Wind Spinner

[RonMig]

Tried my hand at making one of these after seeing them at the local garden centre selling for £100....
All the components (apart from paint) were from my scraps box so the main cost was my time for fabrication / welding.

Having finished, £100 now seems too cheap, so I assume the ones at the garden centre are from slave labour / mass produced?

Clip of it installed and running - new owner (sis) is very happy

 

[chunkolini]

Tidy, it looks well balanced etc
They will be spat out in their thousands, made by starving nine year olds.
I have had so many requests to make the posh versions of these, I just refuse.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Elf & safety'll be round hers to discuss the meshed shroud.......

 

[Gareth J]

I (digitally) stumbled upon this chap's windy mover things the other day.

Very nice, but I think his may be a tad more than £100.

Yours is smart. Will be a lot longer lives than something fired out at base cost for sure

 

[123hotchef]

looks great mate now we need u to write a how too!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I (digitally) stumbled upon this chap's windy mover things the other day.

Very nice, but I think his may be a tad more than £100.

Now, that I like!! Some cool work here http://howeart.net/index.html

 

[selectedgrub]

Nice work.
Thanks for putting up the video too.

 

[RonMig]

looks great mate now we need u to write a how too!

Well, I'd been given these Bandings / Rings from old (rotted) oak barrel planters and Tines from the head of an old grass-rake and they were taking up a bit too much space, so was trying to think what to do with them...


My original thought was to make a globe form (might still do, have got 6 left)...
Then my sister (not the one I made the grasshopper for) mentioned the wind spinners & I thought that would be easier than making a globe?

 

[RonMig]

Only two of the bandings (?) were the same size so I divided each one into six blades with my anglegrinder.
Also started chopping up an old washing-machine electric motor, keeping the bearings & their housings intact.
The tube is from an unwanted "running machine" that I stripped for my welding scrapbox for me to upcycle rather than let it got to the tip for someone else to "recycle".

 

[RonMig]

Got the rake tines off & studied a model plane prop & wondering what shape & angles to use
Hhmm, this needs to be right or it'll wobble...
I did think about making use of the curved tines and blades to make it a globe shape?
but maybe another time, as I wanted to keep this relatively simple

 

[RonMig]

This is taking longer to explain than I thought - my wife had a hip replacement last week & I keep having to divert to do other jobs

 

[RonMig]

So, (and why do people on telly who've been asked a question always start their reply with "So"?)

I needed a bigger flat surface than my workmate & my shed bench was not available so made do with a bit of plywood
Could have just winged-it but think I might have just a touch of ocd so borrowed my lad's school compass to get the gaps right...

 

[ford34/2]

http://www.techinsider.io/kinetic-sculptures-anthony-howe-wind-power-2016-4
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/06/hypnotic-wind-powered-kinetic-sculptures-by-anthony-howe/

Anyone been to Lanzarotti will be familiar with Cesar Manrique sculptures

http://www.lanzaroteinformation.com/content/manrique-roundabouts
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w...X&ved=0ahUKEwjfxvnU3PfNAhUKIcAKHcNTCTsQsAQIJw

Google for more info and videos

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/040637737/wind-sculpture-lanzarote.html

Loads more if you "Google"

Stan

 

[123hotchef]

I like the washing machine bearing use great idea too

 

[RonMig]

Looking round for a way to hold the tines/spokes in place for tacking
Weights made them twist slightly so ended up going with this stuff...


One down, one to go -


Managed to not set fire to anything yet, just scorching
Note to self; make a proper welding table !

 

[RonMig]

After the above stage, I confess, I got more focused on doing the work and forgot about pictures until almost finished.
This was probly because after I shaped the blades I stuck them in citric acid solution for several days to clean the rust off (worked perfectly too)
Then I weighed the blades (99g each+/-1g) and set them out evenly to keep it all balanced.
Heated the spokes/tines & gave them a roughly 45degree angle to the rotation plane, & tacked the blades onto the spokes
I made a T-piece to both extend the axle and provide a joiner for the upright, which was a broken lamp stand.
Used an old drill chuck to attach the axle to the upright.
The other component I also didn't take a photo of, was made up of 3 old paint-roller frames - I stripped the plastics off them, heated and shaped into ground spikes then welded to the base.
Slapped loads of Aldi metal paint for weather protection, silver black and green.
Lots of days delays between coats of paint also another excuse for forgetting photos - hands covered in paint
Added copper wire (pulled out of a motor winding) to catch/flash in the sunlight.
If I do another I'd like to try for a rusty finish, as is done so well by Chunkolini

Here is a close-up while on test in my garden; it is about 2 meters to the axle so I stood on the garden picnic table to get this shot.
It gets tied down to three ground stakes for stability.

 

[RonMig]

Another clip of it running, a bit closer than the first one above.
Not sure if it it's swaying, more likely its me!
It's too sheltered in our garden for one of these really, much better suited in its final location, quite windy there - needs to be well staked-down and stopped with some string if it gets really windy as it just goes into a blur! Much better going slowly.

Anyone know how to make a speed limiter / governor for something like this?