Chinese Siege Warfare - Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity

Too often, when we talk about siege engines - catapults, trebuchets, ballistae, and so forth - we focus on European technology. But it's in the far east where the story begins, at least for gravity powered siege weaponry.

I recently purchased Chinese Siege Warfare, Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity by Liang Jieming. A somewhat difficult book to get a hold of (not available on Amazon as far as I can tell), this 150 page book did much to plug gaps in my knowledge. Although much of the book deals with Chinese pre-gunpowder siege weaponry, there are smaller sections on western designs and some early gunpowder devices.

Incredibly, much of the book has been placed on the web for free, and this book an is absolutely wonderful resource for students of siege engines and model makers.

The book is well illustrated, using a combination of line drawings from old texts and colored pictures of the author's recreations of many of the machines discussed in the text. I noticed that Liang uses rope lashing to connect the wooden members of his machines, which is something I discussed in the Viking Catapult chapter of my book The Art of the Catapult. I've often suspected that the ancient builders, world over, made extensive use of lashed joints as they are strong, rigid, and relatively easy to master.

Overall, a good book filled with hard to find information. I recommend it.

Too Much Clutter in America's Nuclear Attic?

<-- Mark 12 "Brock" atomic weapon

Several newspapers had this or a similar story in it yesterday:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military mistakenly shipped four nuclear-missile detonators to Taiwan in 2006, then failed to detect the error for more than a year, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

Pentagon officials said they didn't know how the detonators had been sent when Taiwan had ordered helicopter batteries or who was responsible. Michael Wynne, the secretary of the Air Force, said the cone-shaped fuses didn't resemble the power batteries that Taiwan had requested.

Wynne said that the misdirected detonators, used to ignite the trigger of a Mark-12 nuclear weapon, didn't pose a security threat. The triggers couldn't be used to detonate other weapons, officials said.

That's strange. Did someone at the airbase from which they were shipped, look at a packing list that said "helicopter battery" and accidentally pack 4 nuclear bomb triggers? I imagine they have a label on the box that reads "WARNING! NUCLEAR BOMB TRIGGER INSIDE. DO NOT USE HOOKS" or something like that. Still I guess mistakes happen.

But here's what I really don't understand. The triggers were for Mark -12 nuclear weapons. The Mark 12, nicknamed "Brock" by those who have pet names for atomic bombs, hasn't been part of the nuclear arsenal since 1962. These things have been outdated for 46 years. I think (this is no joke) that a Mark-12 trigger uses vacuum tubes.

So, my question is, why are we keeping so much junk in our nuclear attics? Even my mom finally cleared out her basement (throwing away my collection of vintage Archie comics, but that's another issue.)

No doubt there are still a thousand crates of horse liniment for the cavalry or a million sticks of slowmatch for flintlock rifles piled next to the Mark-12 triggers as well.

TV-B-Gone? A good first step

In this month's Wired Magazine, number 16-04 (I have absolutely no idea what Wired's magazine numbering scheme means) there is an article on the rivalry between gadget blogs Engadget and Gizmodo. In it there's a anecdote about one of the blogger's taking a device called a TV-B-Gone to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and wrecking havoc on the many, many TV's there.

A TV-B-Gone is a small battery operated device invented by Mitch Altman who I met a number of times at various Make Magazine events. Push the button on a TV B Gone and every TV in the area turns off. Kinda cool.

More power to ya, Mitch. There's too much tv and other noise in the world. Why do restaurants, noisy enough anyway, feel they have to pump in extra music, enough to make conversation with more than one other person impossible? Why do supermarkets and Home Depots feel that I can't shop unless there's music constantly playing. There's music, usually bad music cluttering up nearly every lobby, waiting area, and vestibule in existence.

Note to world: I do love music but I do not need to be bathed in it every second of the day or in every public place I go. I don't think it makes the world a more pleasant place. Please, turn it off.

Mitch: Please invent a Music - B - Muted device. I will buy several. Thanks.

Making Black Powder

Make 13, themed around the concept of magic is on the newsstands!

It's another excellent issue and includes a PVC air cannon modification (by a different author) that is pretty interesting. It's called the boom-stick and is designed to maximize the noise.

I wrote three articles for this issue. The first is describes the DARPA urban challenge and the uber-makers that attended. While most of the competitors were big money corporate and academic types, there were a few entrants that really exemplified the ardent amatuer, and the skillful maker.

The second was the Maker Calendar and lists upcoming events of interest to those who make things.

The third article is about my foray into the world of gunpowder manufacture. I've received some great feedback from readers already -- it's something that a lot of people find interesting. In this article, I describe what I did to make home made black powder. I don't go into step by step directions for making the powder, but there is a good explanation of how to prepare your charcoal which is the really critical step in making the stuff. Everything else is less important.

Visit makezine.com or better yet, subscribe via the link below. TIP: if you select Make's autorenew option, you get digital access to the entire library, back to Make Vol 1!

Slouch or no slouch?

The AP published a story, available here, exploring the growing number of people who are building and making things in their garages and basements. It's an article worth reading, for several reasons.

First, it provides several good examples of the type of projects peope are are undertaking.

Second, it lists severa websites and magazines that provide ideas and inspirations for many interesting and instructional projects.

Finally, and not least, I think it's a good article because it contains these words:

"William Gurstelle is no slouch."

I've been telling people this for years. Now maybe they'll believe me. After all, the Associated Press is never wrong

Which leads to a new game show concept: Slouch or No Slouch. This was first suggested to me by Dale Dougherty, publisher of Make Magazine. It could work like this:

Each week a person who believes they are pretty good at doing one particular thing, does something they haven't tried before and get judged on how well they do it. For instance, a football player learns ballet, a scientist makes beer, a beekeeper trains a dog. Then at the end, the judges evaluate the outcome and declare the contestant a slouch or no slouch.

Huh?

Gunpowder Artist Cai Guo-Qiang

He experimented with various painting techniques that could
harness natural forces: blowing a fan over thinly applied paint on canvas; blistering a thick paint surface with heat; coaxing a dove to walk through green paint and onto a picture. More fruitfully, in 1984 he began to use the ancient Chinese invention of gunpowder — beginning by shooting fireworks at a canvas and then, for more control, developing a method of unrolling firecrackers, sprinkling the powder on canvas and igniting it. -- Arthur Lubow in the New York Times

There is an interesting article in today's New York Times about Cai Guo-Qiang, a New York based Chinese artist who uses gunpowder as an artistic medium. He is very successful, having won numerous awards and selling his paintings at auction for millions of dollars.

You can see how he makes his art by viewing the video here. Like the work of some other modern visual artists, the symbolism and meaning that makes it so valuable is lost on me. Like a work by Jackson Pollock, Cai's work is interesting but .... To me, using gunpowder to create an artistic vision is a fascinating idea. But is it anything more than simply clever?

Catapult and Trebuchet Triggers

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More in my series of posts on How to Build a Catapult

In this post, I discuss Catapults, Ballistas, Trebuchets and the Triggers, Releases, and Latches that operate them.

I receive quite a few inquiries about making catapults and trebuchets. And among the most frequent questions is: how do I build the trigger? It's an important question.

Catapults are fun and educational to build and operate. They would make a very good entry in a science fair or science contest. For ideas on catapult related science fair projects, check out "The Art of the Catapult" and "Backyard Ballistics," available at book stores everywhere. (Click on the Amazon link to the books above for more info) Believe me, there is plenty of physics and math behind the machine for cerebral types.

When building a catapult, trebuchet, ballista, mangonel, or any of the hundred names by which such hurling machines are known, you'll find out that the mechanism that releases the throwing arm is often the most complicated part of the machine.

You may build your own release, which is tricky because you need to design the latch so that it will release reliably under full load. Actually, you can get pretty creative about triggers.

But considering how cheap and easy it is to buy one, it might make more sense to use one of the commercial solutions below, and spend your time working on the other aspects of the machine.I've spent time researching the best triggers and releases for small catapults. You can follow the links below to obtain high quality, inexpensive catapult release trigger mechanisms that should work well for most small experimental catapults. There are three good, off-the-shelf solutions: The archer's arrow release, the sailor's pelican hook, and the horse trainer's panic snap.

Archer’s Arrow Release:

This is the premier solution. Works dependably, quickly and very smoothly. It costs a bit more, but of all the catapult releases I've tried, I like this one the best.

Sailor's Pelican Hook:


This is another excellent hurling machine trigger. Its normal use is in sailing, where it is used to securely hold and release lines and ropes. Basically a pelican hook is a hinged hook that can be quickly secured or released by a sliding ring. It is quite a bit less expensive than an arrow release, but it holds securely under load. The downside is that they can be awkward to release sometimes.

Horse Trainer’s Panic Snap:

A panic snap is a mechanism often used between a lead and a horse's harness. They are decent catapult triggers because they can be disconnected under load. A panic snap is specially built so that the latching mechanism is separate from the load bearing structure. Just pull back on the latch and the load releases. Very inexpensive, but not as smooth or dependable as the arrow release.