Peirce Mill — materials
A rough list to take to a sawmill. The frame is cut green — full-sawn timbers straight from the log — and pinned with dry oak pegs: as the timbers dry they shrink onto the pegs, and the drawbored joints pull tighter. The mill cuts every stick to its section and length; the framer cuts the joints.
Each length is the piece’s cut length plus 6 in for trimming and the tenons; the gear parts as listed, rounded up to the foot. A piece longer than 24 ft is ordered in two or more lengths joined by a scarf (A2-16), except a post or a rafter is not scarfed. Board feet are full-sawn: width × depth × feet ÷ 12. Sizes follow the model, which is proportioned from measured drawings, not engineered — a frame that will carry a load is sized by an engineer first.
The Amish mills
| Section (in) | Length (ft) | Pieces | Board feet | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 × 23 | 16 | 1 | 705 | wheel shaft (bur oak) |
| 15 × 15 | 12 | 1 | 225 | upright shaft (red oak) |
| 3 × 41 3/4 | 4 | 2 | 84 | wallower disc (red oak) |
| 5 3/4 × 21 | 3 | 1 | 30 | bearing block (bur oak) |
| 9 × 12 | 9 | 2 | 162 | neck beam half (red oak) |
| 10 × 9 3/4 | 11 | 4 | 358 | bed-stone bearer (red oak) |
| 8 × 12 | 17 | 4 | 544 | cap (red oak) |
| 8 × 11 | 18 | 1 | 132 | sill (bur oak) |
| 8 × 11 | 17 | 2 | 249 | sill (bur oak) |
| 8 × 11 | 11 | 1 | 81 | sill (bur oak) |
| 8 × 9 | 11 | 2 | 132 | bridge tree (red oak) |
| 8 × 8 | 7 | 14 | 523 | post (red oak) |
| 4 1/4 × 8 3/4 | 5 | 32 | 500 | water wheel shroud segment (bur oak) |
| 6 × 6 | 3 | 6 | 54 | spur wheel arm (red oak) |
| 3 × 9 3/4 | 11 | 15 | 402 | floor joist (red oak) · floor trimmer (red oak) |
| 1 1/4 × 22 | 19 | 2 | 87 | vat (bent boards) (red oak) |
| 4 1/2 × 6 | 9 | 4 | 81 | pit wheel arm (red oak) |
| 4 × 5 1/2 | 4 | 16 | 118 | spur wheel rim segment (red oak) |
| 4 × 4 | 5 | 16 | 107 | water wheel arm (bur oak) |
| 6 × 2 1/2 | 18 | 9 | 202 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 6 × 2 1/2 | 10 | 20 | 249 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 6 × 2 1/2 | 5 | 29 | 181 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 6 × 2 1/2 | 4 | 5 | 25 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 6 × 2 1/2 | 2 | 9 | 22 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 2 1/2 × 5 | 5 | 16 | 83 | pit wheel rim segment (red oak) |
| 1 × 10 | 7 | 32 | 187 | water wheel bucket face (bur oak) |
| 3 1/8 × 2 1/2 | 18 | 1 | 11 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 3 1/8 × 2 1/2 | 10 | 1 | 6 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 3 1/8 × 2 1/2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | floor plank (white pine) |
| 1 × 6 | 7 | 32 | 112 | water wheel bucket start (bur oak) |
5,655 board feet of green timber in 281 pieces.
3 members are longer than a 24 ft stick and are scarfed.
Pegs: 330 of dry oak, 1 in by 10 in, estimated joint by joint — order a tenth over.
The workshop's own mill (graded: the cogs and rounds)
| Section (in) | Length (ft) | Pieces | Board feet | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 1/8 × 8 | 2 | 85 | 125 | spur cog (ironwood) |
| 1 3/8 × 3 3/8 | 2 | 65 | 52 | pit wheel cog (ironwood) |
| 1 5/8 × 1 5/8 | 3 | 24 | 15 | wallower round (ironwood) |
192 board feet of green timber in 174 pieces.
Boards: the stone floor (its planks are in the cut list) about 0 sq ft at 2 1/2 in thick (≈0 board feet); roof boards about 0 sq ft at 1 in (≈0 board feet). Add for waste.
Not in this list: stone, brick and mortar; siding, trim, windows and doors; roofing; nails; the cog pins, one a cog: 65 in the pit wheel (A6-79, about ¾ in, as the row's model: ESTIMATED) and 85 in the spur wheel (A6-94, about 0.4 in, ESTIMATED); the wedges that fix the wheels on their faceted shafts (A6-80; not drawn, so not counted); the iron: two stone spindles, two rynds and two stone nuts, the wheel shaft's two gudgeons and the upright shaft's foot gudgeon, the wallower's bands, the neck's brass and its bolts, the gate's rod and ring, the water wheel's bolts and hub ring (sheet 15); the millstones, two pairs, 51 in; the flume and its gate, drawn but not in the cut list. Nothing here is priced.
Cut list, piece by piece
| Piece | Qty | Section (in) | Cut length (in) | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Amish mills: Sill (bur oak) | 1 | 8 × 11 | 360 | on a footing · on a footing |
| The Amish mills: Sill (bur oak) | 1 | 8 × 11 | 122 | on a footing, past the wheel shaft · on a footing |
| The Amish mills: Sill (bur oak) | 1 | 8 × 11 | 210 | on a footing · on a footing, short of the wheel shaft |
| The Amish mills: Bearing block (bur oak) | 1 | 5 3/4 × 21 | 30 | on a footing · on a footing |
| The Amish mills: Wheel shaft (bur oak) | 1 | 23 × 23 | 186 | (the inner gudgeon in its end) · (the outer gudgeon in its end) |
| The Amish mills: Pit wheel rim segment (red oak) | 16 | 2 1/2 × 5 | 45 | lapped and pegged (A6-78) · lapped and pegged (A6-78) |
| The Amish mills: Pit wheel arm (red oak) | 4 | 4 1/2 × 6 | 93 | housed into the rim · housed into the rim |
| The workshop's own mill (graded: the cogs and rounds): Pit wheel cog (ironwood) | 65 | 1 3/8 × 3 3/8 | 11 1/4 | through the rim, pinned behind (A6-79) · (its head) |
| The Amish mills: Water wheel shroud segment (bur oak) | 32 | 4 1/4 × 8 3/4 | 52 1/4 | lapped (ESTIMATED) · lapped (ESTIMATED) |
| The Amish mills: Water wheel arm (bur oak) | 16 | 4 × 4 | 44 1/8 | on the wheel shaft · housed into the shroud |
| The Amish mills: Water wheel bucket start (bur oak) | 32 | 1 × 6 | 70 | housed into the shroud · housed into the shroud |
| The Amish mills: Water wheel bucket face (bur oak) | 32 | 1 × 10 | 70 | housed into the shroud · housed into the shroud |
| The Amish mills: Upright shaft (red oak) | 1 | 15 × 15 | 130 | (the foot gudgeon in its end, M2-13) · (on to the attic: cut off here) |
| The Amish mills: Wallower disc (red oak) | 2 | 3 × 41 3/4 | 41 3/4 | (the rounds tenoned through it, A6-81) · wedged on the shaft (A6-80) |
| The workshop's own mill (graded: the cogs and rounds): Wallower round (ironwood) | 24 | 1 5/8 × 1 5/8 | 18 | through the disc (A6-81) · through the disc (A6-81) |
| The Amish mills: Spur wheel rim segment (red oak) | 16 | 4 × 5 1/2 | 31 3/4 | lapped and pegged (A6-78) · lapped and pegged (A6-78) |
| The Amish mills: Spur wheel arm (red oak) | 6 | 6 × 6 | 28 1/2 | tenoned into the shaft (ESTIMATED) · housed into the rim |
| The workshop's own mill (graded: the cogs and rounds): Spur cog (ironwood) | 85 | 1 1/8 × 8 | 6 3/4 | through the rim's edge, keyed inside (A6-94) · (its head) |
| The Amish mills: Post (red oak) | 14 | 8 × 8 | 73 1/4 | into the sill (A6-22) · into the cap (A6-02) |
| The Amish mills: Bridge tree (red oak) | 2 | 8 × 9 | 117 1/8 | between the paired posts, pinned (ESTIMATED) · through the post's mortise |
| The Amish mills: Cap (red oak) | 2 | 8 × 12 | 360 | on a post · on a post |
| The Amish mills: Neck beam half (red oak) | 2 | 9 × 12 | 101 1/8 | housed into the SW cap · housed into the NE cap |
| The Amish mills: Floor joist (red oak) | 9 | 3 × 9 3/4 | 117 1/8 | on the SW cap · on the NE cap |
| The Amish mills: Floor trimmer (red oak) | 6 | 3 × 9 3/4 | 117 1/8 | on the SW cap · on the NE cap |
| The Amish mills: Bed-stone bearer (red oak) | 4 | 10 × 9 3/4 | 117 1/8 | on the SW cap · on the NE cap |
| The Amish mills: Floor plank (white pine) | 47 | 6 × 2 1/2 | 50 – 206 | on a joist · on a joist |
| The Amish mills: Floor plank (white pine) | 10 | 6 × 2 1/2 | 51 3/4 | on a joist · on a trimmer |
| The Amish mills: Floor plank (white pine) | 5 | 6 × 2 1/2 | 32 5/8 | on a trimmer · on a trimmer |
| The Amish mills: Floor plank (white pine) | 10 | 6 × 2 1/2 | 17 1/2 – 102 1/8 | on a trimmer · on a joist |
| The Amish mills: Floor plank (white pine) | 3 | 3 1/8 × 2 1/2 | 50 – 206 | on a joist · on a joist |
| The Amish mills: Vat (bent boards) (red oak) | 2 | 1 1/4 × 22 | 211 3/8 | on the floor plank · |