Wouldn\’t you want to create your own fancy garden by adding a windmill that you yourself build? This windmill project is beautiful and can be small enough to be placed to a flowerbed. Either this or you can build a bigger windmill as the focal point of your garden. You can make your garden windmill from materials such as copper tubing, PVC pipe or metal sheeting. Although your garden windmill may not produce energy, it will create a stunning appearance for your garden.
Here are the steps on how to build a 5\’ treated wood garden windmill, you can also adjust the size to suit your garden needs.
Things that you need:
- 1 block of treated wood (4″ x 4″ x 2″)
- 1 strip of treated wood ( 3″x 3″ x 1″)
- 1 “L” bracket and 2 treated wood panels ( 4″ x 7″)
- 4 strips of treated wood ( 1″ x 2″ x 5″)
- skill saw, 1″ hole bit, drill, craft paper, 4 straight metal brackets (2″)
- 1 sheet of treated wood (3″ x 4″ x ¼” )
- Screwdriver
- Screws
- Wood sealer
- 3″ x ¾” diameter bolt with nut
Steps:
- Affix the “L” bracket to the center of the 4″ x 4″ x 2″ block of treated wood. Make a 1″ hole in the center of the 3″ x 3″ x 1″ strip of treated wood by using a drill. Then, attach the 3″ x 3″ x 1″ wood strip to the “L” bracket.
- For each side of the 4 x 4 block, loosely attach one of the five feet strips of wood at each corner. Place the frame in the upright position with the 4 x 4 block on top. Adjust the 5″ legs of your garden windmill to make sure that the base is shaped like a cone. Between each strips, the measurement should be equal across the bottom of the cone which is between 3 to 4 feet. Attach the 5″ strips completely by tightening the screws with a screwdriver.
- To build the base for the windmill, fit each section of your windmill\’s cone frame, cut the 4 x 7 wood panels. Follow this by attaching the panels to the 5″ trim and 4″ wood block of the cone.
- Next, create a template of your windmill\’s blades with craft paper. The blades should be18-inch long for two sides. Cut four triangle shaped blades from the ¼ inch thick of treated wood.
- Make 1-inch holes in each of the blades as close to the end of the 18-inch tip as possible. To make the holes on top of each other, lay the two blades side by side. Keeping the holes together, join the two blades together with a 2-inch metal bracket. Then, add the other two blades to create a circle.
- Place the bolt through the hole in the blades and then through the opening in the 3 x 3 piece on top of the windmill base. Attach it with a nut and bolt.
- Finally, seal your windmill using a wood sealer.
And there you have it, your own garden windmill!
Additional reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4855219_make-garden-windmill.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4057122033/
