Tosra & The Auction, day 12
Construction plans
I havn't really decided in what order things should be built, but one thing is what I hope will be a really nice smithy and forge in the village, which partly will become a primitive machine shop. The idea is a water-powered power hammer, fan system with extraction for the fires, and further powered machines in the future like a grinding machine, which is likely to simply be a grindstone. The ceiling will be high and have a hoist of some kind. I also want a good carpenter's workshop there, with various machines for woodwork, and a waterpowered sawmill.
Waterpower is so limited on the island and it would have been easier on the mainland, as there is literally only one place that is suitable for waterwheels here - the stream between the largest lake and the valley. So I plan to build two larger buildings that have waterwheels between them. The southside will be a large sawmill with a carpentry workshop, a grain mill and a stamping machine for processing woven fabric called fulling, and the north side will be a large smithy and machine shop. The grain mill and fulling mill will not be used much or very often, but I want both, and they don't take up much space. It is also a smart idea to separate the smithy and forge with heat and fire as far from dusty flour and sawdust as possible. I should also try installing a fire suppression system, but automatic tripping is hard to do. However, a manual system can be worthwhile, and there is a small lake that is higher which can direct fed the sprinkler system.
The drop from lake to valley is sufficiently high for another water-driven system further downstream, and I will probably need to use it. So I will prepare for it. We still have to create a sufficiently steep drop, and will dig out under the waterwheels on both levels and add a pond after the first waterwheels. As large a pond as possible between the waterwheels are a good buffer to have, and there will be an automatic overflow channel passing around the waterwheels if it rains a lot and the water isn't needed. But the downstream waterwheels will hopefully be things that usually use less water, or that can run when the sawmill and smithy are in used. I cannot forsee any major problem with this system, and we will try to make it quite nice and pretty too. They love to make wood carvings, so in the future it may be a bit of that added with a little small decorations and flourishes which in Swedish is called 'carpenter's joy'.
Honestly, it might be easier to place the grain mill and stamping mill below the pond in their own buildings with their own smaller waterwheels, because they still take up space, and loading the grain mill can then easily take place from above, from the yard in front of the smithy or sawmill.
The north side with its smithy and machine shop will primarily have a line shaft belt drive system except for the big power hammer, while the south side sawmill will primarily have a direct drive from the waterwheels, and the carpentry on the south side will have a small line shaft system. Some things like ventilation fans, fulling mill and lighter machines do not require much power, but need to be running for long periods of time. A saw with associated feed to make planks is something that takes a lot of power for a long time each time, and a grain mill a lot of power but low tempo and medium time and rarely used. So each large building gets its own big water wheel.
At the same time, I plan to complicate it more by trying to make an energy buffer that drives a big power hammer. The principle is that the line shaft via transmission gradually lifts a heavy stone or cement weight upwards, but a foot pedal releases the weight so it falls and lifts the power press. The point is to make it so that the stone weight can lift the hammer several times before the stone weight reaches the bottom, so for example seven quick blows can be made, before the stone weight slowly lifts up again. But since the blacksmith will need to heat the iron, that is no major limitation if this takes a couple of minutes. Absolutely unnecessarily complex, but I will always wonder if I don't build it, and I would rather spend more time now in the beginning getting something better, than scrapping and rebuilding all the time. Then there is the limited amount of water, so it is unnecessary to waste water by having a too large waterwheel rotating all the time. One that requires less water should work well enough with an energy buffer, and there will probably be a big power hammer and a small automatic hammer. A big power hammer with far more power than a smith with a sledge can ever make, and a smaller automatic hammer for more normal work acting like a normal hammer.
The location is far from optimal for getting logs to the sawmill, or having a warehouse with sawn planks etc, but I simply don't have an alternative, and the warehouse and timber storage will probably not be that large. It is also possible to make a timber storage elsewhere, and if we are going to float timber over the sea from other places or islands, the locations isn't that bad.
There will be a yard in front of both hydropower buildings, which are divided by the waterwheel canal and the pond between and infront. A wide bridge over the canal makes it possible to easily drive a wagon to the other side, and a pretty bridge will make it look better. There must be some kind of road from the south end of the sawmill's yard down to the valley. It is just practical to avoiding turning a wagon around in the yard.
It will be interesting to see how much industrialization I can make over my lifetime. There are so much machines that I should be able to build and introduce, in so many areas. But beside the Academy, I need to prioritize actually making a foundation capable of building parts for these machines. Having a smith do every part by hand isn't feasable. Sawing every plank by hand just takes to much work and time.
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Gradually the buildings will form a slightly scattered village, and each household will have a small garden for vegetables, although some gardens won't be large or south facing. The gardens will be where it can, and each garden will probably have fencing of some kind to keep animals away and make it feel like it belong to the house. Each house will also have an outdoor toilets similar to the mansions toilets, which seem to work very well. All first 6x4 houses are facing west so that their front door is facing the road below and the living room window will have day and afternoon light, while the bedroom is facing the mountain and the forest behind the house. Each household will also have some personal animals, which atleast means chickens, geese, pigs, cows, etc. Basically it is necessary to let each household own animals, and we understand that everyone wants to make their lives better. I wish I could avoid everything with animals, including horses and riding, but for most people here a small farm with land to cultivate and owned animals is the dream, beside being necessary for food and economy. Land and animals are also wealth, security, and a sign of success that gives the opportunity to have children.
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I have talked to my sambos and guards, and they all think it is a very good idea to let each household have chickens, sheep, pigs, cows, horses and so on, that roam freely in shared pastures around the mountain and hills over there. The residents just have to mark their animals so we know which belong to whom, and as the population increase, let a younger person take care of the animals. Much of the land on these islands is more suitable for sheep, goats and pigs, than cows. We just have to make sure no bastard steals the animals. I havn't finished my branding irons yet. Fencing will be done with branches, stonewalls, or just thick bushes. I expect to get the residents help in building fences since its mostly for their animals, and most animals are easy to make pastures for, it just takes time. Pigs on the other hand tend to dig or push through fences, but Gunhild has some idea how to make a 'pig yoke' that will make it harder for the pigs to force themselves through holes.
So it is also necessary to build one or more communal barns for village animals, and the first will be built across the road between two of the first 6x4 houses so all the houses there can easily share it. There too, the uneven ground is used to make a ramp up to the hayloft, and there too, the barn will have a simpler smithy and combined smaller dairy/brewery. In the absence of another good place to house them, and that there will be few new village people on the islands before spring, the overwintering workers will be housed in the hayloft and attic above the smithy, where there will be a small extra fireplace that can help to keep them warm when it gets cold. I sure as hell won't force them to live in tents or simple huts in the forest.
There will probably be more communal barns scattered around the village or island where it is appropriate, but I will limit the amount of animals above the primary freshwater sources on the island, so no barn will be there. The animals will also not graze on the best arable land.
The oak forest west of the big lake would be a nice meadow and pasture, but in the beginning we will limit so that the animals only go on the eastside of the crest. It may be unnecessarily cautious of me, but good healthy drinking water is vital, and with bedrock, the groundwater on the islands seem quite poor by my standards in a lot of places, even if our mansion and barn well is okay. In the future, some small ponds will be built below cliffs or peaks where rain can be collected and lead on to animal pastures, barns, stables or fields. Just a simple shallow system with gutters and canals that collect the water instead of it flowing freely, and automatically store it much like the well at the mansions barn, because that system works fine. Primitive - but many make an impressed 'Oo-ohh!' when they see it. I'm hoping to introduce water towers in the future, or at least a high pond or two for drinking water to the village, but we'll see. The larger island will have some artificial lakes, and if I can make them at a slightly higher elevation than most of the fields, it makes watering the fields easier. It might be a dream that never comes true, but I hope to make windpowered pumps and watertowers to feed sprinkler systems to make sure the cropfields gets enough water.
Then it is important to keep drainage from barns away from drinking water, and make sure that future crafts and workshops don't pollute the water or soil. Sewage are not a huge problem right now, mainly because it is common to have an outdoor toilet, with just a simple seat over a hole. When the hole gets full, it is just buried and a new hole is dug and the outhouse is moved, but primarily the islands will use separating dry toilets with composting. Still, it is worth preparing for the future, and definitely try to keep sewage separated from rainwater, so sewage can be cleaned, and kept away from contaminating soil, especially the crop fields. From sewer point of view, it is an advantage that most buildings are high but not on top of hills and mountains, and it is likely that I will try to make some large sewer treatment ponds in the future. It will not be optimal, but it will probably be better than letting the shit and sewage flow directly out into the sea. If I can slowly start to make people think about such things in this era, and make it a way of life, then it will do a lot for overall health and reduce diseases, which will increase longevity and quality of life. The people here in the north take bathing and cleanliness seriously, so it should be possible. If it is still is used a hundred years from now is anyones guess.
In addition to making foundations and teaching workteam Adam, the stone workers have worked to improve the road and the harbor, which is really nice now. It will be a large project but it will be possible to make a combined harbor pier/bridge over to the other island, which is another future project to juggle with all the rest.
The stone work on my pavilion have been finished, and when suitable, I'll have to test the fireplaces in the secret bunker under the pavilion. I told Pedr to not prioritize all the woodwork, ie raising the framework, roofing and railings, and instead focus on other buildings, but there are so many workers here, that Pedr only picked two from each building team who are already well trained and created two six-man work team. It will help train workers for more skilled work, and I will have a finished pavilion in a few days. Which means that my mansion will be finished, if I ignore window installations that will happen as I get more windows, and other small jobs. Like the steam boiler system, which is far from a small job.
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Iselin helps me assemble oil lanterns, and before the evening darkness makes us light the lanterns in the wing, she knows most of what I know about them, and my future ideas for improvements. The new storm lantern model fascinates her the most, as to why it works better, and it does seems to work well, but it is the most complex to manufacture. It also doesn't really look like a classic modern storm lantern does, because both side tubes go backwards towards the oil tank instead of out to the sides. Their intake and discharge are still like a storm lantern, so these are even worse to make than just a storm lantern. I really should prioritize manufacturing instead of light output and handling. But large unbroken lighted surface is nice, and with a reflector infront of the tubes they doesn't really have any downside beside building them.
Hopefully we won't have to use much of the six wooden boxes with rapeseed oil candles that Iselin also bought, along with the household utensils. However, I wonder how long the barrels with rapeseed oil will last, or how much we will use this winter for oil lanterns. Oil lanterns are still an experiment, but I did make a quick calculation of 1-2 liters of oil per day for all lamps as it gets darker and they burn more, which I multiplied by 180 days, and then added a margin. I got a good price of 36 barrels, of about 16 liters each, so almost 580 liters are stacked in storage. I suspect that growing rapeseed for oil will increase in the future, and may be worth cultivating on certain lands instead of food. I just hope that whaling doesn't increase, but arable land can be used for food, and the whales are just out there, so it will probably happen.
It looks like it will be a clear cold night, which means a cold morning. To make it a little cozy and special, I light up the fireplace, and both Iselin and Ciara like my of grilling some apples on sticks, and when I surprise them by trying to caramelize with sugar, honey and sprinkle chopped nuts, our evening turns luxurious. A bit of mody background music makes the final touch for a nice relaxing cozy evening with my fiancée and concubine.
My life could be worse.