Quote Originally Posted by ibdennyak View Post
I like your idea of adding lobes.....or making them taller, at least until something gets bent. Changing the length of the arms would do it too....or a combination.

My private joke is that I have been using CAD for years......cardboard assisted drawing
Yeah, there are some good possible approaches here.

The study of linkages is actually pretty fascinating and very complex. Mechanical engineers (I'm not one...) take entire courses on studying and designing linkages and there is a lot to know. I have a few books around here on that topic, but have never really done more than skim through them. Maybe one day I'll actually try to study my way through one of them.

As for the "cardboard assisted drawing" same here, I've done my share too. And like the saying goes: "If it's dumb and it works, it's NOT dumb!"

I have done a fair amount of computer based design in my job and for my own stuff, but sometimes nothing quite takes the place of actually holding the parts in your hands and moving stuff around.