Customer Reviews

Working Wood Catapult DIY Kit, 6" X 5" X 10"

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very easy to construct, but I suggest you assemble it without gluing first, in case you make a mistake. Then reassemble with glue. The catapult worked better than promised. It shoots well beyond 15 feet. My 5 yr old needed some help using it at first. Note, if you have problems, contact the manufacturer. They are very accommodating. The swing arm split on ours, but the manufacturer responded quickly with a replacement.

My son had to make a catapult for a school project. I'm a single mom with no woodworking experience or tools. This product was EXTREMELY easy to put together, took less than an hour and my son did it himself, (he's 12). The only draw back was the strength of the material, on the second launch, the spoon portion of the mechanism broke, thank god for Gorilla glue and a c-clamp. On the third launch the cross-bar broke in half. We had to cut tongue depressors in half, drill holes, and Gorilla glue the two pieces to the broken cross-bar. We then glued the stopper bar into the cross-bar for added support. The catapult actually won a contest at school for distance, surprising for it's size. The spoon broke again and will need more repair, but it held up for the "Medeivel Faire"
Test the project thoroughly before using. You may need to switch out glue, as well as do some reinforcing. Overall, inexpensive, easy to put together, don't be surprised if you need to do additional work.

I bought this catapult for my roommate to play fetch with one of the cats. It was super fun to put together, and didn't take too long. The cats love chasing paper balls launched by it. We tested it's "effectiveness" by launching clay balls in the hallway, and it was pretty impressive how far it could launch it. Be really careful where your fingers are though, this puppy has a really sensitive trigger and can hurt a finger if it's in the wrong spot when the trigger lets go.

My stepson received this for his birthday thought it was pretty cool. We pre-fitted the dowels and each of the parts before we glued anything. (to make sure we'd put it together correctly.) We fired it once before we even glued it and it chucked a rock a few yards. The rope used to tension the catapult took a few tries to do correctly but we managed to get it right. A fun toy. We'll be attempting to launch several things later to see how far they will go.
We will probably use this as a model to build a bigger one someday.