As you can see I got started on painting my whirligig. So far so good. Once I get it all painted and setup I'll do another video showing the motion. I would consider this an intermediate level project. Cutting the pieces is easy but working out the mechanics takes a little tinkering. You may have to alter the plans slightly to get everything moving correctly. This happens because bending the 1/8" diameter steel rod can be difficult to reproduce exactly as the plans. Just be prepared to adjust and readjust until you get it right.
Just in case you are not familiar with hand fretwork let me explain. Before we had electric powered saws and before we had pedal powered saws, fretwork was cut by hand with a fretsaw. That's what the little guy on this whirligig is doing.
I would like to spend more time on the instructions for building this whirligig but I want to get it out there so you can get started. I think I have included enough information and pictures in the pattern to complete the build. One step I have not included is mounting the whirligig to a pole in the yard. To do this I will add another block to the bottom of the main board. It will be centered at the balancing point. I will drill a hole for the pole. I have not decided on if it will need an insert in the hole but I'll work that out later.
This year's annual Simply Wooden Creation Whirligig Wars Contest is underway. Russ is going to have several prizes so you might as well win one.
He will judge for 1st thru 3rd place. After that, all the entries will be in a drawing for the remaining prizes. Just entering gives you a good chance to win a prize.
This is a contest where you really need to see the motion to judge the winners. Because of that, you will need to upload a one to two-minute video to YouTube. If you don't have a YouTube account it's easy to sign up. Let me know if you need instructions to upload a video and I'll put together a short tutorial. You can easily use a smartphone to make the video.
