Wind Shaft and Mill Design @museum.de

F: It may look like the substructure of a long wooden table, but it's actually one of the most important components of a windmill: the wind shaft, which sits high up in the cap and transmits the wind energy to a sophisticated system of gears.

Auf dem Bildschirm: 201_1 Mühlenachse und Aufbau einer Mühle

M: One end of the wind shaft is connected to the sweep. When the sails turn, so does the shaft, along with a huge cogwheel that sits vertically on the shaft. This cogwheel drives a smaller wheel – called the wallower – which in turn is connected to the upright shaft. At the end of the upright shaft is the spur gear. When the wind shaft, the cogwheel and the wallower turn, so does the upright shaft that runs vertically through the mill. Our mill's upright shaft is six and a half metres or 21 feet tall. It's the main energy converter and supplies power to the whole mill – converted wind power, that is.

F: The sack lift, milling gear and even the pan grinder here on the ground floor were all powered by interlocking cogwheels and shafts. Sometimes, there was even enough energy to operate a small sawmill next to the flour mill, or to supply power to neighbouring farms.

A tour de force of early engineering!

M: In the 19th century, the local lake was surrounded by windmills, because the open expanse of water meant that you could always be sure of enough wind. The wind shaft on display here is from the mill in Rostrup on the western shore of the lake. Almost exactly a century ago, when the miller replaced the wind shaft carved from oak with a new one made of steel, the old wind shaft ended up in the museum.