Light but strong wood for trebuchet?
The trebuchet will be 2 feet tall and the counterweight will be 3.5 lbs.
I don’t know if that’s any help, but I have used balsa and it broke on us many times. I’ve used red maple/ redwood and that works pretty good, but it’s not in Lowes/Home Depot. A friend got the wood for me and I don’t know where to get that around here, so are there any other light yet durable wood we could buy in Lowes/Home Depot?
I’m doing this for a MESA competition and what I wrote up there is the maximum stuff. đŸ™‚
11 Responses
diver0604
23 Feb 2011
mindshift
23 Feb 2011
Plain yellow pine should work well enough for the size you are building. Fir would be better.
Michael P
23 Feb 2011
Well, red maple isn’t light. Just use regular framing lumber. Lowe’s/Depot sell 2×2 (which is actually 1.5 by 1.5) which will be strong enough given the numbers you quote. And it’s very inexpensive. Most "dimension lumber" is douglad fir, but in some parts of the country it can be spruce or pine. Look for a piece with reasonably straight grain and no really big knots and you’ll be fine.
Then search the net for "free arm trebuchet" plans and make this project really interesting.
William D
23 Feb 2011
C2020
23 Feb 2011
Lowes/Home Depot carry framing lumber (2X2’s), plywood and wooden dowels in different sizes.
gonecrazytoday
23 Feb 2011
The lightest and strongest wood bought at any big box store would be white pine and is the cheapest. Yellow pine is much heavier than white pine.
livemartianwillt
23 Feb 2011
oak is best, but if you want to be cheap use yellow pine, they only carry yellow pine as pressure treated
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I am not familiar with red maple, (red oak maybe?) but depending on where you live I would use framing lumber. Douglas Fir is the strongest in the US but is only available in the West. Yellow pine is the strongest in the East. Red Oak is plenty strong, available at the home centers, but way more expensive. Many times the 2 x 2’s are generically called white wood that are less strong. They may still work for you however. Do not use redwood, as it is only slightly stonger than balsa.
Good Luck