Millstones of the Wayside Inn Grist Mill - Sudbury, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 21.433 W 071° 28.433
19T E 296262 N 4692403
The Wayside Inn Grist Mill is an historic mill located in Sudbury, MA. A display of fifteen millstones can be found around the mill.
Waymark Code: WMF257
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/10/2012
Views: 4
The The Wayside Inn Grist Mill was constructed in 1929 by hydraulic engineer J.B. Campbell. The mill is connected via a waterway to nearby Grist Mill Pond. It is currently in use and produces approximately 5 tons of flour per year.
Near the stairs leading up to the entrance is a display of ten millstones with an informative sign detailing the use and dress of millstones. The sign reads.
THE DRESS OF THE
{image}MILLSTONES{image}
For centuries millstones served
mankind by grinding, among many
things, grain into meal, flour
and animal feed. These granite
millstones show several types of
patterns, called the dress, that
were cut into the stones to improve
their grinding and cooling effi-
ciency. With the top stone turning
120 revolutions per minute, a set
of millstones can grind 500 pounds
of grain per hour, necessitating
after two weeks a re-sharpening,
called re-dressing, of the lands
and furrows of the stones. This
task takes about fourteen working
hours per stone. Tradition and
preference determine the shape
of the dress, while the life of
the millstone which varied from
ten years to a century was
determined by composition and use.
Lettering and illustration by Rebecca Bogart 1986
There are, also, three millstones on display at top of the stairs at the entrance to the mill and two other millstones on the grounds in front of the mill.