In this part of the tutorial we finish the ballista.

Part 1 of this tutorial is here

Now tie a string from the end of one dowel to the end of the other dowel. The length is a bit sensitive. you want it to be nice and taut when loaded into the trigger.

You want the string length to be a little bit shorter than this. This is loaded in the trigger and the arms are pulled back. You can shorten it a bit so the dowels are pulled back a little bit more.

Now wrap a piece of tape in the center of that bow string.

Here you see that the bow string is loaded onto the trigger. All that remains is the bolt. Cut a piece of paper like this and insert it into the end of a straw.

Now you can load it into the ballista like this. And to fire it you just lift the trigger!

Congratulations! You have built an ancient siege engine!

Make a Mini Crossbow

This is a powerful little crossbow that fires straws! Easy to make and whole lot of fun. Make a mini crossbow

Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare

PopularMechanics.com selection for one of The Best DIY and Home Improvement Books of 2009

We’ve come a long way from the Peashooter Era: with the advent of modern household products and office supplies—binder clips, clothespins, rubber bands, ballpoint pens, toothpicks, paper clips, plastic utensils, and (of course) matches and barbeque lighters—troublemakers of all stripes have the components needed to build an impressive, if somewhat miniaturized, arsenal.

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