We begin with 2 millstones.   

Millstones are often made of a hard stone like granite.  They can be as small as 8” in diameter or as wide as 48".  

Being 4"-5" thick, millstones are......
very heavy!  

The surface of a millstone is divided by deep grooves called furrows into separate flat areas called lands.    Spreading away from the furrows are smaller grooves called feathering.

The furrows are cut deeper at the center of the stones, and are more shallow at the outer edge of the stone.   (We’ll find out why later.)

The 2 stones stand side-by-side, almost touching, but not quite. The miller can adjust the distance between the stones to regulate how finely the grain is ground.     

As the milling begins, one stone "stands still" while the other turns, creating a “scissor-like” cutting action as the grooves cross each other.   

As a kernel of wheat enters the millstone it is “caught” in the deep furrows at the center.  

Centrifugal force then forces the kernel to move through the furrows which are getting shallower and shallower as they get to the outside of the stone, crushing the kernel along the way.  

The result is “stone-ground whole wheat flour” which is simply…...ground-up wheat kernels!  
We do this every day right in our Herndon store.   We add nothing, we take nothing out—this is the exact flour we use in our whole wheat breads!

 Click below to see a great animated diagram of a grist mill at work.  (Grist = grain)  This particular grist mill uses the force of water to make the millstones turn, which is how many mills worked in the days before electricity.   In Holland, a windmill uses the force of ___?___ to make its stones turn.   Our mill uses electricity.    (We thought that was easier than building a waterfall in downtown Herndon!  J )

Click here for animated grist mill using water power.