Who makes Artillery ??

[AuxArcher]

Hey Dane, any chance you'll have some tutorials up for the scorpio?

Salve. Mmmm...tutorials? I will post occassionally, maybe even start a new thread, as I accomplish significant steps. Kind of a build-along.

Some sort of manual of building massively deadly ancient weapons in your own garage might be a nice thing to have. I am not sure if I will ever do something like that, but maybe a kind of basic guide to tools, techniques, how to make sinew rope and linen rope, design possibilities, etc. might be kind of neat. Let me finish both the manuballista and scorpio first, though!

For now, let me show some shots I took about two weeks ago of what I have done with the wood framed manuballista / scorpio minor (still not sure what to call the thing). Please keep in mind, one, I am not going by the future-to-be-released Xanian paper of the 2000 find, so my machine will not be a precise replica of the original or that replica either. Two, I have some latitude in a great number of areas, so my own ideas may not be what someone else thinks is proper or possible. In that case, build one yourself, eh?

What you are seeing here are shots of the roughly finished spring frame and rough cut stock, with dovetail slider groove. I just fitted the stock into the frame, but it has a ways to go, but will give you some idea of what the two components will look like later.

I left a great deal of wood on the stock, and will work it down as I fit the pieces together. Also, these are not perfect mortice and tenon joints (my first ones), but are still very, very strong, much more so than I expected. Once the bronze plates are cast and attached, it will make it that much stronger a structure. I have no doubts at all that this will not explode when I get her up to full power.