Talk:Pantograph

Disambiguating pantograph and pantograph (rail)

I changed the links on almost a dozen transit related pages to link to pantograph (rail) instead of plain pantograph... [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8],

It probably should have been the other way around, with the original meaning having the secondary page, and the transit usage getting the primary page. -- Geo Swan 21:05, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Every couple of months I return to the "what links here" button for pantograph, and scan for articles that are reallyabout rail, tram or subway rolling stock. I always find several to fix. Today I disambiguated these two: [9], [10].

Here are earlier efforts:

February 28 2005 [11], [12] May 20 2005 [13], [14], [15] July 12 2005 [16] July 26 2005 [17], [18], [19], [20] August 30 2005 [21] September 30 2005 [22], [23], [24] October 13 2005 [25] 2006 January 13 [26], [27], [28] 2006 February 10 [29], [30], [31] 2006 March 3 [32], [33], [34], [35] 2006 March 29 [36], [37] 2006 June 2 [38], [39] 2006 July 21 [40], [41], [42] 2006 July 28 [43], [44], [45] 2007 June 16 [46], [47], [48] 2007 September 20 [49], [50] 2007 November 30 [51], [52], [53] 2008 January 6 [54] 2008 March 4 [55] 2008 June 28 [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62]

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 12:56, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

I think that pantograph (rail) page should be here and the pantograph (drawing instrument) "put in a siding". The transit use of pantograph is the main and present day use to which the concept is put most frequently and importantly; not an antiquated drawing tool in this computer age. I was suprised to come here when following a link from a search engine. Is it a major job to swap them over? Mu2 (talk) 01:02, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Wording including "mimic"

There is an error in the first paragraph:

"...is a mechanical linkage connected in a special manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one specified point accurately mimicks [sic] the movement of another point. If a line drawing is traced by the first point, an identical, enlarged or miniaturized copy will be drawn by a pen fixed to the other."

It is not correct to say that one "point" mimics another "point," as if A were watching B and imitating B's movements; it is the movements of the first pen, tracing a drawing, which produces the movements of the second pen, so that the second pen can reproduce, on a larger scale, the image which the first pen traces. That first paragraph should be changed. --Wordwright. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wordwright (talk • contribs) 18:51, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Your change is fine. But I don't think many readers would have a problem with taking it so literally. Sometimes a figurative usage is just as easy, or easier, to grasp than a literal one. For example when people talk about, say, an autonomous vehicle that "knows where it is" via GPS. Of course the "knows" is figurative. But people get that, so it's not a problem. But your point is well taken though. Regards, — ¾-10 05:58, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Pantograph Miling Machines

This article has pictures of pantograph milling machines but no info on them is included in the body of the article. I think at least some info on them should be included in the article. --Cab88 (talk) 05:15, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Y Done and done! Happy to oblige. — ¾-10 19:01, 1 July 2011 (UTC)