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Photographer: Unknown
Taken: 1893
Caption: 1893 Catalog Image Showing Use Of A Similar Mill Gear And Axle Assembly.
Additional Description: This large mill gear and axle assembly is part of what is called a cider mill power. When in use, the upright axle would have been turned by a water wheel or turbine, or by a horse or horses, on the lower level of the mill building. The axle's rotational power was sent up to the next level in the Mill to turn the large attached mill gear, which has straight-cut bevel gears set around the edge. Using other gears and belts & pulleys, this operated machinery in the mill. Very few mills used this style of cider mill power, so it's a rare sight to see the major part of one still in existence. Don't miss out on seeing what may be the only surviving cider-mill-style mill gear and axle. HISTORY LESSON ON POWERS: A power is also called a horse power (two words) or an animal power. Before steam engines became commonplace, powers were used to operate machinery, such as threshers, saws, feed cutters, and much more. Early horse powers could have horses walking in a circle, or walking on a treadmill (a.k.a. a railroad horse power). Powers continued to be used into the 1900s, even though steam and internal-combustion engines were essentially everywhere. Gin power was another name for this type of mechanism (although it may be a term more often used in England), as was upright power or vertical power.
Submitted: November 27, 2021, by Brian D. Szafranski of Elma, New York.
Database Locator Identification Number: p624407
File Size: 0.127 Megabytes

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