Hi Barry,
they all apear to be a similar size but i suspect that the weight was
probably not critical. The weights only served to hold the rollers together
until a particularly hard (or oversize) piece of ore came into contact with
the rollers. The pivoted roller allowed this to pass by moving to one side.
The weight then moved it back to its original position. If the weight was
too light, smaller pieces of ore would pass through the roller. If it was to
heavy larger lumps could bring the whole crusher to a sudden stop which
would probably result in damage to the waterwheel. In order to adjust the
"effective weight" of the stone it was set on a wooden bar and could be
moved backwards and forwards to adjust amount of force it applied to keep
the rollers together.
Martin Roe
NAMHO Conference 2001-MINING HISTORY and BEYOND
http://www.mroe.freeserve.co.uk/nmrs/namho.htm
Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales
http://www.mroe.freeserve.co.uk
The Industrial Heritage of Calderdale
http://www.halifaxcouriertoday.co.uk/ftpinc/calderheritage
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
|