken dump truck triangle. Prepared 2 of 4 secondary hinge brackets. Oct 23, 2002 Cut 1 throwing arm down to matching dimensions. Built putt-putt motor mount rails for sliding engage. Oct 21, 2002 Repaired milling machine. Drilled holes for attachment of various regulea. Cut and fit pieces for throwing pouch. Torch cut scapus to dump frame hinges. Oct 19, 2002 Build angled regulea system attaching rope bundle holders to scapus. Oct 17, 2002 Cut tongues onto triangle dump-bed pivots Cut epizygis hole into one modiolus Layed out regulea to scapus. Welded scapus braces into regulea. Welded heavy thing onto butt end of scapus. Dave fixed up his ban saw. Oct 14, 2002 Filled dump truck hydraulic cylinder most of the way with fluid. Got dump frame hydraulics working with putt-putt. Oct 13, 2002 Assembled all found parts into dump frame. Created two new short pivot joints for dump arms. Filled cylinder with some more hydraulic fluid. Found ash beams, began smoothing for use as arms. Oct 10, 2002 Assembled Scapus Climacidos Motor assembled to mounting plate Oct 7, 2002 Welded last two angle ears onto scutula finished adding material to 2 modiolii Assembled regulea and rope bundles together, and bolted. Drilled extra holes for bolting regulea to rope bundles. Ate brownies Oct 5, 2002 Drilled holes in horizontal regulea to 1/2 inch Finished welding angle to 1 steel scutula Fit additional metal to all modiolii Oct 3, 2002 Welded vertical regulea to horizontal regulea. drilled holes from horizontal regulea to angle iron on scutulas. Disassembled regulea and rop bundles. Sept 30, 2002 Put ban saw in garage Put scutuea on table Aligned with horizontal regulea Sept 28, 2002 Cleaned Dave's yard and scrap metal piles Cut some modiolus buffers Sept 26, 2002 Finished welding stantions to scutulea layed out template for modiolus buffers Sept 23, 2002 Assembled rope-bundle frames. Took some funny pictures. Sept 19, 2002 Drilled last holes for angle iron ears in cast iron scutulas. Fit filler for dump-frame triangles. (Broke belt sander belt.) Welded filler into dump-frame triangles. Removed some stumps in Dave's back yard. Sept 16, 2002 Drilled and tapped second cast iron scutula. Drilled out second auriculea set. Welded stanchions to second steel scutula Fit cast iron scutulas with regulae. Tacked regulea attachment angle iron to scutula. Cut rungs for Scapus Clamacidos. Sept 12, 2002 Tapped first cast iron scutula Welded top regulea together. Drilled holes through second auriculea/cast iron scutula set. Jeff brought over side-shaft gas motor for use with hydraulic pump. Moved some of Dave's rocks. Sept 9, 2002 Painted dump frame ears and longetudenal strengtheners Finished assembling Dave's air compressor combo. Began welding second regulea assembly Sept 5, 2002 Brushed rust of dump frame longetudenal strengtheners Drilled out auriculea bolt holes to 1/2 inch Aug 31, 2002 Added new Comment Plug In to make adding meeting notes easier. Aug 29, 2002 Drilled 18 holes through one ears/scutula setup Assembled most of air compressor lines for new setup Aug 26, 2002 Ground knarly bits off of long small diameter regulea Drilled and tapped hydraulic pump attachment points. Dave added fittings to secondary air tank. Positioned and cleaned 2 stanchion to scutula bolt plates. Aug 22, 2002 Cut and ground stanchion to scutula bolt plates Welded bottom regulae assembly Welded scapus pieces to make two approx equal length pieces Aug 19, 2002 Cut ears for scutula Determined refridgerated air dryer does not work right Layed out stanchions etc onto 1st, 2nd major doughnut Cut 15" and 16" pieces of 2" box for rope bundle framing Welded 2 stanchions to 1st major doughnut, broke them off Welded locator brackets to 18' scapus in prep for mating 6' piece Aug 15, 2002 Cut steel for regulae. Beveled edges of scapus and primary stanchions for welding. Welded up gouges in one of the scutulas. Finished drilling all scutula holes. Touched up patch sections for dump triangles with belt grinder. Aug 12, 2002 Further inspection and measurements of dump frame. Frame parts to Daves for weld repair. Drilled a hole in scutulas. Aug 08, 2002 Partially ssembled dump frame in Eric's driveway. Logged assembly and missing parts. Pump to daves. Moved scutulas and transferred marks in preparation for drilling. Aug 05, 2002 Measured and identified bits in the pile for use as frame members Generated list of materials for frame and pullback mechanism with measurements. Disassembled pump from large H. Cylinder. Attached pump to bike frame. Cobbled gear onto pump. It makes gurgling noises. July 29, 2002 Finished drilling holes in one pair of scutulas. Finished smoothing two epizygii. Bitched about falling behind schedule. July 25, 2002 Tack welded two scutulas together and drilled a hole through both. Roger worked on smoothing and blending the welds on the epizygii. July 18, 2002 Moved dump frame back into the woods. Marked locations for holes in 1 Scutula. Reconfigured milling machine for boring holes. (We'll leave the exciting holes for later.) July 11, 2002 Milled bearing surfaces on the two rough scutulas. Attempted to fix the plasma cutter (it goes in for repair). Brushed and painted remainer of the main dump frame July 1, 2002 Brushed and painted inner part of the main dump frame. June 30, 2002 Brushed rust off, degreased, and painted the dump frame. (Excluding inner part of large dump frame part.) Cut replacement parts for rusted out edges of dump triangles. Finished Roger's motorcycle racks. Ate giant steaks. June 27, 2002 Finished last scutula. Fought back rampaging flood waters. Unloaded new band saw. June 20, 2002 Finished cutting first scutula. Attempted to set up for cutting holes pin down holes. Cleaned up some of Dave's garage. June 13, 2002 Welded round stock onto all epizygises. Started cutting 1st scutula for roundness. June 3, 2002 Finished welding additional material onto middle of scutulas Set up milling machine for scutula milling attempted refurbish of power hacksaw, but failed cut one piece of round stock for epizygis top, remaining will be cut during week May 30, 2002 Welded top of all four epizygii Milled top of all four epizygii to accept 1.5" diameter rods welded one scutula to add extra material prior to milling May 23, 2002 Trued and notched last two epizygii on milling machine Finished welding last two modiolii Trimmed the previously square scutulas with cutting torch May 13, 2002 Welded two remaining pairs of epizygii halves. Milled remaining bevel on top of two epizygii May 09, 2002 Welded and trued two epizygii Set up milling machine with horizontal arbor for next operation. Started cleaning of dump hinge. Roger learned to use milling machine April 29, 2002 Retrued one pair of epizygus halves Notched remaining two pair of epizygis halves for welding. Found and delivered dump hinge pieces to Eric's. Kevin and Eric earned basic merit badges in milling machine use. Some shop cleaning. April 25, 2002 Trued the last pair of epizygis halves on the milling machine. Emptied and refilled milling machine knee with gear oil. Notched two pair of epizygis halves for welding. Cut all four stanchions to length. April 18, 2002 Added second VFD to milling machine powerfeed motor. Emptied and refilled milling machine knee with flushing oil. Trued two more pairs of epizygis halves. Did some welding on 3rd modiolus. Stocked tooling cabinets with milling machine arbors and holders. April 11, 2002 Ground and prepped the other two modiolii for welding. Hooked up spindle motor on milling machine and got it running. Milled our first piece, trued a pair of epizygus plates. Flushed and refilled ram and spindle oil reservoirs on milling machine. Dave continues to cut up steel table in spare time. April 1, 2002 Fetched stanchions out of pile. Realized smallest one is perfect size according to our design. Got big air grinder working. Determined 5 hp compressor is too puny to keep up. Ground and completely welded two modiulii!! Used up 4 lbs of welding rod and two grinding wheels. Figured out that clamping welder ground to the table is good enough for welding on motorized positioner. March 28, 2002 Cleaned and adjusted ram-lock. Ground down some welds on a modiolus. Put a couple weld passes around top of modiolus. March 21, 2002 Finished cleaning Dave's milling machine. Filled with new oil, and tried to power it up. Realized the motor was siezed, removed it. Dave to bring it to motor fixit guy. Hand spun milling machine. It's nice and smooth. Dave cleaned power drive chain lube thingy. Ick. Replaced lubricant. Kabits over some of Kevin's new ComputerModel. March 14, 2002 Completely cut up second table with plasma cutter Removed milling machine table and finished cleaning all ways. Finished electrical circuit for milling machine Measured MB components for CAD representation March 4, 2002 Added air filter to plasma cutter Used carbon arc gouge to start cutting up second table More milling machine cleaning February 28, 2002 Cut up one of four tables from auction with carbon arc. Wired VFD and most of circuit for milling machine. Worked to clean milling machine. New plug on plasma cutter. Some MIG welding done on one modiolus. Some grinding done on two modiolii. February 21, 2002 Unloaded trailer load of metal into Dave's garage. February 7, 2002 Eric and Dave gave talk at New England Model Engineer Society meeeting. These guys ate it up. Fired a few plastic bottles with various models. High point was that we got a ton of suggestions, only one that we hadn't already considered. Febuary 4, 2002 Put stuff on shelves in Dave's garage attic Lofted next shelving section to clear out room for stock racks January 31, 2002 Inspected new metal supply. We probably have everything we need to finish the ballista. Cleaned attic of Dave's garage Installed green shelving in attic of Daves Garage Still to do: Put stuff on shelves in Attic to make room for second green shelf. Install green shelf, and put stuff on that too. Install metal stock racks where green shelves used to be stored disassembled. Move stuff around for the new welding table. January 24, 2002 Kevin at Dave's, Eric at Eric's. Worked on cleaning up the milling machine. Discussed epizygus and pouch design. Dave and Jeff working on procuring lots of big metal throughout the week, including scapus climacidos. January 20, 2002 Eric working on the model. Finished scapus climacidos, and mensa attachment point. January 17, 2002 Four people at Dave's, Eric at Eric's. Grinding by Roger and Kevin. All four sets of modiolus halves are ready for relief beveling and then welding. Jeff and Dave finished hooking up the TIG. It was successfully tested. January 10, 2002 Five people showed up to work. Grinding by Roger, Kevin, and Jeff. More Grinding. See above. The first pair of epizygus halves are ready for edge relief and then welding. Dave and Jeff installed the switch panel for the welder. The main breaker panel was permanently affixed by Dave. We discussed cleaning up the mill and using a VFD borrowed from Jeff to get it running sooner rather than later. December 27, 2001 Remaining 4 Epizygis pieces are in Dave's Garage. Kevin used grinder to knock off large lumps. Roger used sander to make them look purty. Dave fixed the electrical panel in his garage. Eric fixed Dave's welder switch panel. Eric went home early due to (discovered upon returning home) a fever. December 20, 2001 4 Epizygis pieces are in Dave's garage. Roger used the belt sander to make them look purty. Dave fixed an extension cord, and prepared his electrical outlet box to be inspected. Eric tried to cut some stainless steel with a torch for little modioluses, but it didn't work very well. December 13, 2001 Set up welding torches and tanks. Torch cut pieces for Eric's workbench Removed the snowblower from Dave's garage. Along the way we made some more room for general work areas. We finished at 12:30 AM. December 10, 2001 Aquired 5 gallons fresh hydraulic fluid. Flushed, filled, cleaned, and plugged both large hydraulic rams from Dec 1st scrapyard run. Discussed some further ballista design ideas. May make one more attempt at hydraulic valves at scrapyard. Usefulness is in question since their rear design is unknown. December 8, 2001 Aquired 3 wheeled racks & 1 spare wheel. Aquired 1 control valve off of strange machine. Extracted 1 50 lb dohicky from large machine, but ran out of time, and couldn't move it due to lack of time. Disassembled hydralic system from previous trip. Roger is planning on picking up caps and hydraulic oil for the system. http://beta.siege-engine.com/gallery/siege/mistaballista/2001-12-08/index.shtml December 8, 2001 Agenda Visit Worcester wire separation co. again. Grab a couple more wheel things, plus a few spare wheels as needed. Investigate hydraulic controlers on fork lift and other strange machine for scavanging. December 3, 2001 Roger and Dave ate excellent Chicken Parm subs from Pleasant Street Pizza and Deli After some cursing Roger gave up installing the belt sanders motor and gets help from Dave. Belt sander motor is now installed. Belt sander belt is now clean. Giant pedestal fan is back in corner. Dave made an outlet, Roger made a plug. Belt sander works! December 1 2001 Went to Leroys. Bought some large angle and channel for Mista Ballista, and some smaller parts for the model and Eric's bench top. Went to the Wire Separation place. Bought some hydraulics with hoses, pump, and motor. Bought some plate for the model and a wheeled cart. Cleaned the hydraulics a little, packed stuff at Eric's. November 26 2001 Planned out more details for shopping list Scheduled shopping trip to scrap yard for Dec 1st, meet at Daves at 8am. November 19 2001 Eric & Roger did catapult demonstrations for Bennington Highschool. Onager needs a new trigger. Onager needs to be rewound. Onager needs more All terrain wheels Juggernaut needs the center CW cord to have a method of affixment. Juggernaut needs left side CW cord to be replaced Juggernaut needs a better trough Juggernaut needs shorter sling lines. Packed putter into Eric's garage more efficiently. Roger removed the motor from Dave's belt sander. It is awaiting dropoff at a motor rebuilder. Dave refurbished a 14 KVA single throw switch for hooking up the TIG welder. November 12 2001 Designed some aspects of MistaBallista's structure Came up with Baseline plan. Came up with Dimensions on MistaBallistaToDoList2003 May move day to Thursday. Discuss some more. Putter still needs to be packed into the garage properly. November 12 2001 Agenda Help Eric pack the Putter into the garage. Year long goals and objectives. Strategies for reaching our goals. Should/can we make chunk night a different night of the week so that Jeff Del Papa can help? Eric taunts team until everyone promises to use the Wiki. November 5 2001 Drove back from the chunk Eric wrote web page for the 2001 Chunk [[http://www.siege-engine.com/chunk01.shtml][Chunk 01]] Kevin created MPG movies from his camera Jeff would like to join our weekly meetings, but has prior comitments for Mondays

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