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[MisterLich]

Just a minor suggestion, I think mechanisms should also be able to be made out of metals.

It just seems silly that they cannot be, it's a minor immersion suggestion.  I just feel that metal mechanisms (along with stone) would contribute to the game's immersion.

[Savok]

Ah, but metals can heat up, causing the ionization matrix of the mechanism's entropy to fluctuate swiftly, which could lead to overall mesh deterioration resulting in gearbox elimination.

...

Yeah. I agree with the OP.

And they would fix that silly bauxite problem.

[LegoLord]

This has already been suggested.  DF is an alpha, meaning it is not yet complete.  It is important to check the developments page and searching the suggestions forum before making a suggestion.  (It doesn't really hurt anything, just clutters the subforum with another thread)

[Silverionmox]

To elaborate, stone mechanisms should take up a whole space (since stone is brittle, the mechanisms need to be big in order not to break). Metal mechanisms could be used as they are presently, without requiring extra space.

[LegoLord]

To elaborate, stone mechanisms should take up a whole space (since stone is brittle, the mechanisms need to be big in order not to break). Metal mechanisms could be used as they are presently, without requiring extra space.

What?  No.  Bad bad bad.  Some stones would be very suitable for mechanisms, some more suitable than a lot of metals.

[Onlyhestands]

We also should be able to make wooden mechanisms too.

[Mephansteras]

Hmmm...maybe with the new material changes that could work out. At least, once Toady adds in item wear. That way you COULD use brittle stone or wood, or soft metals, but it'd wear out faster and need to be replaced. Good incentive to find nice hard rock (like diorite or alunite) or use a good metal (bronze, iron, steel, etc).

[irmo]

What?  No.  Bad bad bad.  Some stones would be very suitable for mechanisms, some more suitable than a lot of metals.

Such as?

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

It'd add an incentive to make brass.
Brass is extremely good for this sort of thing. They don't make clockwork out of it just because it looks pretty.

[LegoLord]

What?  No.  Bad bad bad.  Some stones would be very suitable for mechanisms, some more suitable than a lot of metals.

Such as?

\
Diorite and alunite, among others, as Mephansteras mentioned.

[Silverionmox]

Alunite is usually hardness 4 (your fingernail is 2,5), so that's not really hard. And diorite is hard, but hard usually also implies brittle. It's questionable whether the sudden strains wouldn't be enough to break a small cog. With large ones, it wouldn't matter so much. Plus there's the grain of some stones, hidden cracks.. Metal doesn't have these problems, and it's easier to shape too, especially in small shapes.

[LegoLord]

Actually, 2.5 is fairly hard (whatever units that's supposed to be in).  Fingernails are extremely tough for their size.  If you had enough of the stuff to make a mechanism, it'd be a good mechanism (unless you had it as a gear assembly hooked up to a water wheel, in which case it may burn or melt from friction heat).

[Silverionmox]

Yes, but fingernails are also flexible. Hardness (Mohs scale) just means resistance to wear. Resistance to strain and shock are different; you can do mechanic things with metals that would shatter rocks. Not that all rocks should be excluded beforehand, but it should not be taken for granted that wooden, rock and metal can be made into mechanisms the same size and quality.

[LegoLord]

You don't need springs to make pressure plates.  Just ropes, pulleys, weights, etc.  Really, all the elastic mechanisms aren't used much in 14th century Europe.

And thick enough fingernails aren't very flexible, from my experience.

[Silverionmox]

I didn't mean elastic as a means to store energy, I did mean flexible - the ability to keep form while absorbing shocks - as opposed to brittle.

Stones are heavy. If you want to makes something that turns, you need an axis or pins, and narrow stone ones will break if you put a lot of weight on them. And stone parts are inevitably heavy. There's no problem with using stone weights etc, but that's not where the mechanism hinges on.