Windmill Nearing Completion

Good progress today… Here’s the mill test-fitted together and a view of it inverted so you can see the detail of the woodwork. This is pretty neat, though it will be out of sight to most observers.

Here’s my setup for lighting the interior. To avoid light leakage, I put a “box” behind each window that will be lighted. I use these baby food containers, painted white and wrapped with tinfoil.

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Then I punch a hole in them and add an LED

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To add interest, I sometimes glue a figure into the box. This guy will be somewhat visible during the day, and provide a clear silhouette at night. Then I glue the boxes on from the inside and connect the wires to a barrel connector.

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Here are some closeups of the sail details

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Finally, here’s a view of the setup for motorizing the blades and a closeup of the mechanism for keeping the mill facing the correct direction. In my case (with the Kansas wind) I didn’t think the plastic wheel and tiny chains would do, so you can also see in the previous picture where I drilled a hole and put a pin (actually a nail) to keep it from turning.

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