I promised some photos of the geared hub failure mode. I will be hesitant to include photos of myself heretofore as they are presently being butchered, apparently for some ritualistic Mississippi barbeque, by a maniacal one-wheeled sadist somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line.
These photos are large, high resolution, about 200k each.
The first photo shows clearly the galling of this one planet shaft. I was unable to get a good view of the inside surface of the gear itself. The second photo just shows (or doesn’t show) that the gear teeth were undamaged.
I have the design finished for the revision and will begin machining a new, completely encased planet cage tomorrow. This is a recommendation Frank made after studying the guts of many Shimano hubs. The new design will be stronger, simpler to machine, reduced in parts count, lower in friction, more accurately located, and made of more appropriate materials. Why not do it right the first time, eh?