Journe was tinkering to see if he could redesign the Centigraphe to work without oil while still protecting the delicate mechanism from wear and tear.

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But despite booming oil revenues, Venezuela's basic infrastructure is showing signs of wear and tear.

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The purchases included the Canada-based R Wales group of companies, which makes specialist rubber and wear resistant linings for the mining, minerals processing and oil sands industries.

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The ruby bearings are also practical: They reduce wear on the device by accommodating larger pinions and by holding more lubricating oil for the mechanism.

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