Comment by mikewarot
4 months ago
The gear cutting machines almost never had mechanical failures. As long as they keep them lubricated, and occasionally muck out the sumps, the machines should still be going in the year 2100.
The other thing about gear cutting is that hobs only cut one size/profile of tooth. Some of the cutting tools I was using dated from before WW1, for odd sizes that didn't get used much.
> for odd sizes that didn't get used much
Well, perhaps the long term solution is to rework it and start to use more common sizes. Standardization is a good thing in the long run.