> I was surprised by the speed of the water wheel, I always
> thought they were much slower than what is shown here.

Thanks for this.  Great read and watch.  Water wheels are capable
of great power, a good deal more than people expect.  Burden's
horse shoe factory used a 28 foot over shot water wheel to churn
out 60 ready made horse shoes per minute (yep, one per second).
His first patent on the machine was 1840 something, and his last
improvement on the machine was patented in 1862.  That water
wheel produced 1000 horse power.

Are they practical?  Anybody here read John Goffe's Mill?
George Woodbury wrote the book, published in 1948.  He inherited
the mill and ended up putting it to work.  It became his sole
source of income as he invented more and different jobs for it
to do.  During WW II it powered a lathe at which he manufactured
lignum vitae bearings for the Navy.

Heck of a good read.  Probly ought to be on some required reading
list for Galoots.

Mike in Sacto