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Here is a photo of the original windmill. It
didn't look quite that bad before we moved it to the shop, but it was rotten
enough not to make the move very well. The original used 1" plywood
panels to form the body and the turret. The plywood was the first thing
to start rotting. Plywood would not be used in the redesigned windmill. |
| We're not sure where this bearing came from
but it was a biggy. We hoped at the time that we could clean up most of
the hardware and use it in the rebuild. |
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Our solution to a plywood free windmill. We
used "form and stringer" type construction like you would find
in model airplanes (and real airplanes at one time). The joints around the
forms (top and bottom) were fitted with splines for added strength. |
| Once the body was formed, the small deck was
added and the body was covered with shingles. Each shingle had to be custom
cut and fit with a hand plane to get them to fit tight together. That took
longer than we expected. |
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The turret was constructed similar to the body.
That old bearing cleaned up very nicely, so we reused it in the rebuild.
The little railing around the deck was a nice piece of detail work. |
| The turret was then covered with shingles too.
the vane in the rebuild was also redesigned. The original was made from
2x4s sandwiched between two sheets of 1/4" plywood. It became very
heavy when rain soaked and eventually broke off the turret. We redesigned
the vane with simple cedar boards cut to the same size as the original. |
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The turning vanes were constructed out of cedar
and were very large. The whole turning vane assembly was supported by an
old water pump bearing. Little windows and doors were added as a final touch. |
| My little helper is standing in front of the
windmill to give an impression of its overall size. The windmill is very
large. We recommended that the owner build a fence around the windmill to
keep little children and small pets away form the spinning vanes. They pack
a punch when spinning in a moderate breeze! The owners were very impressed
and pleased with this project. |
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