Further work on No 2 stone

Today we continued to work towards our goal of milling with the No 2 stone before the end of the season. The tun is a two-decker structure, the upper section being detachable mainly to make it easier to get it in and out of the limited space.
Ray made good progress with the tun, putting in the cross bracing timbers which will support the top and help it to support the horse ...
... and built the top, made like the rest of the tun from tongue and groove floorboarding. All that remains is to finish trimming the edges of the top, cut the central hole for the grain to enter, finish the internal reinforcing, and finish and stain the wood.

Bob and Richard worked on the stone nut disengaging mechanism. The vertical bars have had to be modified as the holes in the tentering beam through which they pass are no longer vertical. To give a little flexibility, the bars are no longer fixed into holes in their bottom plate - instead they have collars which rest on the plate. Today's task was to fix the collars by drilling and fitting spring pins, and then refit the bars.

Finally we made a second hole in the cement dressing on the top of the runner stone and filled it with molten lead to balance the stone.