Magnet catapult

Hobbyists can now re-enact battles of the ancient world!

Author: Rob Gallagher, United States

Online since: 07/04/2009, Number of visits: 355527

Opposite poles attract each other, like poles repel - and it is this repulsion that can be harnessed, for example with this magnetic catapult.

After watching a period film about the siege of the Masada fortress by the Roman army, I too wanted to build a catapult.

For this purpose, I used the strong repulsion of two large disc magnets. 3 possibly options are linked below.

1 pc. 8,96 EUR ea.*

Disc magnet Ø 30 mm, height 10 mm, holds approx. 20 kg

Damaged juggling balls

I built this shooting device from red oak. On the left, near the magnets, I placed brass fittings and on the right I put steel nuts and bolts near the joint.

For "ammunition" I used juggling balls.

The magnetic catapult shoots the juggling balls to a distance of about 3 metres! As you can see in the picture, the balls burst due to the strong impact.

I had a lot of fun with this little project.

Addition 2018

YouTube user RLScience also built a mighty magnetic catapult – even with two arms. For that, he used the repulsion of 3 Goliath magnets. In his video, he explains the assembly in detail (in German only).

Articles used

S-30-10-N
Disc magnet Ø 30 mm, height 10 mm, holds approx. 20 kg, neodymium, N45, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	8,96 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	7,87 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	6,88 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	6,40 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	5,98 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 120 pcs.

Available: 2 981 pcs.

S-30-15-N
Disc magnet Ø 30 mm, height 15 mm, holds approx. 24 kg, neodymium, N42, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	13,37 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	11,83 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	10,45 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	9,79 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	9,19 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 120 pcs.

Available approx. 25/04/2025

Receive e-mail when item available again

S-35-20-N
Disc magnet Ø 35 mm, height 20 mm, holds approx. 38 kg, neodymium, N45, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	20,67 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	18,29 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	16,16 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	15,12 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	14,21 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 20 pcs.

Available approx. 16/05/2025

Receive e-mail when item available again

Goliath
Block magnet 70 x 70 x 30 mm, holds approx. 150 kg, neodymium, N40, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	155,35 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	146,69 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	138,95 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	135,18 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	131,85 EUR ea.*

Available: 25 pcs.

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keywords

Wood ( 109 )
Hobby room ( 35 )
Large magnets ( 44 )
Experiment ( 80 )
Repelling ( 16 )
Entertaining ( 74 )

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