[Loch-Ruadh] On the subject of getting the ballista ready for war

[Adam Harrison]

Greetings all,

A short time ago, Padraig put forth the idea that we
should refurbish my ballista and take it to Gulf War
this year.

I spoke with Gwen at the bardic Friday night and she
gave me an idea of what's still accounted for, and
more importantly, what is missing.


If we're going to do this, it's going to take one to
three days of steady work at a well equipped shop
(like Polydore's).

Without actually looking at what's left of the
ballista, this may not be completely accurate, but my
best guess as to the work that is necessary is as
follows:

Build new support members for the base, the originals
and the second set are missing.

Replace the trigger/winch-slider attachment block. 
It's cracked and must be replaced.

Replace the rope in the torsion springs.  Depending on
the condition of the rope, we may only have to
retension the springs.

Add dowels to the hole-carrier block.  The top member
of the block showed signs of starting to crack three
years ago.  Strengthening is a must, otherwise we'll
have to replace it.  Depending on the condition of the
block, we may have to replace it anyway, and if we
have to do that, we might as well just build an entire
new ballista.

Re-wax the slider/tiller.

Replace the bowstring

Inspect the bow arms, and if necessary, replace them. 
If not necessary, wrap them with cord and glue them to
bring them up to current rules.

Inspect all bolts, washers, and nuts.

If the two bolts that attach the hole-carrier to the
tiller are missing, they will have to be replaced. 
(this will involve grinding down the head of the bolt
to accomodate the slider).

Inspect and possibly replace the winch rope.



And the big problem, ammunition.

I honestly don't know if Elfsea still even has any
bolts (the majorty of them were lost a few years ago).
 Even if they do, they're not up to current society
standards, which state all siege ammo must be yellow
over 100% of the shaft and head.

If we have to build our own, we have the choice of
going with the golf tube/tennis ball method that
works, but the shafts tend to get damaged very easily.
 We also have the choice of going with siloflex.  a
particular manufacturer of siloflex makes yellow
colored siloflex and is approved by the society siege
marshal.  Siloflex shafts may use tennis balls for
heads, or they may use a "legal thrusting tip" which a
mini nerf football qualifies as.

We're going to need at least 30 bolts to be an
effective weapon for a full battle, if not more.  For
the castle battles, we'll probably need 50-70 bolts. 
An experienced team can fire off at least two to three
bolts per minute.



I cannot guarantee that I will be at Gulf Wars this
year; however, I will help with the reconstruction of
the ballista if there is still interest in doing so.

-Bjorn

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