The winnowing-mill, referred to in this technical report, has had a long previous history. This history was especiallywinnower dominated by the design, the testing and the experimenting. Much patience was asked of the applicants, who were informed of our plans by us directly or through other institutions such as the Agromisaweek-Comite of Wageningen. To shorten a long story, the designer, Mr B. van Wulfften Palthe, found an elsewhere made prototype which could be improved in such a way that it would function under circumstances we thought the future winnower had to comply with.

Those circumstances can, among others, be translated in the following conditions:

  • It has to be a product which could be easily sent.
  • The mill had to be light to assemble on the spot, also by the non-skilled.
  • If possible, an assembly-drawing without text had to be made and enclosed to avoid language problems.
  • The winnower had to be easy to reproduce, even if there was the lacking of a modern workshop or modern working material or if the supply of non-wooden materials was impossible.
  • It had to be a product which could be easily handled and maintained by one person, so as to change a more or less heavy day's work in an easier one.
  • The mill had to be a manpower operated machine - independent of other power sources.

The one among you wondering now or in the future, whether they can obtain a kit besides this study-report, may know that at this moment (May 1973), twenty kits are being produced. Some of these twenty already have a destination.

To conclude, we may remark that we hope the winnower, at least to a great extent, will meet our expectations and may meet the demands of many.

To be certain of this, we would like to put you some questions as formulated in the latter part of this report.

You would do us, and many others, a favor using this list when sending your remarks. Using this information, we hope to go on working for you and your colleagues.

Topics Covered

  • Introductory remarks
  • A set of drawings, subdivided in:
    • a packing-drawing of the kit
    • an assembly-drawing for assembling the kit
    • a production-drawing for the one copying the kit, without having one available
  • An explanatory list concerning both the assembling, the production and the use of the winnower.
  • A questionnaire in order to evaluate our activities.