[Loch-ruadh] Trebuchet project(long)

[Sluggy]

r baker wrote:

> 2 words...... Wet Sand

Hi!

Wet sand _is_ very cheap, but even as cheap as sand is, it can't hold a
pickle to the weight/volume of lead. I'm taking a guess that wet sand
would weigh about the same as an equivalent volume of concrete. A bag of
concrete is about one cubic foot, maybe a little less, and weighs about
80 lbs. A cubic foot of lead weighs 708 lbs. The low melting point of
lead lets us use scrap to form a counterweight of virtually any shape we
desire.

Now that does bring up a good point. We could cast stackable weights
made from concrete and get many of the advantages of lead at perhaps
lower cost.

Actually, plain old iron makes a pretty good counterweight material for
the money. It weighs in at about 500 lbs per cubic foot and should be
cheaper than lead, but harder to shape.

Professor Sluggy