Kinetic Windmill Sculpture

9. Wear eye protection and gloves. Holding the steel in tongs or pliers, heat it to the point of malleability in a gas-fired furnace (or use an oxy-acetylene torch). Forge the corkscrew nose cone and the ends of the rudder frame/spines. Heat up the end of the 1/4" x 13" rod until it is red-hot. Hammer the hot end against the anvil and taper or draw out the rod to a point. Re-heat and bend the corkscrew shape (figure C) with round nose pliers and a hammer on the anvil. Clean fire scale off of forged steel with a wire brush.

• Flat bar is welded at a right angle to the flat side of the channel about 3/8 inch from end.
• Channel is welded on the front and center of the steering headset on a vertical axis alignment (figure D).

11. When the bike frame components are assembled, clean all old paint and rust away.

12. Take what was the front forks tube and weld a 1/2" x 1-1/2" coarse thread bolt onto the bottom of the pipe. This will be the mount to the top of the mount pole.

13. For the mounting pole start with a five feet length of 1/2 black steel pipe.

• Weld the 1/8" x 1" x 3-1/2" flat bar steel to the pipe 30 inches apart on center.
• Then weld a 1/2-inch nut to the top of the pole on center.
• Paint the pole flat black.
• Mount the pole to a fence post with 1/4"x 2" lag screws.

15. To make the tail design (moon), lay the windmill rudder flat on 22-gauge sheet metal and trace with a black marker the shape of the rudder spines onto the sheet metal. Draw the face of the moon freehand. Make sure that all the surfaces are clean and free from fire scale and rust.

16. Paint the frame with a coat of primer and two coats of desired color. Wear gloves, respirator and eye protection and spray outside.

17. Patina the rudder tail. Spray it with a 10 percent acid solution. The mixture is 5 to 10 percent muriatic acid to 100 percent water. Important! Never add water to acid. Always add the acid to the water.

• Put the solution in a spray bottle and spray it on both sides.
• Wait until it's dry then spray it with a little hydrogen peroxide then wait a day.
• Repeat until desired patina (rust) is achieved.
• Clean it by sprinkling baking soda onto the metal and dip a nylon scrub brush into water and gently scrub the surface. This will neutralize the acid and stabilize the rusted surface.
• When dry, seal with clear lacquer spray paint.

19. Cut out the propeller blades, disc sand the surface pattern, clean edges and bend lengthwise to a concave shape (figure G). Augment and reshape propeller "Hub" to fit blades.

20. Clamp blade on the center (in place) and drill four-equally spaced 1/8-inch holes along the hub chain sprocket for the copper pop rivets with washers. Pop rivet together.

22. Reassemble the kinetic components. Make sure the parts are clean and free of dirt. Repack all bearing races with new grease and put all the parts back together (figure I).

Installation

23. The mounting pole is meant to be bolted to an existing fence post in the garden. Install the pole high enough to clear all foot traffic. Make sure the pole is plum vertical. The bolt on the bottom of the windmill screws into the nut on the top of the pole. Install the pole then climb a ladder and install the windmill.

E-mail: mrt@vom.com

Website: www.martinmunson.com