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Local News |
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| Putting their shoulders to the millstone |
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| By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer |
Friday, September 09, 2005 |
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DYLAN SLAGLE/STAFF PHOTOS
From left, Mason Maddox, Steve Parker, Dave Rollenhagen, Ben Smith and Jim Kricher move a millstone at Union Mills Homestead on Thursday.
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UNION MILLS - About a dozen mill enthusiasts from across the country worked together Thursday to replace a steel band around one of the original grist stones at Union Mills.
Jim Kricker, a millwright, or builder and restorer of mills, from Saugerties, N.Y., has performed previous restoration projects at Union Mills and led the project. His helpers were attendees at the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills conference being held in Westminster this week.
The first challenge the volunteers had to overcome was lifting the millstone out of the 3-foot lower platform and up to the main floor of the mill. The volunteers used a chain attached to a hook over a wooden crane within the mill to ratchet the stone 3 feet into the air, just above the main floor's level.
As the stone was lifted higher and higher, the volunteers used wooden beams underneath the stone to catch it, in case it dropped. When it reached the 3-foot mark, it was gently lowered from the chain onto the wooden beams.
Once the stone was propped up, Kricker and the volunteers built a track system out of boards to close the gap from the beams to the main floor of the mill. Kricker used metal pipes as rollers to move the stone the 15 feet or so across the mill floor, closer to the door.
The next step was to measure the circumference of the millstone so they could make the steel band the perfect size to fit around the stone.
Kricker pulled out a millwright's traveler, a tool that uses a wheel marked with measurements around its circumference that spins on an axle as it is rolled around the surface of an object.
Kricker counted that the traveler made 6 and almost a quarter rotations around the wheel, which equaled 12 feet and 7 inches.
Mason Maddox, a miller from Colvin Run Mill in Great Falls, Va., used the traveler to measure a second time and came up with the exact same measurement. As an extra precaution, Kricker used a math equation to see what circumference he would get by using the measured diameter of 48 inches - which turned out to be 12 feet and 6.75 inches. The group decided to go with the traveler's measurement.
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"Sometimes the old way is the best way," Maddox said.
Next, the group measured the steel strip Kricker had brought with him and cut it just smaller than the actual circumference of the stone.
That way they would have to heat the steel band to a high temperature with a fire, Kricker said, then put the band over the stone before it cooled. Once it cooled, the band would shrink, he said, and fix tightly to the stone.
Kricker was cautious with his calculations, wanting to make sure the band would fit over the stone and not cool before it was in the proper place. Kricker used a book to estimate the temperature of the steel by its color and estimate its expansion amount, also controlled by the temperature.
Once the piece of steel had been riveted together and holes cut for where the millstone's holes were, the steel band was placed in a fire made from scrap wood. Kricker left the band in the fire for about 45 minutes until he believed it was the right temperature and had expanded enough to fit over the stone. Then he and a volunteer, both wearing fireproof gloves, picked up the band and removed it from the fire.
The volunteers put a metal pole through some of the holes in the band, allowing them to rotate it to a vertical position so they could get it through the mill door. They carried it inside and lined the holes up with the holes in the millstone, then placed it over the millstone.
It slipped right on, Kricker said. Unfortunately, all of the holes in the band and the millstone were slightly off. The volunteers used crowbars to rotate the steel band on the millstone, and once it was in place, left it there to cool.
The last step was to roll the millstone back over the wooden rails to its place on the lower platform. The project took more than eight hours, but everyone involved said they were glad to take part.
The rest of the convention participants who did not participate in the workshop will visit the Union Mills Homestead on Saturday.
Reach staff writer Carrie Ann Knauer at 410-857-7874 or carriem@lcniofmd.com.
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