[SEL] Re: Wolseley Type "R"

[Rick I.]

>  ... One question - the gear on the maggy is breaking up pretty badly
>(unuseable again) - was this made from leather? It is "flaking" apart like
>a really old phenolic gear but I do not think that phenolic was around in
>1928. Could it have been made from leather? Whatever it was made from was
>obviously as a safety feature (as in "shear bolt") to prevent damage to
>anything else, but why on the magneto which is a free running unit at the
>end of the "power train" ? I will study it more carefully on Wednesday (
>and probably post some pics).
>....
>Keep the revs up (or down)
>Jerry Evans
>Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.

(It's taken me a few days to recall this word...)
this layered fiber material may be "micarta".  It was invented circa 1910
and fits
your description.

-Rick I.