Hello Andre and Chris,

I am most interested how this thread turns out as I too wish to model some 'mechanical linkages' driven by a hydraulic ram, but my mechanisms are basic compared to Andre's Scissor Lift.

There are a few open issues here which I have attempted to isolate.

A. Model Size

I can empathise with models being 'small' because I have been using a 1:1 scale in my models and the SketchyPhysics2 joints come out huge. For background, I currently have a 30 mm diameter steel shaft in shear for a slow moving ram, and given the scaling issues raised in previous threads, and the above comment by Chris, I will now make my models 10x bigger.

I just tried that and already the behaviour is already much smoother, thanks.

B. Grouping and Joint Direction

I too am struggling with Andre's questions a & b of Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:16 pm, and it is a real breakthrough for me when I appreciate another one of the deeper issues involved here.

C. Documentation

I too have been reading the threads looking for detail, and I can offer to contribute some time within a WWW team environment to generate some documentation if that helps.

Q. Is such a team already up for SketchyPhysics2 ?

Summary

I reckon SketchyPhysics2 is an exciting plugin for an already awesome tool, and Chris, I am most grateful for the time and effort you and your team have put into it. I just wish I was in a position to offer material support, but who knows what will happen .....

Now to follow Chris's instructions to make a simple scissor.

Regards, AL.