I just found these amazing (to me) 16th c. Austrian illustrations. Here's the info:

Kunstwerk: Buchmalerei-Papier ; Illustrationszyklus Naturwissenschaft ; Miniatur ; Tirol
Dokumentation: 1556 ; 1556 ; Innsbruck ; Österreich ; Tirol ; Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum ; Cod. Dipl. 856 ; fol. 156r
Anmerkungen: Schwazer Bergbuch (Ludwig Lässl, Jörg Klober)

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Great find Sean

Those are excellent. There are some great details and images there.

Thank you
Craig

Is that pretty much your setup, Craig? :D

The thing that most fascinates me about these is the degree of mechanization and details of the water hammer technology. The only thing that puzzles me is that I don't see how they would disengage a hammer from the cog when not in use. Maybe they didn't, just letting them run, though that would seem to create undo wear on the tools. Maybe there's some sort of clutch mechanism on the wheel, or a way to redirect the flow of water.

I would guess (based on the remains of water and wind mills I've walked past) that the hammer is on some kind of pivot. Or there is an intermediary step which isn't illustrated which is on a pivot / capable of being moved out of alignment.

Ah, yeah, a simple pivot makes sense. I'll throw up one of these on Turkey Creek http://www.freshwaterlandtrust.org/turkey-creek.html some weekend and see if I can figure it out. :lol

The only problem I can come up with on the whole "simple pivot" idea is that those hammers must be very heavy. Otherwise there wouldn't be a water wheel on the other end :D So even movement around a pivot is going to be difficult. I now have an urge to go build a life-size model to try and work out the solution... Gah!

All you need is something to brace the hammer up and its free of the cog. It could be under the hammer face or even a bar near the pivot of the hammer arm or a hook over the end near the cog. I have seen all used in varying configurations.

Best
Craig

Here is a nice example of the real thing


[ Linked Image ]

From an interesting site WEALDEN IRON RESEARCH GROUP

Best
Craig

A few days ago I stumbled upon this link which shows a reproduction of a medieval blacksmith's workshop. According to the text, the sluice is controlled by a lever inside the shop.

Thanks for these images Sean, I'm particularly interested in the low anvils and forging whilst seated. Personally, I can't be bothered sitting down to forge as I'll only have to stand up 20 seconds later to take another heat on the steel. I do most of my armouring seated but that's only when working cold. Most fascinating.

There seems to be a great deal of similarity to modern smithys. The fire rakes are basically the same and there are what appear to be spring fullers hanging on the wall in the first picture.

My two biggest questions are, how do the water driven bellows work in the last picture, and what are they working on in the fourth picture? They appear to me to be cracking walnuts (note the bowls on the floor). :p

That last picture you posted Craig is great. I particularly like the slots for interchangeable tools on the anvil and hammer.

Hi Bruno

Would love to see some of the pics if you are able.

Best
Craig

This has sort of been said already, but to elaborate; There is a forked wooden crutch that goes under the neck of the tilthammer when it is un its upstroke that was used in some mills to disengage the hammer. You obviously need to push the head up a little to fully disengage it, but most of the weight is held on the pivot anyway.

A good gallery with two magli in working order from the province of Brescia. The old man with a shovel is a 92 year old maister (master smith), Severino Zola, who has been working there from 1930 to 1980 making spades, shovels, pickaxes and other agricultural tools. The forge is ancient, some part are clearly medieval, the anvil with a single cone bears a striking resemblance to single cone early anvils. He worked using stamping tools quite similar to that shown on old woodcuts. Grindstone is from our area. There was also a special maglio for finishing items, and he used to forge weld handles to shovels using a local powder made out of special flint (saless). The smaller maglio is in Brescia and it is placed in the neighbourood that produced most of the brescian swords. The grindstones I shot that are covered with a green patina are probably from an ancient period, now they are sued to support a newer maglio channel. Likely they come from the moladore, wooden scaffoldings used in the sword process that are recorded in the 1610 census. I will be working as a volunteer in the smaller maglio from the next season. The date on the maglio's stone shoulders read 187* but I have seen far older ones (at least 1525 in another forge). Maister Zola reported that they knew that in ancient times such shoulders were made out of wood as theya are called soche, from soc, stump (cfr the french socle).


http://www.corporazione-fabbri.org/galleria-maglio/images.html

Pics are heavy and unedited, pls use for personal, non profit use only. I'm planning an in depth book on the brescian process so they will likely be included.


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