Canoe Paddle Weather Vane

We're gonna make a cheap and funky weather vane, aka a wind vane, in the shape of a canoe paddle. Gather your materials from your junk bins and follow along.

Step 1 Parts is parts

Find a fan, a length of pipe and some scrap wood.

Comments

[blacksmith_tb]

Using a case fan as the bearing (or bushing) makes me think this could become a wind power generator. But I suspect that the elements will take their toll pretty quickly on the fan... Traditional weather vanes just have a rod with a single ball bearing at its tip, stuck up inside a tube coming down out of the vane itself, and some of them are still spinning after hundreds of years, which suggests that sturdiness beats smoothness in the long run.

[stickmop]

My weathervane is still...er, vaning. The T grip on the canoe paddle blew off last month though. I really should snap a new photo.

[stickmop]

Yes, I'm curious to see if it'll last the whole summer. It's now mounted in a bit more secure location (no rocks holding the base down anymore, lol), but it's easily accessible with a step ladder. I painted the paddle black and it looks better. I may bring it in for the winter if it does last that long, paint one side silver and see if the solar heat would make it rotate inside next to a window. I don't think I could find a big enough vacuum sphere to stick it in though!

[GorillazMiko]

Very cool. Your images are nice too!

[stickmop]

Thanks - I'm going to post a better cover shot soon, assuming a gale doesn't destroy it before I can grab my camera, lol.