Niittymäki Mill, Somero

A wind-powered mill in Finland.

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This mill was visited in a derelict condition in 1963 before she was moved from Niittymäki Farm, Korpi Village, Metsämaa Parish, and was opened at Somero Parish Museum in 1964.

The body is only 4 ft. 8 in. wide by 6 ft. long inside and 11 ft. high. The stone chamber is levelled up on rocks from the ground 11 ft. below. The body is double-boarded and has upper, lower and main side girts. Additional girts above the main side girts carry a central beam which supports the top of the upright shaft. Below the crowntree a single diagonal brace on each side is all that is provided. There are four corner posts, and a breast beam with a pillow block on top of it. There is a small door at the back with a miniature platform to stand on.

The two-piece crowntree is 20 in. by 10 in. deep. Below it, wearing a plate 2 in. thick and 28 in. diameter (in halves) is clamped on top of the hollow post and held there with wedge-shaped supports and nails. The hollow post itself is 15 in. diameter made from a single piece of timber and, where it passes through the floor and the roof to the stone chamber, it has a 3/4 in. sheathing and is also protected with birch bark turned with the outside inwards; this is entirely waterproof.

Two sheers on either side are cut away to clear the hollow post; they extend, with an equally large filler piece in between them, to form the platform at the tail. Below the body of the mill there is a collar 10 in. deep weighted with stones to hold the mill down as it would otherwise be top heavy. There is a 6 in. gap at the top of the collar. The petticoat of the mill is 22 in. deep. The stone chamber is of the usual massive construction with 8 in. square logs squared up from the round; it is 6 ft. high to the eaves on levelling rocks and a further 4 ft. to the roof. A clasp arm frame encloses the hollow post and rests on top of the corbels of the roundhouse. The post is used as a king post with eight rafters radiating from it.

The sails are 24 ft. span, 6 ft. wide at the tip, are equal each side and tapering. The stocks are 5 in. octagonal at the tip and hold the sails at a very steep angle which it was not possible to measure; the bottom sail is hooked to the body of the mill. The windshaft is octagonal, 9 in. across the flats at the brake wheel, and tapers towards the tail. The neck journal, which has homelet iron strips and a top keep beam, was inaccessible to one not wearing overalls. The arms of the head wheel are wedged and held with round-shanked round-headed wood pins. There is a pot and pintle thrust bearing for the tail end of the windshaft. The compass arm head wheel, with two wrought iron bands outside, is 52 in. diameter and carries 36 round shanked cogs at 4 in. pitch, 2 3/4 in. deep and 2 1/4 in. face. The lantern wallower has ten staves. It was noticeable that the whole of the body is held with pegs and cotters and the minimum possible use is made of iron.

The stones are supported on two 12 in. diameter logs and a wood bridgetree lies between them; tentering is by lever on the right hand side and a "many-height" wedge. The 30 in. diameter granite stones have a massive shoe-cum-hopper made from a solid log and are housed in an open-topped rectangular tray which slightly overhangs the two supporting log bearers. The meal is raked forward and falls through a rectangular hole into a rectangular meal bin that stands on the floor underneath in front of the tray. The wooden upright shaft is 4 in. diameter with, surprisingly, a cast-iron driving-end 1 1/2 in. square.

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References

• TIMS Mills GPS Database Mill ID 3039
• Wailes, Rex, & Auvo Hirsjärvi, "Finnish Mills Part III: Hollow Post Mills", (Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 44, 1971-1972, pp.99-118)

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