http://docandersen.spaces.live.com
http://docandersen.podbean.com
Episode 87
Who makes 200 year old technology, anymore?
Is there a grindstone doctor in the house?
In the movies Mickey Rooney would always throw a barn raising party that would in the end save the school, save the town or even, sometimes save Andy himself. Judy Garland would appear and sing, which always raised a ton of money.
But when the grindstone at your mill breaks in the 20th century, how do you replace it?
Well you don’t run to the Ben Franklyn 5 and 10. You can’t go to the garden department at your local Wal-Mart or Kmart. In fact you really can’t go anywhere. The Millstone at the old “Wagoneer” corn mill had been hand made more than 100 years ago. Unfortunately during a test run for the mill closing the stone slipped and the existing crack, that had been “repaired” with a piece of metal bolted into the rock itself cracked the metal and the rest of the stone, resulting in two pieces of a millstone which isn’t as useful as a single millstone. This disaster coupled with the already looming thread of destiny shook our little town.
The problem started two years ago when a temporary solution was put in place that held the top grindstone in place. No one ever thought that the temporary solution would last more than 2 hours so when it did it was left there as a permanent temporary solution. The resulting weakness in the structure allowed over time the two stones to move a little further apart and the first damaged stone fell onto the undamaged base stone cracking it into two large pieces that each weight about 2000 pounds. Our mill was grindstone less.
Ground cornmeal can easily be manufactured. Like anything it is simply taking corn and feeding it into a machine. But stone ground corn, in an old mill from the 1800’s has a unique flavor and consistency that you can’t get with machined corn. And stone ground corn like not planning was in fact a staple of the life style of the people of Lake Architectless. It was an ominous sign.
.doc
