How to make a weathervane?

[evfreek]

Hi.  I would like to make a weathervane.  There are some instructions at FABA, but they involve a lot of arc welding.  There are two parts where an arc welder seems pretty useful.  The first is the pivot from the arrow.  I can see how this can be done with a tenon and collared scrolls, and indeed have seen some historical examples.  The scrolls look nice, as long as there are not too many of them.

 

The other part looks a little tricky.  The post is usually arc welded to a large piece of angle which sits on the angle made by the roof.  The direction indicators are arc welded to a large nut, which is drilled and tapped to index on the frame with a set screw.  I don't have a big problem with arc welding, but does anybody know any tried and true methods to put this together with hammer and anvil?  I could always cobble something together, but this may end up shaky and require some iteration to make it solid.  Searches on blacksmith made weathervanes do not yield much useful information on the bottom attachment (although they are helpful for the top).

[John B]

Hi ev, here  are a few pointers I pass on to students when making weathervanes, the things you need to do are;

 

Consider its working position; this will give you a size, and a mounting point,

 

Size, these go on high points, so should be in proportion to their position,  

 

Mounting points and suitable bracketry, these can be on roof peaks, flat mounting, wall mounting or gable ends, and the central support must be vertical to allow the vane to spin freely.

 

They should be in a free air situation, or they will not align correctly,

 

Then consider your design, weathervanes are a personal thing and should reflect their owners, and the property they are going on, they can be three dimensional or flat.

 

They must have sufficient vane surface area to allow them to point correctly, most of this area being to the rear of the design.

 

The vane assembly should balance to allow free movement.

 

Simple bearing solutions are best for longevity, Hardened points in a socket have worked well since medieaval times, there is no need for ball bearings, marbles or ball races, (remember they are a long way away to lubricate on a regular basis)

 

Consider the orientation in the design and make them either fixed to suit the location,

 

Or adjustable so that they can be oriented on site by whoever installs them. This means the compass point's assembly either moves with (is firmly attached to), or on the central body of the weathervane (in which case a journal that you can lock in situ is required) 

 

My personal preferance is to go for a solid bottom section that the vane pivots over, and make a mounting for this whole item to fit into so it can be oriented, this allows for scrollwork and arms to be secured without excessive tapping and threading to allow the unit to be assembeld, all extra work, time, and ultimately cost for the client.

 

Here are some pictures I have dug out and scanned of some small simple examples, so I apologise for their quality, but will try to point out some features that were used on them and why.

 

    

 

This was made for a stand at the Hampton Court flower show, it was a BBC sound engineers on site studio, and the garden had a Shakespeares theme, the Tudor Rose is the emblem of the show, and the panel at its rear is removable so the sound engineer could see the audience.

 

Here are some details

   

 

The NSEW figures  were rivetted onto the ends of the round bars which had a flattened section and a twist in them to give some simple decoration, these were secured to a central boss, drilled and brazed in,  which then fitted over the mounting pin fitted to the base of the open sphere.

 

The vane itself spins on a post mounted on top of the open sphere ( I did not want a line/axis through the open sphere as it would be visible to onlookers) the brass sphere is merely a spacer, the vane is pierced on the bottom frame, and pivots on a pointed piece attached to the top of the sphere, that fits into the forged tapered finial on the top, where the point/socket pivot is.

 

Here is another small one to be fitted to a gable end, so it had to be mounted and stood off from the wall to allow it to be above the roof line, 

 

 

and here is a bracket I made to suit this situation,

 

 

The whole assembly fits into the tube on the mounting, and is secured in place after orientation by a bolt mounted at the rear of the tube (boss wlded onto tube, dressed off and drilled and tapped for bolt, you could use a nut and dress off excess weld)

 

And this one was mounted to a corner on a flat roofed building,

 

 

Again using a similar idea for the mounting bracket but using 2 off 90 degree pieces with an extension fitted on the apex to overcome the roof's hangover instead of a flat surface fixing.

 

I hope this is of some use to you, let's have pics of what you finally come up with, have fun and enjoy.

[cavala]

I really like that sphere, not to hijack but could you describe how you made it.

[John B]

The sphere is relatively simple to make, it consists of;

A top and bottom disc with a central hole, and eight holes for the rivets equally spaced around the centre of the remaining width of the disc.

Eight off bars forged to give the required "s" shape, these were also bevelled on the outer faces to blend in as a sphere,

Drill the ends for rivets on these bars,

Form the curve of the sphere (Radius of the sphere),

Primer paint or treat the parts prior to assembly to ensure the joints will be rust resisting

Rivet them on, (it may help to pre-assemble using nuts and bolts)

The trick with these is getting the development for the "s" shape correct, how you do that is up to you, either use math or simple line drawings and a piece of string (non stretching)over a similar diameter solid sphere (rubber ball) then make a template to work the bars to.

You will also have to make an extended rivet snap if using traditional rivets, and a bucket of sand may help to support them when assembling them initially

Have fun, and let's see your finished result.

[EricJergensen]

So, cold work the rivets to avoid burning off the primer?

[John B]

So, cold work the rivets to avoid burning off the primer?

 

Yes, use malleable iron ones rather than forging your own

[John McPherson]

FABA has a couple of downloadable articles, scroll down to "W" at the bottom.

 

http://www.blacksmithing.org/Articles/ViewArticles.htm

[evfreek]

Hi John B. Thank you for posting the pictures of your work and the descriptions along with them.  I like the dolphin weather vane in the last picture.  Mine will be similar to that, but have a traditional rooster.  The suggestion to make the bearing simple is very helpful.  The weather vane will be mounted on a stout 20 ft high pole, so it will have to have some kind of spread foot structure to fasten it to the top of the pole.  I have submitted the first set of rough drawings to the board committee which is commissioning it.  They are very involved in the design.

 

The FABA designs look satisfactory, but they are kind of simplistic, though better than the hobby/craft designs for home weather vanes.  I think it is possible to incorporate more style, especially in the stationary part.

[John B]

Hi EV, the dolphin is actually supposed to be a salmon, the house it went on overlooked an estuary where the salmon were seen to be leaping at a weir on a tributary, weathervanes are personal, so should have relevance to whoever is commissioning them, hence the windsurfer example

 

There is a pdf file on weathervanes available for free download from www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/craftpublications along with other uuseful books, scroll down and you will see it as the sixth entry under Blacksmithing

[John McPherson]

Actually, you left off the .html, and the darn thing keeps moving. Good to find it again. Here is the direct link.

 

http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/craftpublications.html

[John B]

Actually, you left off the .html, and the darn thing keeps moving. Good to find it again. Here is the direct link.

 

http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/craftpublications.html

 

Sorry about that John, I used to be able to cut and paste links like this, but now the darn machine doesn't allow it. So much for progress!

[Drewed]

The only advice i can give it make it bigger than you think you need, or better yet, make a mock up.  Even just 14' up on my shed made a vane that I though was big on ground level look to small once it was on the roof.

[Farmall]

http://www.dailypress.com/videogallery/73134633/News/VIDEO-New-Weathervane-for-Bruton-Parish-Church

Here's a link to an article about the weathervane on top of Bruton Parish Church in Colonial WIlliamsburg, Virginia. It was taken down last fall during the restoration of the roof and steeple and was found to be the original 300 year old one. The master smith, Ken Schwarz, made a new one and the old will be conserved and displayed. I watched Ken make a lot of it in the Williamsburg Shop. Fascinating process. If you google "Bruton Parish Weathervane" you will find other articles about it and some images. Ken used wrought iron to make it, just like the original.