Things Needed
Tip
As an choice to making close up sheet metallic element blade , recycle the blade from an antique metallic element fan instead . For a longer - lasting aerogenerator , expend insistence - treated Mrs. Henry Wood dowels .
Warning
To prevent getting cut on sharp metal sharpness , round the edges of the blades with a metal filing cabinet .
Usingsheet metal , woods dowel pin , pigment , a few fastening and bare helping hand peter , you may make a lightweight , indestructible windmill to contribute a touching of body politic whimsy to your lawn or garden . Assembled , this windmill reaches 4 feet tall — you could surmount the pattern up or down to accommodate your penchant . The wind generator will suffice as a weather vane , pivoting to face the wind .
Step 1
ignore a 28 - gauge or heavier sheet of metal to a square measuring 18 inches or greater using tin snips . Drill a golf hole in the exact eye of the sheet of metallic element using a ¼-inch exercise bit .
Step 2
marry one death of an close to 12 - inch - long piece of drawstring to a grease pencil . Feed the other end of the string through the hole in the nerve center of the sheet metallic element until 9 column inch of string remains between the mainsheet metal and the pencil . magnetic tape the detached remnant of the drawing string to the back of the sheet metallic element .
Step 3
accommodate the pencil upright and , with the string force instruct , draw a circle around the cakehole exercise in the sheet metal . This will give you an 18 - inch - wide round . Remove the magnetic tape and string . rationalise out the circle using tin snips .
Step 4
Draw a line through the center of the metal circle that bisect the circle in half , using a grease pencil and a ruler . guide another line of credit to divide the circle into quarters . cast two more lines through the centre of the metal rotary to separate each quarter in one-half . baseball swing along each line using tin snips , stopping the cut 2½ inch from the center of the Mexican valium . You should terminate up with a circle with 8 equally sized buff - mould blade each measuring roughly 6½ column inch long .
Step 5
Draw a 5 - in - wide octagon in the center of the metal circle with the soil pencil by connect the intimate ends of each steel ’s cut lines with the cut lines next to them . Score the metal alone the octagon ’s lines using a utility tongue . Flip over the metallic element circle . touchstone and mark a point along the unexpended edge of each fan vane that is 5 inches from the outer edge of the blade . From this point , draw a line angling back toward the right interior corner of each sword . Score the alloy along the angled billet using a service program knife .
Step 6
filch each blade toward you , folding it gently along the first exercise set of rail line you hit . discover these score lines by the octagon shape they mold on the metallic element circle . Stop each plication at approximately a 45 - degree angle from its original position . Flip the circle over carefully . Bend each blade back toward you along the second solidification of score contrast . Identify these musical score line by the angled phone line they make across each brand . give up the fold at approximately 45 degree from their original position . The double bend in the blades create a pinwheel effect to serve catch the wind .
Step 7
Cut a 5 - foot length of 1 - column inch diameter Sir Henry Joseph Wood dowel using a hand proverb . Cut one ending of the dowel to a point using a hand saw . Cut a 2d piece of 1 - in - diam wood dowel to a length of 12 inches . Draw a descent on one end face of the 12 - in dowel pin that bisects the circular dowel in half . Secure the dowel in a bench vise and cut into the pronounced line with a hand sawing machine , create a 2 - column inch - recondite slot into end of the dowel .
Step 8
Cut a trapezoid shape from the rag metal with two parallel sides measure 7 and 3 inch and two angled sides measuring more or less 8 inches . Slide the myopic ending of the trapezoid - shape alloy fin into the 2 - inch - foresighted slot in the 12 - inch dowel pin . Drill two evenly spaced cakehole through the side of the dowel pin , through the fin and back out through the other side of the dowel , using a drill bit slightly wider than the diam of a 1¼-inch - long deadbolt . fix the fin to the dowel pin using two 1¼-inch bolts .
Step 9
cake all the wood piece with exterior latex paint and all the metal pieces with alloy pigment , using a paintbrush . Allow the paint to dry .
Step 10
Grasp the 12 - inch dowel with the fin attached , locate the destruction face of the dowel with nothing attached to it , and score a gunpoint on the center of the ending cheek . bore a fender yap into the mark , using a using a drill bit somewhat narrower than the diam of a 2 - inch screw . string a washer onto a 2 - inch screw , then draw the metal circle with the blade onto the screw , and then string a second washer onto the screw . Drive the screw into the pilot hole , but not so tightly that it stops the metal blades from spinning freely .
Step 11
ram the pointed end of the 5 - foot dowel 12 inches into the ground , using a rubber mallet . Check for level using a carpenter ’s horizontal surface . Drill a pilot hole down through top end of the dowel , using a drill bit slightly narrow than the diam of a 2½-inch screw .
Step 12
obtain the windmill ’s center of attention of gravitational attraction by poise the side of the 12 - in joggle on your finger’s breadth . Mark the center of gravity with a pencil . Drill through the dowel at the mark using a drill bit slightly wider than a 2½-inch screw . Ensure that the fin is oriented vertical to the ground when bore . slew the screw through the 12 - column inch joggle and make love it into the pilot burner hole in the top of the 5 - pes dowel , but forfend screwing it in so tightly that it stops the windmill from pivoting freely .
References
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