2013

SS9943 : Dunster Watermill - Tentering arrangement

taken 13 years ago, near to Dunster, Somerset, England

Dunster Watermill - Tentering arrangement
Dunster Watermill - Tentering arrangement
This is on one of the pairs of stones driven by the north water wheel. The little hand wheel on the left operates gearing to raise and lower the runner stone via the bottom of the two metal beams. The older method was to raise and lower the massive wooden cross tree that carried the footstep bearing for the runner stone - this is more elegant by far. The handle just right of centre operates the jacking ring for lifting the stone nut out of engagement.

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Dunster Watermill (provided by Ashley Dace)

Dunster Watermill (also known as Castle Mill) is a restored 18th century watermill situated in the grounds of Dunster Castle in Dunster, Somerset, England.

The present mill, which was built around 1780, is built on the site of a mill mentioned in the Domesday Book and was restored to working order in 1979. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.
Source: Wikipedia

Tentering - molinological application

In a mill context, tentering is changing the distance (gap) between the runner stone and the bed stone. Decreasing the distance results in a finer grain. As the stones go faster there is a natural tendency for the runner to rise and the tentering mechanism can be adjusted to counter this. In many windmills this is done by a governor that automatically compensates for the tendency of the runner to rise. In watermills it is done by hand with mechanisms of varying elegance. In this case, the second order lever at the bottom raises or lowers the footstep bearing that the spindle carrying the stone nut is supported by. The adjustment is by a vertical lead screw on the other side of the frame and in easy reach of the miller.

Geographical Context: Historic sites and artefacts Water resources Place: Dunster other tags: Milling Machinery Watermill Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
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SS9943, 802 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Chris Allen   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 28 April, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 25 October, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SS 9911 4333 [10m precision]
WGS84: 51:10.8162N 3:26.6864W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SS 9911 4333
View Direction
North-northeast (about 22 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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