A millstone is set into motion by turning a wooden rod. Grains are ground when they fall between opposite furrows of the two stone disks, both of which need to be properly tuned. Poorly balanced millstones produce poor-quality flour.

A special kind of fine-grained sandstone was considered ideal for making millstones for its firmness and durability.

In the old days, almost every household had this simple, but essential device. In villages, there was a special group of craftspeople who manufactured millstones. During its use, the millstone became worn out, as its surfaces became smooth and inefficient. Therefore, under high workloads, stone disks had to be redressed.

For grain processing, the Adyghe people used several devices. Wooden mortars were used to separate grains from the husk. Once everything was separated, grains were sent to mills or ground manually using hand mills.

The body of a hand mill was made of wood and the millstones could be either wooden (for coarse flour) or made of stone (for finer flour). Traditional millstones were around 70 centimeters in diameter so as to not be too bulky and remain suitable for use at home. At the same time, their design made it possible to grind any kind of cereals and grains without making much effort.