Inside the Alton Mill

[asnow]

Pictures inside the Alton Mill

[mbrager]

I do love shots of machinery. I guess this isn't the inner workings of the condom factory. Or maybe it is? What's with the nude in the background upper right in the last picture? That might be related to the condom factory. The light looks like it was a challenge for exposures. Good job.

[asnow]

Thanks mbragger. I think they are condom machinery, see picture. The lighting wasn't as challenging as you would think. They did not require HDR and I only did minor exposure adjustments in Lightroom.

[Mad Aussie]

It scares that you people can look at old machinery and know it was used to make condoms!!

[edG]

interesting series - not sure how this machinery made condoms, appears to be various flywheels and drive pulleys to run other machinery. Would have expected to see tanks/vats for latex and some form of dip moulds.

[asnow]

Don't forget that theses are probably not in their original location. In the last picture, they would put the condom on the nipple at the top and air gets pumped into it to stretch it.

[JordanGrant]

Hi All,
I'm one of the owners of the Alton Mill. The equipment in the turbine room is the original power takeoff equipment - none of the wool-knitting or rubber-product machinery was located in the turbine room. The main pieces of equipment are:
- the turbine (which isn't visible - it's inside/behind the huge elbow pipe that comes into the room and drops down below)
- the power take-off shaft that runs the length of the room and used to run the entire length of the building - it had big wooden wheels on it that had belts that led off to the different pieces of manufacturing equipment
- the governor, which regulated the speed of the turbine. That is the contraption with the two balls connected to springs in the lower photo. It was connected by a rubber belt to the power take-off shaft and via the gears that are visible in the photo spun at the speed of the shaft. When it got too fast the balls rose up and pulled on the springs which in turn caused a pulley to turn which was connected to the gate that slowed down the water flow. Ingenious!
All the wollen knitting machinery was removed in the 1930s when the building was converted to a rubber factory. When we bought the mill there were still a few pieces of rubber machinery there (not many). We relocated a large latex mixing machine outdoors beside the driveway. There are also a number of balloon moulds and a few condom moulds on display.
Hope that clears up a few questions.
Jordan Grant

- the governor which controlled the flow of water and speed of the turbine. That's the one that includes the two balls and springs. Theyspun around