The Story of a Re-Operating Windmill

Abstract Research on the history of the development of grain milling structures is a priority topic of the Department of Technical Sciences of the Transylvanian Museum Association. Quite a few publications and study volumes contain the results of the research. The present dissertation presents another grinding structure, the windmill, its reconstruction, creating a connection between the theoretical foundations and the practical implementation. Although it was built as a museum and tourist object, it is also a significant work from the point of view of technical history. The Felsőszentiván windmill is powered by a 14-meter-diameter windmill. The mill has a two-stage accelerator gear that increases the low, non-grinding speed of the wind turbine for the rotation typical of grindstone mills. The upper stones of a pair of grindstones rest on a vertical axis, and by raising this the gap between the stones can be adjusted. This determines the particle size of the grind. The windmill consists of three functional parts: a windmill, an accelerator gear and a grain mill made up of a pair of grindstones.