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On Mon, 28 Dec 2020, maceion@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Machine tool life span is in order of 50 ~ 100 years.
The PDP-8a I have (c1970) came out of a CNC machine tool that was still in active production until some 3 years ago. They were retro fitting the machine tools with modern controllers... So 50 years to get a software upgrade isn't bad...
Stuff (machine tool with strange use *) installed in 1910 by my ex employer is and has been critical to food production for a certain Middle East Country. * it has 'wooden bearings" (lignum Vitae) but that is another story.
Old water/wind grain mills have wooden gear wheel teeth. (And, well, just about everything else is also wood). wooden gear teeth was common in other older heavy machinery too - and they were replaceable. Mostly "sacrificial" too - if e.g. a stone came down the water chute and jammed the wheel, you really didn't want the inertia of 4 tonnes of turning stones destroying the whole mill, so losing a tooth or 2 was OK.
GordonPs. Anyone want to buy a PDP-8a with 16KW or core memory? It was recently serviced just before it was decommissioned and in perfect working order...
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