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icyfire wrote:What kind of bridges are you guys trying? Are you building relatively heavy bridges (>10g) that can hold a lot of weight or a less heavy bridge that doesn't hold as much but just going for efficiency?

Why would you want to build a heavier bridge? The idea is efficiency, not weight held.

If it is a 11 gram bridge that holds all the weight, the efficency is 1363.63
If it is a 9 gram bridge that only holds 11kg then the efficency is 1222.2
It all depends on how light and strong it is

icyfire wrote:What kind of bridges are you guys trying? Are you building relatively heavy bridges (>10g) that can hold a lot of weight or a less heavy bridge that doesn't hold as much but just going for efficiency?

I've found more success with lighter bridges that break, but still hold a good amount of weight. Anything that doesn't break is too heavy.

Yeah, my bridges were both heavy- after I decided to abandon coffee-stirrers (which are amazing by themselves). I managed to get a 655 with a 20 gram bridge, but I lost the event.Which is good because I have four others.

icyfire wrote:What kind of bridges are you guys trying? Are you building relatively heavy bridges (>10g) that can hold a lot of weight or a less heavy bridge that doesn't hold as much but just going for efficiency?

A bridge over 10 g can't get an efficiency of >1500. The bridges built are about 5.5-6 grams, holding pretty much everything. At state, our bridge broke at 14.5 kg.

How do you make a bridge so light and strong?

quickestwinne wrote:

icyfire wrote:What kind of bridges are you guys trying? Are you building relatively heavy bridges (>10g) that can hold a lot of weight or a less heavy bridge that doesn't hold as much but just going for efficiency?

A bridge over 10 g can't get an efficiency of >1500. The bridges built are about 5.5-6 grams, holding pretty much everything. At state, our bridge broke at 14.5 kg.

How do you normally cut down on the weight? Do you use just lighter wood or do you cut down on the pieces that hold the sides together?

We got a 1670 for Div C in KY

Is it a good idea to sand of some wood from parts of the bridge that don't need the extra strength? This seems like a pretty good idea to shave off even a gram...a 10g bridge that holds 15kg vs and a 9g bridge that holds 15kg, a difference of 166 in efficiency...that could be the difference between medaling or not at a state competition.

Littleboy wrote:How do you make a bridge so light and strong?

You use members that are just barely heavy/strong enough to hold the load. Much easier said than done.