Page 308 - The Lost Ways

As the water wheel turns the crankshaft, the offset portion of the crankshaft, along with
the transfer rod, turns that rotary motion into a linear motion. With the transfer rod
connected to a saw sash, which slides in a groove in the frame, this linear motion makes
it possible for the saw blade to move up and down, cutting the wood. If the sawmill

produces enough force, multiple blades can be attached at the same time, allowing you
to cut multiple boards.

Don’t Forget Lubrication

One important item in any mill, regardless of whether its components are all made of
wood or if the gear train is made of metal, is lubrication.

Lubrication does several important things for a piece of machinery, such as keeping
friction down so that less force is needed to make it operate. In one case I know of, they
couldn’t get a grain mill reproduction to work, and the only reason was there was too
much friction. They hadn’t lubricated it enough. In olden times, they often used animal
fat for this rather than our modern petroleum-based lubricants. Whale oil was one of the
finest lubricants available. In wood-on-wood application, a grease-soaked layer of leather
could be added in between the parts to act as a bearing. Once metal parts became more

common, brass became the preferred bearing material.

Building Your Own Water Wheel

By now, your mind is probably spinning with all sorts of ideas of how you can make your
own water wheel and have a sawmill or grain mill (actually called a grist mill) for use in a
TEOFWAWKI situation. Before you start, let me just add a few points on building your own
water wheel and mill.

I recommend building an overshot wheel rather than an undershot one. While the
undershot one is actually easier to build, you will have times when it is not usable. An

overshot wheel will also produce more force than an undershot one, making it more
useful. This means that you’ll need to have your water approach the water wheel through
a sluice that is at least as high as the water wheel. If you live on the side of a steep hill or
have an undercut bank available, that won’t be a problem. But if not, you may have to
run your sluice a long way in order to be able to build the water wheel in a position where
the sluice is being provided with water uphill of the water wheel. The water that has been
used by your wheel needs to go somewhere too.

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