Thank you guys for discussing my work. You created a huge traffic peak on my blog! I had to search a bit to find where it did come from as HN's links apparently aren't tracked by WordPress statistics (rel="nofollow" I guess)
Clearly the wheel would be extremely difficult to produce and to operate, especially if torque has to be transmitted. I intended to model a version with the german cable design, i.e. one of the half-spoke attached to the star wheel axle, but I leave this to the most fanatic of you ;-)
My answers to some of your questions:
Yes, my own images are free ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shaftpasser1.jpg and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shaftpasser2.jpg ) . The scan from the mine cable was sent to me by email but I don't know its exact reference and status
Clearly the wheel would be extremely difficult to produce and to operate, especially if torque has to be transmitted. I intended to model a version with the german cable design, i.e. one of the half-spoke attached to the star wheel axle, but I leave this to the most fanatic of you ;-)
Congrats to ambrop7 for the printable model !