[Sca-cooks] Onagers

[Bill Fisher]

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 18:54:00 -0500, Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:
> 
> Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
> 
> > Oh! Interesting. I believe there is a siege engine called an "onager".
> > I wonder if part of the reason might be that is a particularly onerous
> > machine to work with.
> >
> > Stefan
> 
> Actually, I suspect that it was called an onager because it kicks like a
> jackass ;-) Onager-the-seige weapon is, I believe, a variation of what we
> call catapults, powered by a spring make of wound and tensioned rope.
> 
> http://www.m-w.com/mw/art/onager.htm
> 
> Saint Phlip,
> CoD

Yeah, they achieve the release point on an onager with a crossbar that
the catapult
arm impacts, which transfers the release of torque the rope gives to
the arm to the
frame.

I get jumpy when my frame has tension and takes impacts too.  I believe the
greek word for donkey is onus and it mutated into onager for the English.


Cadoc
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