The Project: Day 2
After a chilly night in the 30s, day 2 dawns, again with the bag pipes at 7 a.m. They can really wake you up, and that seems to be the point. It's overcast, and we all hope it won't rain, as the shelter is the only cover. We chow down another VMI breakfast, same as yesterday but with gravy on different things. No cholesterol concerns here.
From the 24' hemlock, Jim Kricker saws the trébuchet's arm, with Mike Goldberg and Wes Quinlan assisting. Right: Mike Goldberg trims the axle shoulders.
Meanwhile, back at the shelter, the cutting, the mortising, the chiseling continue. Joel McCarty (left) works on a mortice, as a VMI cadet (right) smoothes a tenon, noting, "Perfection takes time."

Dave Dauerty, hewer extraordinaire, demonstrates his technique with an axe (left) and a broad axe at right.

Joel (left) and Nova's Mike Barnes (right) view historian Paul Chevedden's notebook of trébuchet images. Mike filmed the activities as part of his research for a future PBS television show devoted solely to this machine. Paul is a visiting professor at VMI's Dept. of History and Politics and a leading authority on trébuchets. The first night, he presented a collection of slides tracing the history of the treb; he notes that the trébuchet first appeared in China around 400-500 BC, and had a longer history of use than any other war weapon, including modern cannons.


    Right: Rick Brown and his capable assistants shape the bottom of the counterweight basket that will hold the ballast (rocks, in this case)

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