Last Saturday I had a chance to visit the old Bale Grist Mill in St. Helena, CA (Napa Valley) This mill was put into operation in 1847, it is now a state park but still produces meal and flour on a regular basis. Check it out here. http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/GristMill.htm I’ll try to post a few pictures I took. Here is a view of the mill showing the 36.5 foot water wheel with the 24 foot bull gear that drives a small gear at the top that powers a belt line that drives equipment in the upper floor. The bull gear also drives a small gear at the bottom that powers the grind stones.
This view shows the flume coming to the mill. Originally the flume was 1100 feet long from the mill pond to the wheel. Now they have a storage tank on the hill that gravity feeds a standpipe that feeds the flume. After the water leaves the wheel it is caught in a basin and pumped back to the storage tank.
The sluice has been opened and the wheel put in operation.
In this view you can see the bull gear and the upper drive gear very plainly.
Here is the drive shaft coming from the bottom gear on the water wheel under the floor and going to the gears that actually turn the grind stones. The larger gear on the left is cast steel with wooden gear teeth while the smaller one on the right is all cast steel including the teeth. Every other gear in the chain has wooden teeth, they wear better this way and also prevent any posssibility of sparks. Flour dust can be highly explosive.
A view of the “furniture” as the wooden cabinets that hold the grind stones are called. As you can see this mill runs two sets of stones. The grist is loaded into the hopper on the top and spills into the shaker trough just below. it is fed to the stones from the trough by a bumper, which is a cam on a shaft at the center of the stones. The rate of feed is adjusted by the string that changes the angle of the trough.
If you ever have the chance to visit this mill, do so, it is well worth the effort Thanks for your time. Rick MARTY
