Ok, the Onager is in good shape now. Replaced the windings with nylon rope. Got 6 twists of the tensioners on one side, and 5 on the other. I stopped there because I was putting the nerf ball on my neighbor across the street’s driveway. Perfect so far. The ropes have pleantly more left that I could add tension.
The object being fired is NOT one of the ice bullets though. They will have better flight dynamics. What I’m flinging is one of those nerf waterballs – you soak it in water and throw it at someone. Anyway, they SUCK for the Onager – probably half of thier mass (in the form of water) is lost during the instant of acceleration when I pull the pin. Of course, I WILL be taking them to RenFair, just to soak the crowd from time. Hey, I’m nothing if not an asshole 😉
The problem is, you have to have some mass for something to fing very good in the first place – a good mass to size ratio. Golf balls, baseballs, etc. are pretty good. The iceballs should also be excellent (however, it is as of yet an untested theory!) If part of the mass oozes out while firing, you loose part of your velocity.
I’ve now got the number for the person at Newman so I can set up to check out the Onager with them, and set up a plan. I think I’ll devate from the original plan of throwing things in the lake a bit, and go with a different idea instead – using a target to throw things at. Throw down a tarp, and I can throw anything from apples to cantalopes with a minimum of cleanup. On Sunday, I pull up the tarp, grab the rake and shovel, and finish cleanup. Piece o’ cake.
We probably have 6 dozen ice bullets now – and, some of them are colored inside. Realized I could add food dye rather easily, so, piece o’ cake, and they will look a little more interesting. Heabo helped me fill tonights round o’ waterballons and freeze ’em.
Also modified the sling for the Onager – it now is a little more cupped shaped, and tends to hold whatever you are gonna fling a little better. Only one more thing to consider – I need a way to transport it easily (wheels), and, I need stakes to stick it into the ground. I’ll fix that tomarrow night after I help set up for RenFair (they are marking territory, doing some pre-setup for Education Day, etc. tomarrow night, and I’m gonna take the truck and help Park get some of the stuff down there.)
Ok, back to bed for me. Was tired, laid down, and got woke up a bit for some reason. Now I’m tired again. Go fig.