Post Mill, Taipaleenharju

A wind-powered mill in Finland.

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The mill is dated 1855.

The body is 10 ft. 7 1/2 in. long, 8 ft. 9 in. wide, 16 ft. 2 1/2 in. high (all internal dimensions), and stands 5 ft. 10 in. from the ground. The walls are built of 4 by 7 1/2 in. deep timbers throughout with interlocked corners, and the roof is a straight pent and has horizontal boards inside and vertical outside. The post goes right down into the centre of the sub-structure. The sub-structure, which is of clasp-arm construction, was not measured, but that of a fourth mill in the parish belonging to the museum had nine laminations, and was 7 ft. high. It spread to 21 ft. 6 in, across at the base and was 5 ft. 2 in. at the top where it carried a collar with an iron track on which the sheers bear,

The sails, 5 ft. 5 in. wide by 15 ft. long, have five bays and a constant angle of weather of approximately 30º. The boards of the sails are removable only in the outer trailing bay and in the two inner leading bays.The openings in the sails are called "gates". The windshafts, which have a very low angle of inclination, have top and bottom journal bearings just ahead of the tail thrust and the neck journals have broad iron strips let in. The headwheel has 44 cogs, 4 3/4 in. pitch, 3 in. face and a depth which varies round about 3 in. The first mill has a compass-arm brake wheel and the other two clasp-arm. The top journals of the lantern spindles run in hardwood two-part bearings wedged in place and the lanterns have seven staves. The stones have round vats with large hoppers hung on a wood frame to the left-hand side of the mill and very long shoes cut from a solid log. The shoe in Sankala farm Mill is held against the stone spindle by a string from an upright wooden stick with its base in the plinth for the stone spindles. The stones stand on hursts with four heavy timbers halved at the corners and the meal spouts are conencted to the stone casings by a wooden junction box. The stones themselves, made by a man from a nearby village, are of a local granite and are concave convex. they ground rye, pats and barley, both for humans and cattle. A spare stone measured was 37 in. diameter by about 3 in. thick, with recesses for a four-armed fixed rynd.

Full details

References

• Wailes, Rex, & Auvo Hirsjärvi, "Finnish Mills Part IV: Post Mills", (Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 45, 1972-1973, pp.93-104)

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