| We enjoy demonstrating our
Williams gristmill. This one has 16 inch stones, and does
a great job of grinding meal. Half of the fun of this
kind of demonstration is listening to folks talk about
someone they knew who ran a gristmill in their area many
years ago. In this area of North Carolina there are
remains of many earthen dams that were built to hold
water to run a gristmill. It is interesting to read early
deeds and wills from this area, because so many of them
mention gristmills, along with other important property,
like whiskey stills :-) We run our mill with the 7 HP
Alamo hit and miss engine shown here with the mill. |
| Ever wonder what the
inside of a gristmill looks like? Here are pictures of
the Williams mill opened up to show the stones. One is
the fixed stone which is cemented in place, and the other
is the runner stone that is fastened to the shaft that
drives the mill. The grain is fed through the center by a
simple auger that is part of the shaft. The grain then is
simply ground as it runs down toward the outside of the
stones. The gap between the surfaces of the stones gets
smaller as it gets closer to the rim. The coarseness of
the meal is adjusted by changing this gap. | 
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| This
stone pictured is owned by Sharon Jackson of
Mckinleyville, CA. It was found on an old farm in PA. It
is 13 inches across the face. Judging by the depth of the
grooves my guess is that it was meant for fairly coarse
grinding. If anyone can help Sharon identify this stone,
please contact her at: Kevsharjackson@aol.com |  |
 
| These mills are owned by Tom
Schoolcraft schooltc@wirefire.comTom livesin Petroleum, WV. The
mill left top is a 12 inch Nordyke and Marmon. Below that
is a small unidentified mill. I have included a scan of a
page from a 1920 Nordyke catalog. . You can see these and
other interesting machines by going to Tom's homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Mesa/7163/engine.html
 |
| Here are two
views of a rare Winona 'Diamond' grist mill, built by the
Winona Manufacturing Co., Winona, Minnesota. This is all
cast iron construction. The mill is owned by Dave Otto of
Boise, Idaho. Dave is a member of the Stationary Engine
List. (Photos courtesy of Dave Otto) | 
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| This
is a 'Queen of the South' mill, built by Straub Machinery
Co., of Cincinatti, Ohio. This carries a patent date of
1870. The stones in this mill run horizontally, with the
shaft being vertical. This mill is owned by Wallace
McPeak, of Canton, Texas. Wallace is also a member of the
Stationary Engine List. (Photo courtesy of Wallace McPeak.)
Check his page out at: http://home1.gte.net/wmcpeak/index.htm |
| This
is a mill by the C. S. Bell company, which is owned and
restored by John Bailey of Lake Charles, LA. John is a
member of the Stationary Engine List, and this mill and
engine were featured in an article in Gas Engine Magazine
in March of 1997. He has it belted up to a 3 HP Fairbanks
Morse 'ZC'. (Photo courtesy of John Bailey) John also has
a Williams mill which he is restoring and is documenting
on his webpage at: http://www.faculty.mcneese.edu/jbailey/burrmill.htm | 
|
| This is
our little Enterprise buhr mill, made by the Enterprise
Manufacturing Co.,Philadelphia, PA. This company made
many different kinds of small grinding mills. We use this
to make 'cracked' corn, though it can grind meal as well.
This is a big hit at shows because the kids love to crank
it. |
 
| Kevin
Bandy, Alexandria, TN provoided pictures of his new
Dempster mill. This little gem was a gift from his wife.
She certainly has good taste:-) You can see more of
Kevin's collection of old iron at: http://klbandy.tripod.com/oldiron/index2.htm |
| This mill
is a Letz #220 belonging to Karl Rockeman, a student at
North Dakota State.Karl sent several pictures, so if you
would like to see them all, just click on the image at
the left.
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| This
Little Wonder grinder above, belongs to Jim Robinson of
Maxwell, NE. He is looking for any info he can find on
the Company. Contact him at: jjranch@nebnet.net |
| Denny
Foster foster@ellijay.com of Morganton, GA sent
a few pictures of his new 24 inch Sprout, Waldron stone
mill. Click on the image on the left to see more of this
heavy mill! |
 | Pictures
of the mill at the left were sent in for help in
identification. If you can help, contact Brady at: laura@palacenet.net(click
on picture for more images) |
