Bayram Karaman, a 59-year-old stonemason in Giresun, prepares millstones and water mites using the tools he manufactures.
59-year-old Karaman, who lives in Soğukpınar town of Espiye district, started working in mill repairs when he was 20 years old. Karaman improved itself over time and also produced millstones.
Karaman, who shaped the stones in front of his house by calculating the necessary dimensions to grind corn grains, became one of the sought-after millstone masters in the region.
Karaman made a stone water flow into a fountain upon request 25 years ago. As the water flow became popular, Karaman continues to process stones for fountains in the plateaus and villages.
Karaman, who set up a blacksmith’s forge on the ground floor of his house after the tools he used to process stones wore out quickly, manufactures the tools himself.
Bayram Karaman said that he became interested in this job when, in his childhood, an old master dismantled the millstone and started repairing it, saying “The master does not wait in the mill, those who come to the mill wait.”
Stating that his father, who repaired mills from time to time, also contributed to him, Karaman explained that he made toy mills in his childhood.
Karaman stated that there was no master left in the town other than him and said, “We had a master, who also got old and sick. I cannot find anyone in our district or town who is interested and says ‘I can do this job’. I don’t know what will happen after us, whether technology will come into play, but “This is done by hand, it is not untouched.” said.
“A grain of corn goes through three stages”
Emphasizing the importance of suitable stone for the mill, Karaman continued as follows:
“A mill cannot be made of just any stone. In the past, the stone was processed where it came from, but now we put it on vehicles and bring it to the door of the house and place it wherever the mill is. Both the top and bottom of the stone must be the same, one cannot be from a different region, the other cannot be from a different region. One stone is soft, the other is soft.” “It can’t be hard, it will be made of the same rock. This is because stones get mixed in when grinding the corn.”
Bayram Karaman stated that he carries out operations such as cutting, carving and leveling the outside of the stones in front of his house, and said, “The real mastery begins in the mill. There you will rotate the stone, where it touches, where it does not, where it gets the corn, where it does not, so the fine mastery is there.” he said.
Stating that the corn grain is first split into two when it falls into the millstone, Karaman said, “We call this ‘splitting’ among the public, the second stage is ‘breaking’, the finer part of the splitting, and the third stage is ‘flour’, the exit area of the stone. A corn grain passes through three stages.” .” he said.
Karaman stated that he also makes stone water flows for water on mountain and village roads, and said, “In other words, I make a fountain made of natural stone so that the water can be drunk from where it comes from, without using a pipe. It is in demand, and it makes people happy that there are stones instead of plastic pipes when they go to the fountain.” said.
Pointing out that the ends of the tools with which he processed the stone were worn out, Karaman said:
“When the stone wears out, the tool becomes inoperable. You work for 5 minutes, re-level the material you have, and start again. In the past, they used to set up portable bellows next to the mills in the stream, they would beat the tools they worked with there, and make their mouths. We do it where we are now, it can also be done with rechargeable tools next to the mill. “
