Leithenmühle mit Venezianersäge

The house mill with a Venetian saw, which dates back to the end of the 13th century, still grinds.

The technology of the "Venetian saw" came from Italy. As the Venetians needed vast quantities of wood for their pile dwellings and shipbuilding, water-powered saws were used in the Venetian Alps at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The prototype of a sawmill is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519).

The "Felbermühle" show saw, assembled from old components, is fully functional and demonstrates the simple but well thought-out mechanism of a single-blade saw. The top-bladed water wheel moves the grindel beam, which transmits the power to the wooden cogwheels. This allows three operations to be carried out simultaneously:

• The logs are pulled onto the saw platform by a rope hoist.
• The saw blade is clamped in a wooden frame (="creel"), which is moved up and down by an ingenious cogwheel-lever-crank system.
• At the same time, each time the frame is pushed upwards, the "saw carriage" is moved forwards so that the saw teeth can grip again for the next cut.

This technology was used throughout Europe and is still in use today in Riemetschlag, in the municipality of Windhaag near Freistadt in the "Leithenmühle" (07943/495 0676/4113591).

Group tours: by prior arrangement

The Leithenmühle Windhaag is located on the hiking trail W3 "Steinerlebnisweg".