Mill owner Nancy Bell shows us around one of the few remaining operational roller mills in Lancaster County, Penn. We learn how the mill was started stone grinding grain then later was upgraded to a roller mill.
Thank you for loving this mill enough to keep it going. I saw Sickman's running back in the seventies, and it breaks my heart that all the equipment is still there, but it can't run. My gram told me stories about how all the cornmeal she ate as a kid was grown on their farm and milled at Sickman's. When the cornmeal got low, her dad would saddle a mule, throw a sack of corn over his back, and ride him down to the mill where the miller would grind it on shares. I loved those old mills as a kid. I found it thrilling how the whole building would vibrate when it was running, almost as though it was a living thing. Zook's mill was still running when I was a kid. We used to buy flour there.
Water from under the Turnpike, same as operating Burnt Cabins Grist Mill in Fulton County. "Shims are the secret of milling." True, everything in the drivetrain is adjusted or aligned by shims or wedges. Our spur gear broke a tooth from worn shims, our millwright replaced it. Assembling all he averaged the warped Fitz bevel gear run-out by shifting the waterwheel main shaft for an adequate mesh dimension. Two weeks after the restoration I started the water flow over the wheel. It almost made a revolution before a loud BANG occured stopping all motion - the bevel gear had jumped out of engagement. Our millwright returned the next week, shimming the end of our shaft for a better mesh. One can never forget that sound! Wayne Spyker Docent - Friends of Wallace - Cross Mill
A big thank you from Eastern Kentucky where my dad and I have a mill and we not only grind corn and wheat for ourselves but we also do custom milling for people in our region of the state.
