A windmill toy is a simple and, one might say, ancient device. But being a dynamic toy, it can bring noticeable animation to the calm landscape of a country plot or garden, especially while they are being developed, when tall trees and shrubs have not yet grown, attracting the attention of not only children but also adults.
Apart from amusement, a windmill installed on a plot will also provide purely practical “services.” The rotation of the propeller and the turns of the weather vane scare away unwanted feathered guests while fruit and berries are ripening on the trees. In addition, vibration from the windmill is transmitted through the pole stuck into the ground into the soil and frightens burrowing moles if they suddenly appear on your plot. And more: the windmill will help you determine both the wind direction and, approximately, its strength.
Even a beginner can make a windmill. The materials for it can be found in almost every home. Basically, all you need are scraps of wooden picket fencing and a sheet of duralumin, a few nails, and an old nylon lid. If you do not have a long stick for the pole, it can also be made as a composite one in various ways.
The main element of the windmill is the weather-vane assembly. It is a beam with a keel and an airscrew consisting of two identical duralumin blades joined by a hub — a short wooden block. Diagonal slots are cut in the ends of the block; the blades are inserted into them and fixed with small nails through pre-drilled holes. Another through hole, slightly larger in diameter than the axle nail, is drilled in the very middle of the hub. The finished propeller is balanced (unless it is used specifically against moles).
1 — blade (duralumin sheet s2, 2 pcs.); 2 — hub (wooden block 50×30); 3 — axle (nail Ø5×150, 2 pcs.); 4 — washer (nylon, 4 pcs.); 5 — beam (block 50×30); 6 — nail Ø2…3 (6 pcs.); 7 — keel (duralumin sheet s2); 8 — pole (wooden rod Ø60 or equivalent block)
The beam is made from a scrap of a block of the same cross-section as the hub, only longer. At one end of the block a slot is also cut, but a central one — a keel made from a duralumin plate is then inserted into it and fastened with a pair of nails. At the other end a central hole is drilled with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the nail that will serve as the propeller axle.
After that the weather-vane assembly is put together: the propeller is fitted onto the axle nail, and the nail is inserted into the end hole in the fuselage. So that during rotation the propeller hub does not touch the nail head and the end of the fuselage directly, nylon washers are installed on both sides of it.
Next, the center of gravity (CG) of the weather-vane assembly is found. To do this, its fuselage is placed on the edge of a ruler or another thin plate and the unit is balanced. At the center of gravity a hole is drilled for the axle nail (of a slightly larger diameter), and at the end of the pole another hole — of a diameter slightly smaller than the axle.
Before mounting the weather-vane assembly on the pole, nylon washers greased with litol are placed on both sides of the fuselage.
And finally. For the windmill to produce an even greater effect, it is a good idea to polish the propeller blades and the keel before installing them. This is quite easy — the metal is soft. Then reflected sunlight will also “sparkle” from their motion.
“Modelist-Konstruktor” No. 11’2010, A. MATVEYCHUK
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