Theater of Machines, Volume 4

weight that hangs on the screw and moves downwards. The wedges, however, are the square pieces of wood B which one inserts into the square holes of the beams that stand upright under the turning-wood. But these holes must be well reinforced and nailed with iron plates on the bottom and top so that the beams do not split in two during the pressing. If we now observe this machine precisely and with diligence in itself, we find that it is composed of a balance and a screw. It also seems that Pliny, when he describes the wine-troughs, understood such a form, because he says: The length performs the work, and not the thickness: which is to be understood regarding the long cross-beam.

A. The long cross-beam or turning-wood, well protected with iron.
B. The wedges.
BBB. Holes into which the wedges are inserted.
DD. The foundation or footing of millstones.
E. Iron plates on the rear beams, with which the holes are reinforced and stiffened.
G. The two rear beams.