Smock Mill, Koski Farm

A wind-powered whiting mill in Finland.

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This mill was built by Mr. Antti Koski following his 1890 visit to Turku. He saw the mill there and decided to build one himself on the same principles. He did this with little outside assistance and commissioned it on 13 June, 1894. The stones are of Säkylä sandstone shaped on the spot by a retired local farmer called Pruuni. A local blacksmith, Iisakki Wahlroos, forged the wrought iron parts and the cast-iron components came from Kauttua Ironworks nearby. The cap of the mill is hemisperical with a rounded dormer at the tail to allow for a full length windshaft. The tower is cross-braced, with triangular windows as at Chesterton smock mill, Cambridge, and is levelled up on rocks; both cap and tower are shingle covered. There were six sails on a coffin cross. The cap is mounted on a shot curb with an iron rack; hand winding is effected by a hand crank with an iron pinion and wheel on a vertical wooden shaft on the stone floor. This passes up to a clasp arm sour wheel at floor level on the second floor; this drives a wooden pinion on a second wooden shaft that terminates in the final drive - a wooden pinion engaging with a wooden inward-facing rack on the cap circle. There is a clasp-arm brake-wheel braced in front to the wooden windshaft and driving a small wooden bevel wallower built up from segments and mounted on the upright shaft; the brake is of wood with ratchet and pawl to hold it. The large great spur wheel drives wooden stone nuts supported by wedged wooden bridgetrees. There are two pairs of underdrift stones on the first floor, one pair for peeling whole grain has a light upper stone; both upper and lower have slightly curved grooves; while lands in between are pitted. The other pair, used to grind rye meal for bread and oats for feed, are similar but not pitted. A skew-built ladder leads down to the ground floor. In a gale in August 1948 two sails were blown off and the other four were removed, but the rest of the mill was in full working order. In 1970 the mill was bought by the National Museum of Finland and will eventually be moved to its Open Air Museum at Seurassari, Helsinki.

Built up from segments and mounted on the right upright shaft.

Full details

References

• Wailes, Rex, & Auvo Hirsjärvi, "Finnish Mills Part II: Mamsel or Smock Mills", (Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 43, 1970-1971, pp.113-128)

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