[FW] Hydraulic Crusher Bot

[overkill]

Yep, speed and torque are interchangable, with only the mechanical losses interacting.

But what isn't interchangable is the total available force. A retracting ram has less force to mutate from speed to power or the other way around.

Good point. So that would mean that you could have a larger, possibly hollow rod that would give you a faster return stroke, assuming the crusher doesn't need nearly as much power to get the point out of the opponent. Would I be right in saying that for the same weight, a wider hollow rod will be stiffer than a smaller diameter solid rod? Sorry for all the questions, I am looking around for something a bit unusual for a sportsman weapon for next year.

[Eventorizon]

Would I be right in saying that for the same weight, a wider hollow rod will be stiffer than a smaller diameter solid rod?

Yes If the weigh was identical, the wider hollow rod would be stiffer. But I think (since the cross sectional area would actually be the same, just distributed differently) they would have identical compressive and tensile strengths.