The Gristmills ClipArt gallery includes 17 illustrations of mills and equipment used to grind grain into flour.

An illustration of an early flour mill conveyor.

Early Flour Mill Conveyor

An illustration of an early flour mill conveyor.

"A portable engine and feed grinder that saves frequent trips to the Grist Mill."—The Federal Digest, 1921

Portable Engine

"A portable engine and feed grinder that saves frequent trips to the Grist Mill."—The Federal Digest,…

A man milling corn by hand with a gristmill.

Gristmill

A man milling corn by hand with a gristmill.

"Grinding with a hand-mill in the fourteenth century, as pictured in an old manuscript."—Gordy, 1912

Grinding with a Handmill

"Grinding with a hand-mill in the fourteenth century, as pictured in an old manuscript."—Gordy, 1912

The building with its machinery, where grinding or some process of manufacturing is carried on.

Mill

The building with its machinery, where grinding or some process of manufacturing is carried on.

An illustration of Barker's mill.

Barker's Mill

An illustration of Barker's mill.

"Grain enters the mill at H down into D and into tube A. The grain passes down through the holes B and C causing A to rotate. This rotation powers the millstone S at the top which grinds the grain before it reaches the dispersal tube A." —Quackenbos 1859

Barker's Mill

"Grain enters the mill at H down into D and into tube A. The grain passes down through the holes B and…

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. The grinding of solid matters occurs under exposure of mechanical forces that trench the structure by overcoming of the interior bonding forces. After the grinding the state of the solid is changed: the grain size, the grain size disposition and the grain shape.

Bed Pan Grinding Mill

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. The grinding…

A mill which grounds grain into flour. This flour mill is located on a body of water.

Floating Flour Mill

A mill which grounds grain into flour. This flour mill is located on a body of water.

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. "A, bedstone; b, runner; e, step or ink; f, bridge-tree; n, eye; o, hoop; p, hopper; q, shoe; r, sprout; s, damsel; 2, lighter-screw; 3, husk." -Century, 1889

Grinding Mill

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are…

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. "A, bedstone; b, runner; g, bush; h, spindle; i, driver; j, balancerynd; k, cockeye; l, cockhead; n, eye; p, hopper; q, shoe; s, damsel." -Century, 1889

Grinding Mill

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are…

This tool was used to break a larger material into smaller pieces or sections.

Grinding Mill

This tool was used to break a larger material into smaller pieces or sections.

A stone used for grinding grain.

Mill-stone

A stone used for grinding grain.

One whose occupation is to attend a grist mill.

Miller

One whose occupation is to attend a grist mill.

This illustration shows a cross-section of a modern flour mill. 
Wheat is received in bin a, and first passes to the separator b, where it falls over vibrating screens, c, c, and a current of air draws light rubbish through  pipe e to fan d. Next, in scourer f, it passes through revolving beaters, and meets a current of air. In the brush g, revolving brushes further clean and polish the wheat, which then passes to the 'cylinder' h. This  revolving cylinder has grooves which pick up any small seeds, carrying them around until near the top of its revolution they drop into trough k and discharge by l at n, while the wheat grains too large for the grooving to affect, fall into the trough m, and are carried by the elevator p to the 'first break rolls', o. Here the wheat is partly crushed by rolls q, q, and passed to the 'scalper' r. Here, revolving brushes and beaters force the small particles through the fixed cage to the shoot s, while the larger are delivered at the end of the cage and pass to the second pair of rolls, t, and the second scalper, u. The coarse particles from u, chiefly bran, pass through a third set of rolls, v, and then to the 'bran duster', w, a cylinder where revolving brushes clean all flour from the bran and force it through perforations towards shoot x, the bran  being delivered at y. The flour is carried by elevator p' to the 'reel' z, a finely perforated cylinder which revolves rapidly, an the finer part passes by shoot s' to the 'centrifugal' u'; the coarser part delivered at the end of the cylinder, passes to the 'purifier' r', where a current of air removes light dust as it travels over a moving sieve, and thence to a set of rolls at t' for further reduction, after which it is delivered to the centrifugal u'. This is a revolving drum, covered with silk, through which the flour is thrown by centrifugal force, and is delivered finished at v', the offals passing out at the end of the drum to the shoot w'.

Modern Flour Mill

This illustration shows a cross-section of a modern flour mill. Wheat is received in bin a, and first…

Women grinding grain in a mortar. The hole for receiving the grain was in the center of the upper millstone, and in the operation of grinding the lower stone was filed and the upper stone turned by means of a handle. The meal came out at the edges and was collected on a cloth spread under the mill  on the ground.

Using A Mortar

Women grinding grain in a mortar. The hole for receiving the grain was in the center of the upper millstone,…

"A primitive mill for grinding corn, the stone of which was turned by the hand before the invention of windmills or water-mills. It is a contrivance of great antiquity, and so well adapted for the wants of a primitive people, that we find it perpetuated to the present day in remote districts of Ireland, and some parts of the Western Islands of Scotland." — Chambers, 1881

Quern

"A primitive mill for grinding corn, the stone of which was turned by the hand before the invention…