I read a good description of the affair in James Essinger's "Jacquard's Web" - came down to the machinist cutting the gears not-to-spec, for the geartrains to f

I read a good description of the affair in James Essinger's "Jacquard's Web" - came down to the machinist cutting the gears not-to-spec, for the geartrains to function smoothly they would have needed precision not achieved for decades. The Royal Society was willing to fund the project but it became a bottomless money pit as Babbage kept sending the parts back to the kitchen so to speak.