How to Build a Plumping Mill

If you want to use the power of natural running water for grinding corn or wheat into flour, you'll need a plumping mill. Plumping mills are also called pounding mills. In this kind of mill, the flow of water causes a rock, tied to a small sapling tree, to grind down grains into powder. Here's how you can build for own plumping or pounding mill for grinding grains.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Forked stick
• Whittling knife
• Hollow rock
• Grains

Prepare the level of your plumping mill

1. Take your sapling and tie a large river stone to the top of it. This stone will act as the pestle of your mill, and it will do the grinding action.

2. Use wood to make a rectangular box that can hold enough water to weigh more than the stone you tied to the sapling in Step 1. Cut the box in a diagonal so that you're left with a triangular prism.

3. Attach the box to the opposite end of the sapling. To do this, position the triangular prism so that the long end of it is along the length of the sapling. The short end of the triangular prism should be nearest to the rock. Secure the box with nails.

Set up your plumping mill along a river bank

4. Find a good location to set up you plumping mill. A good location will be on a sturdy bank, next to a small waterfall or cascade.

5. Push a strong forked stick into the mud of the bank.

6. Place the sapling on the fork, and determine where the sapling must sit so that the rock will hit the ground. Take a knife, and make a small divot in the sapling so that it will stay in place on the forked stick.

7. Get a flat river rock that is hollow like a bowl. The grains will sit in this rock as they get ground to flour.

8. Put the rock with grains under the plumping mill's lever rock. Turn the lever arm so that the box catches the cascading water.

Tips & Warnings

• If the box is too high to catch the water, try pushing your forked stick farther into the mud. This will lower your plumping mill lever closer to the ground.