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The mill is a place of flowing energy and flowing grain -- becoming flour. Because all the equipment is interconnected it represents the beginnings of industrial automation. The entire building becomes a machine!
In 1881, fashionable white flour was made possible with the addition of James Jones' unique stone roller mill from Louisville, Kentucky, and a 51 cm (20") stone grinder by the Waterous Company of Brantford, Ontario. The "Louisville Patent, New Process Grist Mill" refers to both a grain grinder invented by Mr. James Jones and to the new system of producing flour which was being developed at the time. The grinder was built with a rolling stone cylinder set in a matching stone saddle or concave. Grain passed between the two, and an elaborate cast iron frame made fine adjustments possible for control of the flour making.
The "old system" produced whole wheat flour by simply putting wheat through a single pair of grindstones, sifting the flour into fine and coarse grades but accepting the ground-up bran as a necessary part of the product. The roller mill generally used grooved steel or porcelain rollers, paired much like wringer washing machine rollers, to do the grinding. Several pairs, were required, each a little closer together than the previous pair, and with appropriate groovings for the specific task to be done such as peeling the bran or reducing particles to fine flour. Flour was then made in three stages of grinding, with sifting between each stage to remove bran flakes. The sifter, or bolter, used several grades of silk to separate freshly ground fine flour and middlings from the coarser flakes of bran.  &  by Sheba |
