Wooden Mill for Hulling Rice

Maetong, or rice huller, is a hand mill used for removing husks of rice, and consisted of two chunky logs of identical size. The top of the upper log was carved slightly inwards like a mortar and had a hole in the middle with a diameter of 5 cm, through which grains of rice were passed. To connect the top and bottom logs, a prop was affixed to the middle of the bottom log and inserted into the hole in the upper log. The sawtoothed part of the upper log was carved inwards, while the serrated bottom part was carved outwards. The jagged teeth were easily blunted and thus needed to be serrated frequently. One or two handles were attached to the side of the upper log for the purpose of rotating it. Grains of rice were poured into the hole in the upper log, which was then spun. Husks came out from the gap between the top and bottom logs. Under the bottom log was a hand mill support, referred to as doraebangseok and maetbangseok, with the aim to prevent husked rice from spilling out.