A-Z glossary

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Ladder
See Steps.

Ladder Fantail
A post mill fantail which is mounted on the ladder.

Laddle Mill
A horizontal Watermill (Scot.).

Lade
See Launder.

Lag
The setting of the millstones so they are spaced out correctly for a particular type of work.

Lag Governor
An early form of GOVERNOR.

Laid Lines
The close light lines in laid paper formed by the laid lines of the hand mould or DANDY ROLL.

Laid Papers
When held up to the light they have a ribbed or lined effect due to the paper being made with a cover of closely-placed parallel laid wires to form a sieve through which the water drains.

Lair
To settle a millstone into position (Scot.).

Laminated Spring
See Springs.

Landfasts
?

Lands
The flat raised surfaces between the furrows forming the grinding face of a millstone. See also FORE EDGE and BACK EDGE.

Landside Bearing
A waterwheel shaft bearing which is located on the outer or land-side of the waterwheel.

Lantern Floor
The floor in a windmill where the lantern pinion wallower is located (now known as the dust floor).

Lantern Gear
See Lantern Pinion.

Lantern Pinion
An early form of gear wheel consisting of STAVES mortised between two wooden discs or flanges (TRINLEBOARDS) the STAVES serving as COGS, and engaging a SPUR or FACE GEAR.

Lantern Wheel
See Lantern Pinion.

Lateen Sail
A triangular sail used in Mediterranean windmills.

Laths
On common sails, the intermediate longitudinal bars of light section on the sail frame, to resist the wind pressure on the canvas.

Launder
Head race in the form of a trough or channel carrying water to the wheel. Also called a FLUME or LADE.

Layer
The person who separates the sheets of hand-made paper from the felts on which they have been pressed.

Laying Out
Setting out the LANDS and FURROWS on a MILLSTONE.

Layshaft
See Line Shaft.

Lazt-Back Catch
See Click.

Lead
See Draft.

Lead Mill
See Colour Mill.

Leader Board
See Leading Board.

Leading Board
A board fixed to the leading edge of a SAIL, directing the flow of air onto the CLOTH or SHUTTERS.

Leat
See Flume.

Ledger
The bottom side rail of a POST MILL (lower side girt) (Suffolk).

Left-Hand Dress
The furrow pattern of a pair of MILLSTONES where the RUNNER STONE rotates anticlockwise as seen from above(in a conventional windmill or watermill layout). With millstones DRESSED with HARP pattern furrows, a MASTER FURROW, when viewed from one edge of the stone, passes from the left-hand side of the EYE (DRAFT CIRCLE) to the edge of the stone towards the viewer. The minor furrows lie parallel to it on its left hand side. With SICKLE DRESS and other variants of curved furrows, the furrows similarly pass generally from the left hand side of the draft circle towards the viewer. Both stones of the pair usually carry an identical DRESS as viewed when DRESSING, i.e. with RUNNER STONE face-up.

Left-Handed Fantail
A fantail, the fan of which when seen by a viewer having his back to the wind, turns anti-clockwise. The wind usually operates the fantail when blowing obliquely on to it. The fan will .reverse direction when the wind blows on to its opposite face, but will still be seen to turn anti-clockwise by a viewer with his back to the wind.

Left-Handed Millstones
A pair of MILLSTONES carryingLEFT-HAND DRESS.

Left-Handed Windmill
A windmill, the sails of which when seen by a viewer having his back to the wind, turn clockwise.

Level
An area of marshland to be drained by a windmill.

Levelling Dirt
The material into which the CHERT PAVERS of a flint GRINDING PAN are set.

Lever
A means of gaining a mechanical advantage especially used in the brake and tentering systems.

Lever and Fork
See Forked Lever.

Lever, Leverer
The man in a paper mill who operates the press

Levers
Pivoted control arms (e.g. on sail shutters).

Lewder
The floor supporting the nether millstone (Scot.).

Lewises (set of)
See Clam.

Lichens
(1) The levers in the pit of the mill which operate the millstones (Scot.). (2) The entry into the space where the pit wheel turns (Scot.).

Lichten
To operate the lighter staff (Scot.).

Lick of Goodwill
Toll abstracted by a wily miller!

Lieuvain's Lubricator
An inverted bottle containing oil, with a centre loose rod through the cap, for lubricating bearings on shafts.

Lift
A small cast-iron lever and pivot combined, fixed to one end of a SHUTTER. Same as CRANK (Kent).

Lift Tenter
Lever for TENTERING the stones by hand, now quite outmoded but still existing.

Lifters
CAMS driven onto a shaft or stamps barrel to raise the STAMPS, which then fall by gravity.

Lifting Tree
See Lift Tenter.

Lifting Wedge
A wedge used when the runner stone is being lifted.

Ligger
See BEDSTONE.

Ligger
See Bedstone.

Lighten
See Tentering.

Lightening Gear
STEELYARD and linkages between BRIDGE TREE and GOVERNOR.

Lightening Tree
An adjustable wooden rod supporting the end of the sole tree in the Horizontal mill.

Lighter Bar
A hand worked lever for operating the BRIDGE TREE which raises and lowers the stone spindle.

Lighter Irons
See Steelyard.

Lighter Screw
An adjustable screw connecting the BRAYER or BRIDGETREE to the STEELYARD and is used to adjust it by raising or lowering it. Part of the LIGHTENING GEAR.

Lighter Staff
A lever connected to the BRIDGE TREE or BRAYER which lifts the stone spindle.

Lightering
See Tentering.

Lignum Vitae
The green, hard & heavy wood of the Guaiacum, a West Indian tree. Used as a bearing in many water turbines, thus lubricated by the water.

Lime Stone Mill
A mill that grinds stone consisting wholly of calcium carbonate. See also WHITENING MILL.

Line Shaft
(1) A horizontal DRIVING SHAFT taking power from the prime mover to the DRIVEN machinery. Usually provided with BELT PULLEYS to drive the machines, otherwise with gears. (2) A horizontal SHAFT for transmitting power to additional equipment by BELTS or GEARS.

Linen Mill
A TEXTILE MILL in which linen cloth is manufactured from FLAX fibres.

Link Chain
Chain supporting the tail pole of a post mill.

Lipie
Half a gallon or 4 pints (Scot.).

Lippie
See Lipie.

Liquor
A general term for chemical solutions, but in the paper industry chiefly used for the alkaline solutions.

Liquoring
Addition of pure water (termed liquor) to a charge before and during milling.

Listings
The webbing straps which connect the blinds of roller reefing sails.

Lith
A notch on the underside of the upper millstone into which the SILE is fitted to transmit the motion from the waterwheel.

Little Face Wheel
A FACE WHEEL on a LAYSHAFT, driving a STONE SPINDLE.

Live Collar
COLLAR (1) which incorporates small wheels

Live Curb
A CURB supporting a windmill CAP, on which the cap revolves on rollers or wheels.

Loading Floor
A floor raised to cart-level so that the cart can be loaded and unloaded without having to lift the sacks to a different level. (Such a floor is in a granary at Wye Watermill in Kent).

Locum
See Lucam.

Lode
A cut for water, or an aqueduct (old Sussex).

Lodge
MILL POND (northern terms).

Logarithmic Dress
A type of MILLSTONE DRESSING where the furrows are generally alike in length and curvature and the crossing angles are constant all the way out.

Logwood
The heartwood of Haematoxylon Campechianum (Leguminosae). See LOGWOOD MILL.

Logwood Mill
A mill equipped for rasping logwood, used to produce a dark red dye.

Long Patent
A variety of patent flour with a large percentage of the finest flour.

Long System
Milling process involving a large number of stages resulting in several different grades of products.

Look-Through
Structural appearance of a sheet of paper observed when viewed by transmitted light.

Loom
A machine on which yarn is woven into fabric.

Loop
A small shuttered porthole usually in the BREAST of a POST MILL on the MEAL FLOOR, through which the miller could keep a 'weather eye'.

Loose Tackle
Machinery largely driven by belts. see STIFF TACKLE.

Loper
See Runner Stone.

Louther Tree
See Lift Tenter.

Low Milling
The traditional method of grinding, reducing grain to flour in a single passage through the stones. See HIGH MILLING & ROLLER MILLING.

Low-Breast Wheel
Waterwheel receiving water below axle height; developed in the C18th & C19th. See BREAST-SHOT WHEEL See FOUR O'CLOCK WATERWHEEL.

Lowder
HURST. An invented term for a type of platform, supporting MILLSTONES above floor level. A table hurst.

Lower Millstone
See BEDSTONE.

Lower millstone
See Bedstone.

Lower Side Girts
See Bottom Side Rails.

Lubrication
Oiling and greasing bearings and cogs. Tallow is good for lubricating wooden parts. Olive oil and Sperm oil is good between metals. Lard is recommended between metal and wood cogs. For wooden WHEELSHAFT BEARINGS, water can be used or a lard / black-lead mixture. See also RING-OILED BEARING, STAUFFER and LIEUVAIN'S LUBRICATOR.

Lucam
A projecting gable or dormer for external hoisting on a watermill or other building. Also known as BIRDSNEST, LUCARNE, LUCCAM, LUCOMBE, LUCOMB (derived from the French LUCARNE meaning DORMER)

Lucarne
See Lucam.

Luccam
See Lucam.

Luccombe
See Lucam.

Luccumb
See Lucam.

Lucomb
See Lucam.

Luff
The manual turning of the movable part of the mill so that the SAILS face the wind. See WINDING. See WINDING GEAR.

Luffing
The act of LUFFING See LUFF.

Luffing Gear
See Winding Gear.

Lug
An L-shaped iron fitting bolted to a shutter bar to accept a threaded end of the fork iron, then locked in place with nuts. Part of patent sail linkage. (Suffolk).

Lyer
See BEDSTONE.

Lyer
See Bedstone.

Lying Stone
See Bedstone.