Maybe OT.... Not exactly an engine... but....

[cedge]

Before there were engines, there was still motive power from a non polluting source. I'm a huge fan of old Water Wheel powered grist mills and our area is blessed to have a few of them still in operation. We even have one that is water turbine powered, but it's no longer in actual operation.

Today we visited a small town festival in Pickens SC, where the Hagood mill was relocated and restored for regular public display. I almost left the camera in the car, having shot this mill a number of times.  That idea was dead upon arrival as my wife grabbed it and the extra lense, as she exited her chariot.

The day was perfect and with a slight cloud cover, I decided to try for a classic photography trick. By forcing the camera to limit light coming in, and extending the shutter opening to a slow speed, the photos shown below were but a small part of the catch of the day.

Steve

[Brass_Machine]

Nothing wrong with this. I don't think it is OT in anyway...

Beautiful pictures Steve... care to share the rest?

Eric

[cedge]

Eric....
With over 300 shots taken in the past two days.... it's gonna take a little time....(grin).  I'll sort through and see if any of the interior shots are up to being seen. I think I  got some usable shots of a water fall or two that might be interesting too.

Steve

[dsquire]

Steve

With great pictures like that with water power as the the theme and being on MadModder where almost anything is allowed, there is no way that that can be off topic. Personally I could look at pictures like that all day. I hope that you post a few more as I am sure that they will draw lots of views. Thanks for showing them to us. 

Cheers 

Don

[sbwhart]

Steve

Great pictures 

I love water mills, there are still quite a few preserved in the UK and running, when we're out and about if we see one we always stop and have a nosey, no two are the same I just love their ingenuity.

Thanks for showing

Stew

[Bernd]

Nice pictures Steve.  Would love to see more also.

I'd love to see a saw mill run by water power.

Bernd

[cedge]

Here are a few more....

Here is the water wheel without all the photo trickery.


Here is where the drive enters the mill from the water wheel. Notice the idler pulley is controlled by a simple system of hemp cording and small pulleys. The whole belt and shafting system is manipulated by wooden handles near the miller's work station.



Here the incoming shaft transfers power to the upper floor where the miller is grinding corn


Another shot of the vertical transfer belt and shafting


The mill has a collection of various types of milling devices ranging from this small grinder to a full set of large stone grinders. They change from one to another from time to time. This small grinder was the choice for this weekend's showing.


Steve

[andyf]

About ten miles from me, there's an early (about 1785) cotton mill. Here's a pc:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-quarrybankmillandstyalestate

In their heyday, those buildings were full of spinning mules, jennies and looms, powered by a single waterwheel which was later assisted by a couple of steam engines. The original wheel is no longer there, but during restoration was replaced with another antique one of similarly heroic proportions - 32 feet in diameter and 21 feet wide - which is the largest working one in the UK. It looks positively majestic as it revolves.

Being, by birth at least, a Lancashire lad whose grandparents had connections with the cotton industry, I love the chakka-chakka-chakka sound of the demonstration looms they run in there.

No doubt you have seen it on your travels, Stew. If not, it's well worth a visit.

Andy

[cedge]

Being from what was once the textile capital of the world, I've seen old photos of some of the mills when they were powered by water. Sadly none of them survived the introduction of steam power or the advent of electrification. Today there are barely any textile mills left in our part of the world. Those that survived total destruction are now popular for the development of Loft or Studio Apartments.... after much asbestos remediation.

Any photos of that massive wheel?

Steve

[sbwhart]

Steve

Quarrybank is not far from use, we visit from time to time to walk the grounds, if you know where to go you can duck under the fence and get a grandstand few over Manchester airport runways, my wife is a bit of a plane nut and loves to watch the takeoffs and landings, she's itching to visit as soon as the volcano flight ban is lifted as the level of activity will increase because of the backlog: if we do I'll take some pics of the big wheel.

Cheers

Stew

[sbwhart]

OK the planes are back in the air, where did my boss want togo today that right Style mill to watch the takeoffs and landing. So snook off and took a few shots of the mill wheel, I'm afraid they are not too clear the mill wheel is under a 8 story spinning mill and you can't get clear shots of it so this is the best I could do.

This is the broken cast iron mill wheel axle shaft that had to be replaced so it  gives you some scale of the thing.



The top of the wheel



The inside of the wheel its a fabricated cast iron structure with spokes.



This is the sluce gates that can be controlled from inside the mill, not sure how they controlled the speed, for spinning I guess a steady speed would be important, the water would flow at a steady rate, but the power demand would change as machines were stopped and started.



The drive went through a couple of huge  gear wheel to step up the speed, sorry no pics they were down in the bowels and you could only view them through glass so couldn't get a good shot.

This is the bevel gear the vertical shaft went to the top of the building and provided power for all eight floors driving spinning muels.









Enjoy

Stew

[andyf]

OK the planes are back in the air, where did my boss want togo today that right Style mill to watch the takeoffs and landing. So snook off and took a few shots of the mill wheel, I'm afraid they are not too clear the mill wheel is under a 8 story spinning mill and you can't get clear shots of it so this is the best I could do.......


This is the sluice gates that can be controlled from inside the mill, not sure how they controlled the speed, for spinning I guess a steady speed would be important, the water would flow at a steady rate, but the power demand would change as machines were stopped and started.



.............

Stew, the second pic in the above extract mentions a governor on the replacement wheel they found in Pately Bridge. My guess on speed control was that the governor controlled the sluice gates.

Today, I went on my usual Wednesday afternoon pilgrimage from Sale to the Coach & Four in Wilmslow to meet up with other retired colleagues, for our weekly session of setting the world to rights over a pint. I saw no planes, which is odd on Styal Road - I usually see a line of them stretching back over the Pennines as they come in to land.

Was it you in the red Peugot I nearly hit as it pulled out of the Mill driveway right in front of me?   
Andy

[sbwhart]

No Andy I was in a Blue Toyota (with working breaks) 

Sorry to have  missed at the pub   

You could hear the planes taking off and landing all afternoon 

Thanks for the info on the governor.

Stew

[shoey51]

lovely picture

[AdeV]

There are some lovely pics in this thread, please keep them up. I love waterwheels, hopefully I'll eventually find a place to live which has a decent stream, or sufficient space to create a mill race at any rate.

One episode of Mark Williams' Industrial Revelations (I think, the 2nd series, aka More Industrial Revelations) shows a working waterwheel governor. If you get a chance to watch any of these programs, they're well worth it - some great machinery on display. For example, did you know that the ancestor of all computers was invented by a Frenchman - Jacquard - at the very dawn of the 19th century, to automate a job he'd hated doing as a boy?

[John Hill]

My family worked at the other end of the textile chain (wool not cotton) and one of my uncles had a sheep shearing shed where the machinery had been powered by a water wheel.

I remember the remains of the wheel which was about 8 feet in diameter and about 4 feet wide, it was the overshot type fed by a small steam on his farm.  At some earlier time the wheel had fallen into disuse (unreliable water supply is the most likely explanation) and was replaced by a portable steam engine borrowed from a neighbour until a Blackstone oil engine arrived.  The Blackstone did service for about 50 years then the big end collapsed and the engine was scrapped, I remember them loading chunks onto a truck to be taken away.  That would have been about 1955.

A Lanz Bulldog  drove the shed for a couple of seasons then everything was converted to electric.

The machinery in the shed was 7 shearing positions and a capstan that was used to stack the 350lb wool bales.