Gristmill at Mission San Jose - San Antonio

[The Barbarian]

The lower section of this mill was intact, including the water channels, but the upper level has been restored. The mill itself was rebuilt, using the millstone found in the ruins. It can't be definitively proven to be original, but the quartzite of the millstone is unique to the same area in France from which many of the Franciscans who founded the missions came.



This is a replica of the mechanism used to open the gate in the irrigation canal that let water into the mill raceway.



The bypass was built in a channel to the left of the mill:

(sorry about the angle; hard to get that in the frame)

The waterwheel is sort of a modified horizontal wheel:

Completely rebuilt, according to old drawings and existing examples.

The actual mill, in operation:

Again, totally rebuilt, except for parts of the raceway and the millstone.

The actual millstone:


The feed mechanism is a clever gadget that uses the unevenness of the millstone to jiggle the feed hopper so that it slowly drops the grain into the hole in the millstone.

(edit: This mill ground only wheat, never corn. The padres decided that good Spanish Christians ate flour tortillas, not corn tortillas.)

[bahadir]

Dear Barbarian, I observedyour seriesas if watchinga documentary thanks to your tasteful vibrant capturesflowing by theattractive narration like the subject matter

[Torgny]

The Barbarian wrote:

The lower section of this mill was intact, including the water channels, but the upper level has been restored. The mill itself was rebuilt, using the millstone found in the ruins. It can't be definitively proven to be original, but the quartzite of the millstone is unique to the same area in France from which many of the Franciscans who founded the missions came.



This is a replica of the mechanism used to open the gate in the irrigation canal that let water into the mill raceway.



The bypass was built in a channel to the left of the mill:

(sorry about the angle; hard to get that in the frame)

The waterwheel is sort of a modified horizontal wheel:

Completely rebuilt, according to old drawings and existing examples.

The actual mill, in operation:

Again, totally rebuilt, except for parts of the raceway and the millstone.

The actual millstone:


The feed mechanism is a clever gadget that uses the unevenness of the millstone to jiggle the feed hopper so that it slowly drops the grain into the hole in the millstone.

(edit: This mill ground only wheat, never corn. The padres decided that good Spanish Christians ate flour tortillas, not corn tortillas.)

One might wonder if the planet had not been a better place, if we would not have been "better off" with further developed "analogue" technologies/techniques and without industrialism and binary machines. Brilliant presentation, thanks

There is a classic old problem solving computer game series, "Myst"

/T

[The Barbarian]

I collect old cameras; one of the really wonderful things about them, is the ingenious mechanical solutions engineers worked out. Things we now do with chips were all done with springs and gears and cams and levers.

I have several dozen slide rules, too. For the same reason. Kids are astonished that I can do exponents without a calculator.

And then there's that security guy at the courthouse who could not understand that I could not "turn on" my Leica IIIa for him to inspect.

"But how does it work, if there are no batteries?"

[musket]

Great series of shots, interesting narrative....................musket.