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Bark mills, also known as Catskill's mills, are water, steam, horse, ox or wind-powered edge mills [1] used to process the bark, roots, and branches of various tree species into a fine powder known as tanbark, used for tanning leather. This powdering allowed the tannin to be extracted more efficiently from its woody source material. [2] A barker would strip the bark from trees so that it might be ground in such mills, [3] and the dried bark was often stored in bark houses.[ citation needed ]
Various machinery was used to chop, grind, riddle and pound the bark. These included Farcot’s bark-cutting machine (used extensively in France), Weldon’s bark-grinding mill, and a device known as a Wiltze's mill or Catskill's mill (prevalent in 19th-century America). [2]
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