Vintage fanning mill / Historický cistící mlýnek na obilí - Brevnov Archabbey (Prague)
N 50° 05.038 E 014° 21.395
33U E 453968 N 5548165
Depicted old fanning mill (seed cleaner; CZ: cistící mlýnek na obilí "fofr") you can find as a decoration close to the restaurant in the courtyard of the Benedictine Archabbey of St. Adalbert and St. Margaret in Prague-Brevnov.
Waymark Code: WMKM10
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/29/2014
Views: 53
Depicted old fanning mill (seed cleaner; CZ: cistící mlýnek na obilí "fofr") you can find as a decoration close to the restaurant in the courtyard of the Benedictine Archabbey of St. Adalbert and St. Margaret in Prague-Brevnov.
A fanning mill is a peculiar-looking device made of wood, with a metal crank and wooden hand grip, and with sliding drawers, rounded board edges, shaped carrying handles, and sometimes lathe-turned knobs atop the frame posts, appearing almost like a piece of furniture. Like other old-time machinery, fanning mills were attractively painted in gaudy colors which, by this time, have long since faded away. But when restored to their natural beauty, they are quite attractive.
Fanning mills removed straw, chaff, stones, dirt and dust, weed seeds, and light immature seeds from wheat, oats, rye, barley, and other grains. It was important to remove contaminants for better preservation during storage, to have mold and grit free flour, and for securing viable seed free of weed seeds that would compete with a growing cereal crop. Fanning mills were a great technical advance over winnowing, the hand-process of pouring grain from one container to another in a breeze to blow away the lighter matter.