[Leica] Babbage Ending, packing for shipping

[Herbert Kanner]

Just a few shots taken the next evening. Aa I said previously, Nathan Myhrvold wanted his machine back after eight years. To remind all, the London Science Museum just raised enough money to build the computation part of the machine; not enough to build the part on the left that creates the printed record and the mold for pouring in type metal.

When, years later, the London Museum tried to hit Bill Gates up for financing the remaining part; he referred them to Nathan Myhrvold. The latter offered to finance two copies of the missing portion and one more copy of the existing one, saying he wanted that machine in his living room. Never got there. Instead he loaned it to us on a yearly renewable basis, and we kept it for eight years. He also was a good friend in that when we almost ran out of spares of a certain part which was originally milled in three pieces and brazed together, he said that a company he just bought could make them for us. The brazing of one portion was a weak point, and one circumstance caused two things to try to occupy the same space at the same time 
caused that part of break off. The new ones were milled from one block of bronze, and the same circumstance merely bent the part but left it functional.

Tim is the head of our maintenance group. Mike is the expert from Nathan’s company. Tim and his wife accompanies the machine to Seattle to help get it working, and despite all the precautions, had to do a lot.

The first two shots show the cross braces and fore and aft braces to secure the main frame when shipping. These rods were already threaded, with left-hand threads at one end and right-hand at the other. The threaded sockets were built into the frame.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004619.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004619.jpg.html>
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004616.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004616.jpg.html>

The first one below shows Mike making an adjustment and Tim taking notes.
The second show Mike in the “ground state”.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004596.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004596.jpg.html>
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004596.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1004596.jpg.html>

Enjoy,

Herb






Herbert Kanner
kanner at acm.org

Question Authority and the authorities will question you.