posted 4 years ago
John, they definitely did use wooden gears for various purposes. If those bamboo gears were of much size, they were likely laminated, and may have been surprisingly strong, and as you say, there are many low powered uses for gears. Wood can also make excellent bearings. Submarines also used lignum vitae bearings in at least the periscopes, if memory serves. I had an idea to make a huge, exposed gear wooden clock for a wall, powered by water. Maybe some day...
“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”