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More from baroncoon
Taking a break from the ongoing and somewhat dark and gloomy story arc in my Equestria/ MLP dreamscape to take a look at a couple of the ponies who populate it.
In an earlier posting I had mentioned that the windmill outside of Ponyville http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6486812 was run by an old earth pony named Grist and his daughter Cogs. Grist is getting up in his years, and as a widower he has had to count on Cogs more and more to keep the mill running. Which is no small task considering the age and size of the mill.
Grist is this rather Rooster Cogburn character http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster_Cogburn_(character) who lost his left eye years ago when a mill stone shattered. His dirty tan body is a patchwork of scars, burns and places where his hide is worn bare from years of carrying loads on his back. Even his cutie mark of a sack of flour seems to have seen better days. And just like Rooster Cogburn Grist has a personality about as tough as is hide. He is a stallion of few words and personally has little use for those "fancy luxuries goods stuff", but for his sweet little Cogs there is nothing he wouldn't do. "You hurt my little Cogs and I'll hurt you." is a warning that many a stallion has heard before taking her on a date.
For her part Cogs loves her dad, although sometimes he can be a real pain in the flanks. It is because of her constant maintenance that mill keeps running at all. Especially since Grist is starting to slow down in his elder years. She seems to have a natural talent for mechanical devices and can usually figure out how to fix or build any of the parts necessary to keep the mill running. On occasion she'll pick up odd end jobs from some of the local farms repairing and building various gadgets and widgets.
Now Cogs is not adverse to hard work, but she had no desire to have her pretty orange hide or charcoal mane and tail turned into a pile of scars and cuts like her old man has. So she had sturdy reinforced chaps and gloves made to protect her limbs. These along with a pair of heavy shop goggles and purple bandanna make the bulk of her daily wardrobe. Her cutie mark is a machine cog.
In an earlier posting I had mentioned that the windmill outside of Ponyville http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6486812 was run by an old earth pony named Grist and his daughter Cogs. Grist is getting up in his years, and as a widower he has had to count on Cogs more and more to keep the mill running. Which is no small task considering the age and size of the mill.
Grist is this rather Rooster Cogburn character http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster_Cogburn_(character) who lost his left eye years ago when a mill stone shattered. His dirty tan body is a patchwork of scars, burns and places where his hide is worn bare from years of carrying loads on his back. Even his cutie mark of a sack of flour seems to have seen better days. And just like Rooster Cogburn Grist has a personality about as tough as is hide. He is a stallion of few words and personally has little use for those "fancy luxuries goods stuff", but for his sweet little Cogs there is nothing he wouldn't do. "You hurt my little Cogs and I'll hurt you." is a warning that many a stallion has heard before taking her on a date.
For her part Cogs loves her dad, although sometimes he can be a real pain in the flanks. It is because of her constant maintenance that mill keeps running at all. Especially since Grist is starting to slow down in his elder years. She seems to have a natural talent for mechanical devices and can usually figure out how to fix or build any of the parts necessary to keep the mill running. On occasion she'll pick up odd end jobs from some of the local farms repairing and building various gadgets and widgets.
Now Cogs is not adverse to hard work, but she had no desire to have her pretty orange hide or charcoal mane and tail turned into a pile of scars and cuts like her old man has. So she had sturdy reinforced chaps and gloves made to protect her limbs. These along with a pair of heavy shop goggles and purple bandanna make the bulk of her daily wardrobe. Her cutie mark is a machine cog.
Category All / All
Species Horse
Size 1236 x 1280px
File Size 231.3 kB
Well, I'd have preferred if they'd given "invisible arms and hands" to all the ponies so there'd be a good excuse for all the human-like tools and controls. (I tend to think that it should be a little more obvious that Equestria is a "magical land.")
But yeah. Earth pony magic could be very subtle ("care of the land and animals") but also more obvious such as "immovable hoof-plant," "absolute traction," "strong for his/her build," and maybe "thundering hoof-beats."
But yeah. Earth pony magic could be very subtle ("care of the land and animals") but also more obvious such as "immovable hoof-plant," "absolute traction," "strong for his/her build," and maybe "thundering hoof-beats."
I've been theorizing, actually.
I mean, Rarity got wrinkly hooves from sitting in the tub too long. And there's been plenty of ponies that seem to effortlessly pick stuff up in their hooves.
I'm betting Equestrian pony hooves are nothing like Terran pony hooves. Thicker skin for walking on, but not solid Keratin; I'm betting they're at least a LITTLE flexible, and manage some amount of grasping dexterity.
And if the BBC can make you think a toilet plunger can crush a man's skull...
I mean, Rarity got wrinkly hooves from sitting in the tub too long. And there's been plenty of ponies that seem to effortlessly pick stuff up in their hooves.
I'm betting Equestrian pony hooves are nothing like Terran pony hooves. Thicker skin for walking on, but not solid Keratin; I'm betting they're at least a LITTLE flexible, and manage some amount of grasping dexterity.
And if the BBC can make you think a toilet plunger can crush a man's skull...
They are now. The advantage of using left hand threads is negligible compared to the misery they cause if you don't know they are there. Chrysler lost millions in warranty claims when they started doing that with wheel lug nuts back in the 70's. You will find them on some rotating applications where a lock nut is the only way to attach something but that's about it. Engineers avoid them like the plague if they can.
Late to the party again, but stud-piloted wheels are dying out in the trucking industry partially because of this; There were different nuts and bolts for either side of the truck. Also double-nuts for the dual assemblies, and that bumped you up to something like 180 components for a US truck. Canadian multiaxle trailers are a nightmare.
Actually it has little to do with the bearings and all to do with mechanical precession caused by the hole and the threaded shaft running through it. If it were the bearings, the left and right hand threads would be reversed. A nylon lock nut, castle nut, threadlock or a lockwasher is really effective for most of the world's mechanical assemblies. Having been the owner of a few bicycles I can attest that they still work lose. Using a castle nut is typically more effective than just relying on thread direction. Now imagine you have no clue about those nuts and you grab the WD-40 and a breaker bar because you think they are stuck... then you grab the 3 foot cheater bar because they are really stuck.
Your're right, I had it backwards, in addition to thinking of the wrong assembly: a one-piece crank & hanger set, in place of the cotterless crank assemblies that my bicycling buddies & I use.
Now imagine you have no clue about those nuts and you grab the WD-40 and a breaker bar because you think they are stuck... then you grab the 3 foot cheater bar because they are really stuck.
Something like that actually happened, to somebody else, only in reverse: he attempted to thread a left-hand-threaded stationary bearing cup into the right-hand threads on the left side of the bottom bracket, and "succeeded" by brute force. And did the same, on the other side with the right-hand-threaded adjustable bearing cup, in the left-hand threads on the right side of the bottom bracket.
I am not kidding, he cross-threaded both sides, and made it damn near impossible to adjust the tightness of the assembly. You should have seen the look on his face when I pointed this out after he described his difficulties in rebuilding & fine-tuning his crank assembly.
Now imagine you have no clue about those nuts and you grab the WD-40 and a breaker bar because you think they are stuck... then you grab the 3 foot cheater bar because they are really stuck.
Something like that actually happened, to somebody else, only in reverse: he attempted to thread a left-hand-threaded stationary bearing cup into the right-hand threads on the left side of the bottom bracket, and "succeeded" by brute force. And did the same, on the other side with the right-hand-threaded adjustable bearing cup, in the left-hand threads on the right side of the bottom bracket.
I am not kidding, he cross-threaded both sides, and made it damn near impossible to adjust the tightness of the assembly. You should have seen the look on his face when I pointed this out after he described his difficulties in rebuilding & fine-tuning his crank assembly.
GM was doing it in the '50's and early '60's. I found out working on a '62 Buick. I wuz cussing up a storm trying to get the driver's side front wheel off, when a guy came up and told me. Discovered that they marked the end of the stud with an "L" to indicate left hand thread. Don't know about earlier than the '50's, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Okay that is a nice bit of info to know. Now I am imagining a Cogs at the end of long day of repair at the mill yanking and cursing on this bolt with increasing frustration. Trying more and more extreme measures to loosen it. All the while Grist is standing behind watching. After a couple minutes of this he coughs and says. "You're turning it the wrong way." Cogs looks at her dad then back at the bolt for several sseconds then puts her tools away. "I'm done here for today." Then wearily heads off to take a bath.
Something more like Bunnie Rabbot (from an old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon), who was a rabbit with three visibly mechanical limbs. I tend to ignore the core differences between the various types of robotic life, though (mostly thanks to Star Wars calling everything a "droid"), so Bunnie might not fit the most strict definition of a cyborg.
Neat set of pictures. Cogs using a breaker bar--smart! I'm surprised she wasn't rearing and trying to stamp on the bar from above with suitably loud *k-TONK!* sounds while trying to get the nut free. (I know, I know -- But that wouldn't be funny.)
(Psst! Try heating the nut, Cogs, and borrow Grist's oilcan!)
(Psst! Try heating the nut, Cogs, and borrow Grist's oilcan!)
I must confess I laughed when I saw poor cogs with the spring loaded offset Widget in her hoof. It reminded me of when I had to change the brushes on my motor tool. It seemed to me that the "Guts" of the machine were specifically designed to jump out from their housings as soon as the cover was removed, then promptly get lost in the shag carpeting.
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