February 10, 1999
Heiligerlee, The Netherlands - Since I was there at the beginning of last month, parking space outside the Molema workshop dramatically increased. Inside the workshop though... Well, please go and, virtually, see for yourself.
About half of the enormous pieces of bilinga wood now lie piled up inside the Molema workshop waiting for further processing. This, while the other half begins to show the outlines of the future octagonal framing of the Fulton windmill. You can get an idea of the dimensions by comparing the worker's shapes to (only part of) the bilinga structure.
The mill's octagonal framing structure is the main part of the interior of a windmill.
Over the recent weeks the Molemas and their staff have transformed mere pieces of lumber into highly exact puzzle pieces that will eventually be assembled, disassembled and assembled once more on site in Fulton to create the octagonal frame.
By virtue of his seniority, Mr. Cornelis Molema's main job is advise, supervision, double-checking and sharing his extensive knowledge. Here he is about to determine the "cut angle" the other members of the team will use to process this bilinga beam to fit others within the complete framework.
While the other two associates, Erik Ufkens...
and Guus Zantinga...
with the help of their experienced staff...
use electrical equipment and traditional mill builder's equipment...
to create the main octagonal frame of the Fulton windmill.
