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.
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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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