We hope to get enough ideas, suggestions and historical source material from the membership to help us build a Petard which will have 4 main characteristics:
1) It must be historical in form or shape
2) It must be able to be carried by 4 men
3) The Petard must cost less than $300 to build
4) A suitable, historical, target must be made for the Petard
Below are a couple internet images to get us started. The basic shape and historical context is depicted in those drawings.
The authentic, historical target is problematic in construction and cost, although, from our reading, these mortar-like, directed force, devices were used against locked gates and doors, large and small. Our reading suggests that Petards were usually used against side gates or back doors, where
your chances of being doused with boiling oil or molten lead, were less. It will be interesting to make and fire a Petard, something that, most likely, has not been done in 200 to 300 years.
And, for those who want a complete explanation of the phrase, "For 'tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his own petar", from Shakespear, this phrase, or the modern equivalent, "He was hoisted with his own Petard", is explained below by a Wiki contributor who had his act together when he wrote:
"Hoist with his own petard"
If a petard were to detonate prematurely due to a faulty or short slow match, the engineer would be lifted or "hoist" by the explosion. William Shakespeare used the now proverbial phrase "hoist with his own petard" in Hamlet.
In the following passage, the "letters" refer to instructions (written by his uncle Claudius, the King) to be carried sealed to the King of England, by Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the latter being two schoolfellows of Hamlet. The letters, as Hamlet suspects, contain a death warrant against Hamlet, who will later open and modify them to instead request the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Enginer refers to a military engineer, the spelling reflecting Elizabethan stress.
There's letters seal'd: and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar; and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon: O, 'tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
After modifying the letters Hamlet escapes the ship and returns to Denmark. Hamlet's actual meaning is "cause the bomb maker to be blown up with his own bomb", metaphorically turning the tables on Claudius, whose messengers are killed instead of Hamlet. Also note here, Shakespeare's probable off-color pun "hoist with his own petar", i.e., flatulate, as reason for the spelling "petar" rather than "petard".[3]
If you have any ideas, please post them on this thread, because we sure did appreciate all the help we received on our build of the Paixhans Monster Mortar last year. Also the KISS principle must be vigorously followed to keep costs down and shorten build time.
We want to get this project done by July 9, 2010, so, if the big balloon can't be brought down by those balloon-buster guns being made now, we might be tempted to use the Petard for a giant shotgun. 
Mike and Tracy
