evfreek Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I finished the weathervane that I inquired about here. The suggestions from John B were especially useful. I decided to do it all traditionally, and only used arc welding to do some fixturing. The key joint was the collar for the direction pointers. It was made out of flat bar pierced in 4 directions and rolled into a square. The NSEW rods were put in the holes and it was heated in the center of a coal fire. It was then fluxed with borax and touched with a brass key at the right time. The fire was then allowed to die down and the finished item was quenched and removed. It worked and looked great! It shifted a little in the fire, so that gave me an opportunity to do some strength testing. The other tricky part was affixing the sheet metal cutout to the direction arrow. This was done partially with collars, but these proved too flimsy. They also attach at the weakest point. So, a sled was cut out of thicker angle iron and cold rivetted to the sheet metal. Then, the sled was hot rivetted to a clip that was raised from the direction arrow (horseshoe style). Finally, the front of the sled was affixed with a U-shaped pierced clamp and tightened with a wedge through the holes bearing against the sled and the arrow. It worked out tight and strong, but I was surprised at the lack of details that most web searches brought up on methods that don't use arc welding. Attached is a picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobshagg Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 How well does it point in a breeze? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I like it! your descriptions of the various connections are very clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi. Thanks for the comments. It does not point as well as I'd like. It will point correctly in the wind, but a small fan will not spin it. The tube bearing was made by fullering pipe, then melting a button of brass in the end. It spun well when the pivot was sharp, but will wear down to a blunt point which doesn't spin so well. It was also found to be sensitive to the alignment. The slightest bit off level and the barrel will foul on the shaft. I will not be in charge of the installation, so I warned them to make sure it is level. Miclael, since you are in the Bay Area, you can come out and see it after it is installed. The target date is in May Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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