orepass

Over the last month little time has been spent woodworking although requests from my family continue to poor in. There’s a tool chest, bar cart, two desks, table, picture frame and others already forgotten. So what do I do? Build a catapult!

Taking scraps from the small tool chest, parts are measured, dimensioned and planed. Working with Sapele is really nice and the swirls of wood and vibrant smell tickle all of the senses. The sides are rough cut with a saw then I chisel in the curves finishing with a spoke shave and #3 plane. Placing them in the vise they get a final smoothing to ensure they match.

The upright is shaped in the same way. The swirls of wood in this piece really catch my eye. Can’t wait to get some finish on it. With these components complete the base can be made and mortises cut to accept the sides and upright.

With everything assembled and holes drilled for the pins. Only the finish and something to hold the ball left. I used a couple of coats of shellac which brought out the color of the wood. I have yet to determine how to hold the ball so I used a dixie cup temporarily. I don’t have a lathe so may seek some help at my next woodworking guild meeting.

This catapult was designed by others to be used when teaching statistics and data collection. It was a great project especially when made with hand tools and My son and I spent a couple of hours testing the various settings and results.