The Roman Ballista
Posted on | May 5, 2010 | No Comments
The Roman Ballista was used widely throughout the Roman empire from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century AD. Most historians agree that it was used after that but with the decline of the Roman Empire so did the technology. Although the ballista originated in Greece it was adopted by the Romans and advanced beyond the early Greek versions. The most obvious is the change from the compression powered bows to the torsion powered arms. The Romans made much smaller versions with wheels called The Cheiroballistra or The Manuballista. These were used as anti-personnel weapons and were much easier to use.
There is some speculation among archeologists that the Romans may have used a weapon that fired multiple bolts at a time but they have failed to come up with hard proof. You may draw your own conclusion there. However, no matter how you look at it the Roman advances on the ballista were more powerful and required less maintenance with the exception of the torsion springs. These were vulnerable to rain and mud. Since the wood frames were mostly covered with iron they were less sensitive to the elements. Anything made from wood will bend and bow when it gets wet and then the sun beats on it all day. The steel framed and banded ballista didn’t have this problem as long as the springs were covered. Also the act of drawing the bow would sometimes break the compression bow creating an potentially dangerous situation whereas if a torsion spring broke it had many fibers to keep it from being snapped back and causing a hazard to the users.
The concept of the crossbow and how it works
Posted on | May 3, 2010 | No Comments
This is a reference to the medieval crossbow. As most historians agree the crossbow was invented in china. According to Wikianswers.com it was invented 678 BCE. However, it emerged in France in 1050 AD. The french version was much more refined and became a powerful stopping weapon. Some historians argue that the crossbow was the first anti-armor weapon although we know that the English had great success with the long bow at taking down armored knights before the discovery of tempered steel. A medieval crossbow uses types of stored energy compression and tension. The mechanical means in the medieval crossbow is the release mechanism and the prod “also called the lathe” where the energy is stored. Although later they added a third, a mechanical means to draw the weapon there were two types of these one utilized a screw type mechanism which was very slow but could pull much greater draw strength much easier. The second was a basic crank system much faster but would not allow for super heavy draw weight limiting the range and power. The one I am talking about had a stirrup on the front so the soldier could put his foot through and draw with both hands. This allowed a soldier to pull double that of a conventional long bow making it indispensable to the French Army. So this crossbow is simple it consists of a prod or the bow, draw string, a stock, a stirrup, and a release mechanism. When the crossbow is drawn a bolt is laid just in front of the draw string. When the string is loosed from the draw the tension in the prod produces a kinetic energy that moves outward from the center where the bolt and the farthest part of the draw string. This in turn causes the center of the draw string forward at high speeds with the bolt in front. When the bow is fully released the bolt is free to continue to its target.
For hygienic chicken start own green roof chicken coop
Posted on | September 24, 2009 | No Comments
It is always true that getting hygienic chicken from the market for consumption is not an easy task because in many markets, traders are not following the stipulated norms for cleanliness thereby resulting in buyers receiving unhygienic food articles. So if you have a green roof chicken coop in the backyard of your house, then you can always consume hygienic chicken. Another advantage is that there is no need for you to go to a market to purchase chicken and by this you can save traveling expenses. A chicken coop in your house is always good for your family because they can not only eat fresh and hygienic chicken but also will get some sort of exercise while looking after the coop.
I realized the benefits of starting a chicken coop when I had a chat with one of my old collage mates, now an owner of a big poultry farm. She started chicken coops in the backyard of her home as a time pass and when she came to know the profitability of doing this as a business venture, she started extending her coops. Now I am planning to start chicken coop for my family consumption and when I gain get confidence, I will also start a big poultry farm for which banks are extending loan facilities.
Starting chicken coops in diy concept is gaining popularity
Posted on | September 12, 2009 | No Comments
It is a natural question as to why should we follow diy concept while starting a chicken coop and the only one answer for this is that following this concept is economically wise. If you follow this concept or method, then you can save lots of your hard earned money while starting a chicken coop. Nowadays diy chicken coops are getting lots of popularity around the world and if anyone is interested in gathering information regarding this, then they can collect the same if they follow the links furnished here. You can collect very useful and valuable details regarding chicken coop from this website and that also without paying any money.
Everyone around the earth will give precedence to their health and for that they have to eat clean or hygienic food items whether it is eggs, chicken or vegetables. You cannot give cent percent guarantees for the chicken you bought from the market but you can give such guarantee if the chicken if from your own chicken coop. I started my own chicken coops because I am very strict on consuming fresh food articles and for that I am not only producing eggs and chicken but also producing vegetables and fruits.
Build your own catapults and have fun
Posted on | August 26, 2009 | No Comments
Building your own catapults can be real fun, but you should have an idea on how to do it. If you are of the creative type, then you can use your imagination and try it on your own and enjoy. Otherwise you can refer various websites how to build catapults and from that definitely you will be able to get different ideas and catapults comes in various designs, size, and shapes and decide on what type of catapult you are going to build. Once you have decided on your stuff, the next step would be to buy the materials and for that you should go to the hardware store.
Once that step is also over, by referring the website you can start making your own catapults and actually making catapults on your own are a lot easier than any other stuff. Catapults are a nice game for kids and they would definitely enjoy playing with them and if you are able to make catapults with different designs and materials, then it would be lot more fun and surely you would enjoy the game very much and if there are many people to play then it is definitely enjoyable and you would have lots of fun.
Easy chicken coop plans to build it easily
Posted on | August 13, 2009 | No Comments
Plans make things easier and much more efficient. That is probably why I downloaded the easy chicken coop plans when my mother said that she wanted a chicken coop in the backyard. I thought building one was a bad idea at first because we good enough and more meat and eggs from the market. But I realized the seriousness of good and hygienic food when my neighbor got food poisoned because of rotten eggs. As soon as I came to know of it, I got the plans ready and decided to build the coop by myself.
The plans were really descriptive and gave me instructions that were easy to follow. The coop was ready in no time and after a few days my mother actually started making money out of the coop because all the people wanted hygienic chicken. We decided to build more chicken coops and very soon had quite a business running and the profit that we were making was just great. When we had saved up enough, we decided it was time to make it bigger and bought a property quite near the house and thing went just great. I am really glad I got those plans because I did not even have to hire another person to build the coops.
Read more books and articles on chicken raising and care
Posted on | August 4, 2009 | No Comments
Once I visited the poultry farm of a relative and saw that the chickens were really healthy and it was evident by sight. The very week, I visited my aunt who also had a chicken coop in her backyard and the chickens there looked dull and very sick. My aunt was practically angry when I told her that she didn’t take enough care of the birds and told her that she would be better off selling the coop to someone who knew how to raise chicken.
I advised her to read more books on chicken raising and care and also to read more articles on that topic. She finally consented and I left her house. As soon as I reached my house, I gave a call to the relative who owned the poultry farm and asked him for tips to keep the chickens healthy. He told me to visit this website and told me that there were tips and also more examples and promised me that the website would help. I told my aunt about the website and within weeks there were visible proof to say that the chickens looked healthier than ever before. So, if you have weak or sick chicken or you are planning to build a chicken coop, first learn about the raising and caring of chicken and live healthy.
Build you very own for fun
Posted on | July 26, 2009 | No Comments
Are you bored and in terrible need for something to do? There are a lot of diy projects that you can easily do and building catapults are one among the best options for you if you are an adventurous type and like to go on treks. Most people think that building catapults require a lot of efforts and that it is very difficult to build. And instead they buy it from stores that charge them double the amount that would take to actually take to build the catapult all by yourself.
If you are looking forward to build it by yourself, you would definitely require some help and the there is no better source of information than the internet. You can find the list of materials that you may need and also the instruction on what to do with those materials. Once you have your instructions and the list, go to the nearest hardware store as you will find everything you need in any hardware store and get to work building the catapult. After building it, test the catapult and check if it works properly. If not, adjust the band according to the length of your stick and your catapult is ready for fun.
Make a chicken coop and make life better
Posted on | July 17, 2009 | No Comments
I went to a farm house every vacation to visit my grandfather. When I went there last vacation, I saw my grandfather talking to a carpenter. When I asked to my grandfather what it was all about, he told me that he was hiring the carpenter to build a chicken coop. I was surprised that my grandfather didn’t know to build one. Then, I told him that he need not hire a carpenter and waste money as I could build him a chicken coop all by myself.
My grandfather told me that I could not do it and I took it up as a challenge. I used my laptop to refer this website which taught me how to make a chicken coop and I set to work the very next day and it was done in two days. My grandfather was astonished and told me that I was a genius. The coop was strong and sturdy and it made the dear old man very happy. I also built him two more coops by the end of my vacation and promised him that I would build him anything he wanted when I go there for my summer vacation the next time.
Make use of chicken coop plans to its maximum
Posted on | July 10, 2009 | No Comments
Yesterday one of my classmates and close friend called and told me that our final year degree result would be available the next day and asked about my future plans. I told him that even though I wanted to join a post graduation course, my financial condition will not permit me for the same and so I might go for a job or start a business. I also told him that few days back I got chicken coop plans from my uncle who was doing business in poultry field and I might also start a small scale chicken coop in my house.
Then I asked my friend about his plan and for that he told me that his destiny was also the same as mine and asked me to help him also in starting a small coop. I assured all my help and told him that free plans to start chicken coops were available in this website and gave him the link and asked him to go through the plans. I told my friend that we could complete our post graduation degree through online courses and explained the advantages of entering into poultry business which I gathered from my uncle who provided me the plans.
keep looking »