[jskene]

Thank you for the clarification.
From what you are saying, am I to imply that you use pneumatics to control the balls? (you wrote: The ball bearings remain in the shaft until the air inside shaft pushes the balls out and locks the gear.) Henry seemed to indicate that there was a central rod in the axle that slid back and forth, and somehow pushed the balls out.

Did you use a water jet to cut the slots in the gears?