I like this line of thought.    
      
   The following also occurred to me.   
      
   Regarding leaving gears out when rebuilding the item;    
      
   If you had spent so much time building a machine and were transporting it via   
   sea during the archaic age, would you not take spare parts?    
      
   The idea that somebody smart enough to achieve such mathematical and   
   mechanical feats at that time would fail to consider the potential for repairs   
   and maintenance strikes me as a little, well, out of character. It is not   
   unreasonable to consider that    
   some of the parts recovered were intended for maintenance.   
      
   Alternatively, perhaps some of the additional gears were designed to alter the   
   function of the device for another, perhaps similar purpose. A small   
   reassembling of gears would change the initial measurements. We've certainly   
   used gears in this manner for    
   a very long time.   
      
   Lateral yes, but logical none-the-less. Certainly more logical than the   
   rejection of the notion that the vessel would have carried additional parts,   
   I'd say.    
      
   Regarding additional gears used in the reconstruction;    
      
   Ancient sets are rarely recovered in a complete state, especially when lost at   
   sea. I'd be more sceptical if there were no parts missing. To me, this only   
   serves to reinforce the argument in favour of its legitimacy.    
      
   Best wishes.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)