The interior of a functional water mill

The basic anatomy of a millstone. Note that this is a runner stone. A bedstone would not have the "Spanish Cross" into which the supporting millrynd fits.

Grinding maize in a working watermill, Thethi, northern Albania.

Making furrows on a millstone

Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains. Image File history File linksMetadata WatermillWealdandDownland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata WatermillWealdandDownland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (900x1262, 188 KB) Summary This image was created by and is copyright 2006 by steve gray, in association with his contribution to the Wikipedia entry on Millstones. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (900x1262, 188 KB) Summary This image was created by and is copyright 2006 by steve gray, in association with his contribution to the Wikipedia entry on Millstones. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2448 × 3264 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2448 × 3264 pixel, file size: 2. ... “Corn” redirects here. ... Watermill of Braine-le-Château, Belgium (12th century) A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour or lumber production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x775, 136 KB) Summary Portrait of an old man dressing a Millstone from the collection of the Smithsonian Institute’s following link: http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x775, 136 KB) Summary Portrait of an old man dressing a Millstone from the collection of the Smithsonian Institute’s following link: http://www. ... A Dutch tower windmill surrounded by tulips A windmill is an engine powered by the wind to produce energy, often contained in a large building as in traditional post mills, smock mills and tower mills. ... Watermill of Braine-le-Château, Belgium (12th century) A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour or lumber production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing). ... A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ...

Millstones used in Britain were commonly of two types:

• Derbyshire Peak stones of grey millstone grit, cut from one piece, used for grinding barley; imitation Derbyshire Peak stones are used as decorative signposts at the boundaries of the Peak District National Park. Derbyshire Peak stones wear quickly and are typically used to grind animal feed since they leave stone powder in the flour making it undesirable for human consumption.

• French burr stones, used for finer grinding. Not cut from one piece, but built up from sections of quartz, cemented together with plaster, and bound with iron bands. French Burr comes from the Marne Valley in northern France.

The surface of a millstone is divided by deep grooves called furrows into separate flat areas called lands. Spreading away from the furrows are smaller grooves called feathering or "cracking". The furrows and lands are arranged in repeating patterns called harps. A typical millstone will have six, eight or ten harps. The grooves provide a cutting edge and help to channel the ground flour out from the stones. When in regular use stones need to be dressed periodically, that is, re-cut to keep the cutting surfaces sharp. Gritstone is a sedimentary rock composed of coarse sand grains and is a coarser version of sandstone. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a cereal grain, which serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food. ... The Peak District National Park is a national park in the north of England. ... Gypsum based plaster used in spray fireproofing in a low-rise industrial building in Vancouver, British Columbia. ...

Millstones come in pairs. The base or bedstone is stationary. Above the bedstone is the turning runner stone which actually does the grinding. The runner stone is supported by a cross-shaped metal mill rynd fixed to a "mace head" topping the main shaft or spindle leading to the driving mechanism of the mill (either water or wind powered). The pattern of harps is repeated on the face of each stone, when they are laid face to face the patterns mesh in a kind of "scissoring" motion creating the cutting or grinding function of the stones. Bedstone is a tiny village and parish (population 85) in the county of Shropshire, England, close to the border with Wales. ... A runner stone is the upper-most of a pair of working millstones. ... A Rynd (also Rind or millrynd) is a cross-shaped iron support for the runner stone in a pair of millstones. ...

Millstones need to be evenly balanced, and achieving the correct separation of the stones is crucial to producing good quality flour. The experienced miller will be able to adjust their separation very accurately.

Notes

See also

• Millstone Dressing Tools
• European millstone quarries : a data base