水車 Suisha / Water Wheel

[Charles]

Yamamoto san
Met him at a tool shop here in town ,after talking for a bit , he invited me out to his place .
An amazing man in his late 80's ,he built most of the homes in his small town .
This water wheel was something he recently built to keep busy ...... had a great time and look forward to meeting him again , smiling he insisted he would not be around much longer ... On parting he gave me a couple of hand planes and said " Daiji ni shite kudasai"

[Mathieu]

On Sunday a french Compagnon was passing by to visit me and we decided to go buy some spelt flower at a mill close by. we where both interested in having a look at the carpentry work and the wooden mechanics. Not a water mill this one but it is wind which powers the mechanism, nonetheless interesting. Here are some pics.

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The wheel itself was made of Elm the 'teeth' of Black Locust protruding through the wheel and wedged from behind. Easy to replace in case they wear out.
The rods in where the teeth grip into where made of Hornbeam, a lot of beeswax is applied to keep everything rolling smoothly. I am sorry but I don't know the right English terminology I hope you guys understand what I mean.

Since it was a reconstruction the main axle was made of iron which ran in a 'belgian blue stone' with a lot of animal grease to keep things running smoothly. There was only one block of Lignum Vitae which secured the axle that powers the stone. It was a removable block put into place after it was shifted into its gear.

[john verge]

Never took the time to view these posts before. Wow, what a tremendously interesting couple of experiences you both had! And thanks for sharing them, it means a lot.