Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Make a Tail for a Windmill

The tail section of a windmill or wind turbine helps keep the blades of the windmill facing into the wind. The surface area of the tail catches the wind when the wind changes direction, rotating the rest of the windmill into the correct position. The tail section of the windmill can have any shape you desire. The only requirement is that the material must be stiff and have a significant surface area that can rotate the windmill when necessary. Creating the tail section of a windmill is simple and requires just a few materials --- all found at local hardware stores.

Things You'll Need

Acrylic glass or metal sheet
Marker
Scroll saw or tin snips
Metal rail
Drill
Nuts
Bolts
Wrenches

Instructions

- 1
  Draw the shape of the tail on a piece of acrylic glass or metal sheet. Triangles and rectangles are common shapes found on windmill tails. Thin metal sheets, like those found on painting trays, work well with small, lightweight windmills. Larger windmills require a heavier material such as acrylic glass.
- 2
  Cut out the shape of the tail using tin snips on thin metal sheets, or a scroll saw on acrylic glass.
- 3
  Lay the metal rail over the tail section. Mark where the rail and tail sections will be connected using a marker.
- 4
  Drill 1/2-inch-diameter holes into the tail section where you placed the marks in Step 3.
- 5
  Hold the metal rail up to the windmill housing --- the body of the windmill behind the rotating blades. Mark drill holes onto the housing.
- 6
  Drill 1/2-inch-diameter holes into the housing of the windmill.
- 7
  Connect the railing to both the housing of the windmill and the cut-out tail section using 1/2-inch nuts and bolts. Tighten the nuts securely using wrenches.

Other Hobbies