[ESL-FB] Water-powered Sawmill

[Capt Wolf]

While many are gossiping about the rumored Eslandola treasure fleet, life goes on as normal for most of the citizens of the brick seas. On the outskirts of Weelond, the local sawmill is busy.

 

 

With water diverted from the nearby river, the waterwheel turns the mechanism (essentially a simple crank) that operates the saw blade. The basement that houses the mechanism also is used for storing supplies.

 

 

Logs are brought to the mill by horse or floated down river. Workers roll each log onto the mill floor, where the log is guided through the saw.

 

 

 

Logs are sent through repeatedly to get a number of planks from each log. Then the planks are then moved off the mill floor and stacked to await delivery to wherever they’re needed.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Since I did such a terrible job with the waterwheel on my indigo dye factory, I felt I needed to do a build that showed one operating properly. Water-powered sawmills date back to the 6^th century, and the example I used for this MOC was from the early 1800s, but should still be representative of the 1700s. As for the saw blade in the fifth picture, I tried using a folded piece of aluminum foil for the blade, but I couldn’t get it to stay in place, so I cheated and wound up just drawing it in. I initially wanted to include the mill pond in the build, but it was just too much to include. This will be licensed as a medium factory, which should elevate Weelond to Large Town status.

 

As always, all C&C welcome!

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by Capt Wolf

[Mike S]

Very nice!

[dr_spock]

Very nice and clean. 

[Elostirion]

Perfect atmosphere. Nothing at all to criticize about the building. The process comes over really well. Great work!

I think though the green ground might have needed some love. A small brush at one place, maybe a bit of undergrowth at the side of the mill. Maybe a little dirt on the ground. At least at the backside where noone is working. Also the green slopes at the back irritate me a little bit, dark tan or even brown might have been better to depict earthy-slopes.

But then again the waterwheel shows so much detail and the small wall around it looks great and all, that I come to the conclusion that the lack of details on the green is on purpose, to keep the whole thing clean as it should be in a working environment.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Elostirion

[TitusV]

Very nice mill, I really like the classic feeling this build has!

[SilentWolf]

I'm glad the water wheel was redone. Excellent build with several nice details. The already cut log is a nice touch. The cut board color is great. I like the way you did the roof, simple but effective. The wheel is definitely the best part here though. The sluice, retaining wall, and wheel all look well done. 

 

 

 

[Bregir]

Another lovely "production" build from you, Capt. Wolf.

This is one of the best waterwheels I have ever seen in Lego, and I like the stone lower floor and the open wooden upper floor. Keep these things coming! (Btw, if you are interested, King's Harbour has an outstanding contract for a lumbermill... ;) )

It actually reminds me of the watermill at Guedelon castle, probably because of the waterworks and the open upper floor. (If you have any interest in castles and historic crafts, it is a must see. Believe me!)

[Sir Stig]

This captures the essence of a water powered sawmill perfectly. It looks almost exactly like an old sawmill from where I grew up. I agree it could have been even better with a little rubble or some more details on the green. Perhaps some branches and a handsaw lying around. But that is nitpicking for next level presentation. Total character: Both thumbs. One for mood, and one for historical/architectural accuracy.

[Phadeout]

I do love an educational element to the build - check. I also love a well constructed MOC - check. Sure a little detail on the green space would look nice but it is also a working area, I'm sure the conscientious Health and Safety Officer would have made them clear it up anyway when carrying out their risk assessment..  

And well done in getting Weelond up another level!

[Kolonialbeamter]

Boah, this is a neat sawmill. Well constructed, a clean build, depicting the cutting process - I do like it a lot 

Just... this... painted... saw blade... argh! Nevermind, no big deal, guess you just didn't have a fitting piece  If I had to nitpick, it'd be a lack of plants and general diversity. The mill looks new, but a little close to sort of 'steril'. I'd like to see it 'weathered' a bit more. For the brick wall you could add some plates, SNOTed tiles, headlight bricks, etc. Don't get me wrong, this is just high level nitpicking - you've done a great job with this build - I'll surely 'borrow' some ideas from this  

Keep it up!

[blackdeathgr]

Woohoo!! REALLY nice!!! I really liked that you made a "two-staged", uneven ground. Colonies are seriously keep expanding and nicely so!!

[Franco Clarke]

Great little setup there, the fact that it isn't on level ground really sets it apart!

 

[Capt Wolf]

Thanks for the comments!

On 9/23/2016 at 3:33 AM, Elostirion said:

Perfect atmosphere. Nothing at all to criticize about the building. The process comes over really well. Great work!

I think though the green ground might have needed some love. A small brush at one place, maybe a bit of undergrowth at the side of the mill. Maybe a little dirt on the ground. At least at the backside where noone is working. Also the green slopes at the back irritate me a little bit, dark tan or even brown might have been better to depict earthy-slopes.

But then again the waterwheel shows so much detail and the small wall around it looks great and all, that I come to the conclusion that the lack of details on the green is on purpose, to keep the whole thing clean as it should be in a working environment.

Thanks, and you're right about the green. I think I got fixated so much on working the multiple levels and slope that I failed to give the coloration the detail it needed. I'm already addressing that on my next build.

On 9/23/2016 at 4:26 AM, SilentWolf said:

I'm glad the water wheel was redone. Excellent build with several nice details. The already cut log is a nice touch. The cut board color is great. I like the way you did the roof, simple but effective. The wheel is definitely the best part here though. The sluice, retaining wall, and wheel all look well done. 

 

 

 

Thanks. I was very happy with how the waterwheel turned out on this build. It necessitated the multilevel approach that resulted in all that brown "dirt" under the surface on the side away from the wheel, but it was worth it.

On 9/23/2016 at 5:08 AM, Bregir said:

Another lovely "production" build from you, Capt. Wolf.

This is one of the best waterwheels I have ever seen in Lego, and I like the stone lower floor and the open wooden upper floor. Keep these things coming! (Btw, if you are interested, King's Harbour has an outstanding contract for a lumbermill... ;) )

It actually reminds me of the watermill at Guedelon castle, probably because of the waterworks and the open upper floor. (If you have any interest in castles and historic crafts, it is a must see. Believe me!)

Thanks, and I will definitely check out Guedelon castle if I ever have the chance. It looks very interesting!

On 9/23/2016 at 6:02 AM, Sir Stig said:

This captures the essence of a water powered sawmill perfectly. It looks almost exactly like an old sawmill from where I grew up. I agree it could have been even better with a little rubble or some more details on the green. Perhaps some branches and a handsaw lying around. But that is nitpicking for next level presentation. Total character: Both thumbs. One for mood, and one for historical/architectural accuracy.

I'm glad to hear I captured the right feel. You're right that I needed to have some stray tools and such lying around. I fear I had blinders on as i finished this project with an eye toward wrapping it up quickly and moving on to the next build in my queue. Thanks!

 

4 hours ago, Kolonialbeamter said:

Boah, this is a neat sawmill. Well constructed, a clean build, depicting the cutting process - I do like it a lot 

Just... this... painted... saw blade... argh! Nevermind, no big deal, guess you just didn't have a fitting piece  If I had to nitpick, it'd be a lack of plants and general diversity. The mill looks new, but a little close to sort of 'steril'. I'd like to see it 'weathered' a bit more. For the brick wall you could add some plates, SNOTed tiles, headlight bricks, etc. Don't get me wrong, this is just high level nitpicking - you've done a great job with this build - I'll surely 'borrow' some ideas from this  

Keep it up!

Thanks! Yes, the saw blade. I know. I willingly own my shame. I fear I just got too much into a hurry at the end of this build. As for the wall, I'm using many of those techniques on another wall that's part of another current build. As such, I was cutting corners as I spread myself thin part-wise.

3 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Woohoo!! REALLY nice!!! I really liked that you made a "two-staged", uneven ground. Colonies are seriously keep expanding and nicely so!!

The multi-level, uneven ground was a big part of this build. As far as the shape, it came together pretty well. Thanks.

And thanks to everyone for the comments. I must admit it didn't sink in how "clean" I had left it until after I posted it. The feedback is already being put to good use. Thanks!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Great mill. Good idea. Something to copy...

 

[Ayrlego]

I admit to seeing this when you posted but somehow never got around to commenting, so my apologies!

I really love the effort you put in to explaining the process that is occurring in your builds and this is a classic example of that. The sawn logs look really good and the water wheel itself is well done - like Captain Braunsfeld says, something to copy (one day!)

[Capt Wolf]

20 hours ago, Captain Braunsfeld said:

Great mill. Good idea. Something to copy...

 

Thanks. And please copy away! That's what I do when I see something I like!

10 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

I admit to seeing this when you posted but somehow never got around to commenting, so my apologies!

I really love the effort you put in to explaining the process that is occurring in your builds and this is a classic example of that. The sawn logs look really good and the water wheel itself is well done - like Captain Braunsfeld says, something to copy (one day!)

Thanks! And I'm not sure why I feel compelled to explain the processes represented by many of my builds, other than it gives the build a bit of purpose or structure, or adds a sense of action to something that is otherwise still.