SMALL HOME GRINDERS

Grain could be ground by hand using a mortar and pestle or a quern . A mortar is a deep bowl and a pestle is a heavy club used to pound the grain inside the mortar. A quern was a device with two stones held on a large barrel. The stone on top was turned using a handle as the grain was poured into the center of the top stone. Both these hand methods were very difficult.

Gristmills were build to reduce the amount of work done by individual farmers. Grist means "grain" and a mill grinds.

MILLSTONES

On the first floor of the mill were the French Burh millstones that were used for grinding grain. The millstones weigh one ton each. Each stone was dressed for its particular purpose and used in a pair. The grain was crushed between a set of stones called millstones.

The bottom stone was a bedstone and the top stone was the called the runner. A stone spindle passed through a whole in the center of the stone and made it turn. The distance between the stone was determined by the kind of grain being ground. The stones never touched.

	Feed or grain was elevated using an elevator. Small metal cups fastened on a chain or leather belt enclosed in a wooden case (a hollow post or elevator leg) moved the grain up to the top of the mill. The elevator threw the grain out of the cups and into a spout that went to a bin on the floor below. Gravity was used to lower the grain onto the millstones for grinding.
	Grain in a bin on the third floor came down a wooden chute into a large funnel called the hopper.