Clik here to view.
Main shaft bearing and bagging area
Just three of us again today - Richard, Mike and Bob. Richard wanted to overhaul the wet-side bearing of the main shaft, so he rigged up a 3-tonne chain lift and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. Surely...
View ArticleAll systems go!
Today we had a second visit from the Environmental Health inspector from Eden District Council, who had previously approved the milling of flour for public consumption. She met Acorn Bank custodian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bagging at last
Richard and Ray used the new jack support beam to lift the inner end of the main shaft so that the bearing could be cleaned and re-greased. The first picture shows the bearing with the top cover and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Improving power
Nic gets to grips with one of our headrace hoesIn order to mill while the river is at a rather lower level, we needed to improve the flow in the headrace and the efficiency of the wheel itself.While...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gypsum mine artefact
Richard and Ray decided to try to excavate a truck from the former gypsum mine. It was lying quite well buried at the foot of a slope near the drift mine, and is lacking wheels and side panels, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A brief catchup
Sorry to have missed a few weeks - a combination of holidays and a couple of mill visits which I'm still trying to catch up for the blog.Recent jobs have included:Making brackets out of mild steel...
View ArticleApple Day and Beyond
Last Sunday was Apple Day at Acorn Bank - the event was a success. The weather was better than it has often been recently, and the planning had allowed for wet fields. The planners had moved the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sack hoist and kiln work
Our attempts to reurrect some kind of sack hoist continue. It looks as though we need to spool the rope round the shaft rather than the pulley of the layshaft to get a controllable speed. The pulley...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shelling stones and sack hoist continued
The mild steel plates to improve the fit of the shelling stone stone nut have come back from the engineering works, cut out, drilled and tapped. We cut the lengths of 14mm studding and started to file...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Access to the kiln
Richard surveys thenewly-hinged fenceWe spent today fixing supports and hinges to the fence in the kiln room so that we could swing it out of the way to improve access. Anything is better than having...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Presentation of the Marsh Heritage Volunteering Award
Bob and Richard receive the award fromBrian Marsh applauded by Dame Fiona ReynoldsOn Saturday November 10th Bob and Richard, with Sylvia, attended the AGM of the National Trust to collect their Marsh...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another busy Tuesday
Before we started, we had to have a picture ofall 3 of us with our Marsh Heritage Award We carried on fitting the first pulley for our revised sack hoist, first filing out the casting to fit the bolt...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A couple more weeks' odd jobs
Richard cleans the burr stone Over the past 2 Tuesdays we have pottered ahead:We finished cleaning the burr stones and tun, including dismantling, cleaning and re-lubricating the top bearing, before...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Farewell plastic pond liner
Today we began to dismantle the old launder. We had to remove the plastic pond liner that has kept us more-or-less watertight for the past 2 seasons, then knock the bottom planks out with a very big...
View ArticleLast volunteer workday of the year
No pictures in today's freezing fog.Richard, George and I finished demolishing the launder and stacked all the bottom planks and side support boards, as well as the control gates, tidily out of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Preparing to rebuild the launder
A useful session meeting Ian, a surveyor who works in the NT buildings department. He is going to be our contact for building type jobs. He said that what we were proposing to do with the launder was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Winter weather
Some of the parts of the second waterwheel It has been a bit nippy these past 2 Tuesdays, so progress on the launder has been rather slow. However, last week the scaffold had been erected, though not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Working outside in bad weather
The hydraulic lime we ordered last week had actually arrived; we had to store it up at the house to protect it from frost. The scaffolders had been to amend the end fence so we can now get to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Progress slow in the snow
The view from the mill in the heaviest snow Pretty, isn't it? But a darned nuisance - apart from the difficulty of working in snow, we need to point the piers before we can begin building the launder,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Progress at last
The side supports tested in place, and hessian sacks cover the new mortarAt last the weather has been kind enough to allow us to move forward with the launder.George repointed some of the launder...
View Article
