EASTHAM WINDMILL
EASTHAM on CAPE COD
The mill is operated by means of sails on the
large wooden fans or vanes. These vanes turn
a big wheel that has wooden cogs. These cogs
in turn mesh in a small iron gear atop a long
vertical shaft inside the mill. The top millstone
attached to the shaft weighs about one and a
half tons. The bottom stone weighs slightly less.
The outside top of the mill may be rotated on
iron wheels on a track. The shaft carrying the
blades was a six foot diameter wooden crown
gear with individual oak teeth held in place by
wedges. These turn a two foot iron spur gear on
the vertical shaft and carries the drive down
through a hole in the floor to the millstone below.
Standing in front of the mill is Freeman Hatch,
the Miller.
Published by Cape Cod Photos, Orleans on Cape Cod
26361
