[team222badbrad]

TO answer some of your questions:

1. Yes I believed this was machined from 1" steel rod.
2. above
3. I am not sure what hole you mean?
4. Less than half of the bearing goes up inside the gear. This is to prevent the bearing from getting stuck inside the gear.
5. You might be able to get away with only 1 hole. However we used 2 different size holes.
6. Yes the shifing rod does rotate with the axle. We have a brass piece that is captured inside a thing that looks like a pulley.
7. No the balls do not push out inside the gears when the axle is rotating. This was talked about earlier in this thread.
8. You could do it with your pinky finger. If the holes are not aligned then you have to push on the springs. This takes more force.

I hope to get a white paper compiled soon. I have yet to wait till FIRST season is over probably. I am very busy. I also have a VICA competition coming up soon.

Any more questions?