Remains of sugar cane press, Tai Lo Village, Sai Kung. | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Remains of sugar cane press, Tai Lo Village, Sai Kung.

Remains of sugar cane press, Tai Lo Village, Sai Kung.
Submitted by wvmarle
Tags: 
tool
saikung
tailo

This looks like the remains of a sugar cane press, placed along the trail near Tai Lo Village.

A very similar such device is on display in the Hong Kong Museum of History, that one has all the wooden parts in place. This one was probably used by villagers to press the juice out of the sugar canes.

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Saturday, August 31, 2013
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Comments

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2013-09-03 23:02.

Traditional grinder or mill. See here

Submitted by wvmarle on Thu, 2013-09-05 00:42.

I had such an idea already, but those things look really heavy, wonder how people could possible make them turn.

Submitted by PY LEE on Wed, 2013-09-11 20:59.

Sugar cane roller

Submitted by David on Fri, 2013-09-13 17:34.

That's interesting. I'd assumed they were for grinding grains, but there's a photo of something similar in this document that also says they were for processing sugar cane: http://www.amo.gov.hk/form/shan_ha_tsuen_doc_4.pdf

Can anyone explain how they were used?

Regards, David

Submitted by David on Sun, 2013-09-15 18:25.

Thanks to PY Lee for uploading these pictures.

The first shows the sugar cane rollers in use. So there was originally a large wooden frame surrounding the stonework that remains. He notes it is a "Drawing from Tian Gong Kai Wu 天工開物 (1637)":

Sugar cane roller

On the second photo he notes "Hard wood wedges work as gear":

Sugar cane Roller