Mr Schofield's class from Hallmoor
School, Birmingham came to Sarehole
Mill to gather information so
that they could make models of
a water mill as part of a technology
project. This page shows details
of their work.
The first step was
to vist the mill and make drawings
and take photographs to base the
models on. The students also used
old photographs from the collection
of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
in order to find out what the mill
was like in the 19th century when
it was a working corn mill.
Water power is used
for driving corn grinding machinery
at Sarehole Mill but the students
wanted to show the other uses that
water power could be used for.
These trip hammers are lifted by
a cam and can be used to shape
large pieces of metal on an anvil.
The students tried
to achieve a realistic model by
drawing the bricks and windows
but leaving one side open to see
in. All the models were different
but the same scale was used for
all the models in the project..
The models were
made using balsa wood beams. The
beams were joined together a the
corners by using cardboard triangles
and glue. The shafts were made
from dowelling. The water wheel
is balsa wood and card.
Circles of card
were used for the hubs of the wheel
with balsa beams for the spokes
and balsa board for the buckets.
The main drive shaft was fixed
to the cardboard hubs. One of the
problems that the designers had
to overcome was to fix the shaft
securely to the wheel.
In this picture,
you can see a close up of the cam
that lifts the hammer. The problem
of coping with the forces that
are strong enough to tear the cardboard
wall is overcome by using a stronger
material mdf to reinforce the walls.
In the mill, iron plates are fixed
to the walls to do the same job.
Some of the students
wanted to have the models running
from an electric motor. You can
just see it in the bottom left
hand corner of the picture. It
drives the main shaft through a
belt and pulley system. Another
elastic band has been used to act
as return spring on the trip hammer.
