Thanks for your suggestion! We made our own design last summer and finally got them on the fence this spring!! The kids are so proud of their work. Thank you!!!
This whirligig is awesome, I remember Roy Underhill making a similar one when I was a child. Its probably the single most important moment that got me interested in woodworking
That's awesome! ❤️ I wish I had a workshop with lots of power tools because I'd love to make one of those. Thanks for letting this video stay up all these years so I could find it. Good job! 👍
We've been having some wind gusts today and I've been observing the action. I just shot a video and will post it on my other channel tomorrow. It seems to work okay, except that it pivots a lot trying to find the wind direction. I think some sort of fin on the back might help stabilize it. But the gusts today are all different directions, so I'll have to keep observing.
I just realized why I like your videos so much!.... You show your mistakes that you've made during the process of building the project you've set out to make..... As a "mere mortal" it is great to learn from the mistakes one has made, but even better to learn from those before you! (ie - 3:25 you place the rod in the disc to find out you should have drilled the offset hole AFTER bending the rod)
Great video Steve. Thanks for exposing us to the world of Whirligig's. They look like great fun little projects that could be made mostly from scraps (read miscuts). I'm always looking for a way to make use of (read conceal) my stock pile.
Thanks Steve for sharing your project with us keep them coming ya this ya make it look easy so signed up for the adventure in these this looks cool man l m on a farm wood be nice to have a few around great ideas for these thks again for sharing Paul later keep ya posted
Hi Steve, Just as a point of interest the plastic insert in the under side of the body, to make it easier i found if you buy 3/16" pop rivets they are heavy duty rivets. One end is a nail the other end is your pivot post just the job for this. PS thanks for the PDF i have just made one of these and it helps a lot to get a helping hand like this to start us off, thanks .
eelcogg Why did you report him for spam? This is a regular, slightly witty comment.. EDIT:oops. I thought you were someone else commenting on your original comment, as I can't see the spammer's comment. Sorry..
As a kid growing up in Britain in the 70s/early 80s,I remember my dad and grandad would make and have a few these in their gardens, I remember being fascinated by the way they moved and worked. Yesterday I was thinking about it,and how you don't see 👀many in folks gardens these days😟 so I looked it up and here I am! And,,in honour of my dad and grandad,I will be making one ☝lol also I have a little extra time on my hands, so it will be something to do!👀😎👍
This just opens my mind for other similar projects, Thanks. By the way, the grand prize winner was my choice too. You should have more games like the Kreg contest, it’s was lots of fun.
Your wood cutter got me fired up & had to try my hand. I used your tmplt. for the man & kinda winged it from there. I posted a video on my channel Thanks Steve!
Very clever, Steve! I bet someone could make a decent amount of $ making these types of things and selling them for a profit at farmers' markets, craft fairs and other community events (especially in small towns, people love stuff like this). Thanks for making a video like this, I really enjoyed it. It's really amazing to see what you can make with basic materials that most people have lying around the house. I'd love to see more like it!
If you take your blow torch to the metal it'll make it a lot easier to get in some nice tight bends on the steel rod. I had the same issue when I was making a stable work base out of a steel rose stem of the rose I was making before and heating it made the job much easier.
The first 'gigs I made were out of plywood. I left them outside all year. Sadly, the plywood delaminated and ruined my work. Your whirligig turned out really nice, just remember to bring it inside when it rains. As always, love your videos!
Thanks! I guess when I was googling around I was looking for some kind of "low tack" double sided tape, but no such luck so far. I will try the duct tape. I will be in Houston this week and wad going by the Rockler store, I thought I might see what they have, and how expensive it is! They tend to be proud of their stuff, but sometimes have good store sales.
Dear Steve Ramsey, Seeing your video I made a model of this. My grandson liked it very much and he named it "Axeman". Instead of the U shape I made a small wheel and fitted a small screw away from the centre. It works even in a small breeze.I have posted it in my you tube channel. Thank you.
Steve that's great I am decently going to make one of those it looks great fun. I just made a pine serving tray you got any tips you could share to give it a good finish
I used plywood, but I think anything should work. My thought is that the blades should be thin (I used 1/8" ply) but I have nothing to support that theory.
Nice project Steve. I would like to suggest using brass or stainless steel hardware so you don't have to worry about rust which might stain the wood or cause extra friction that might slow it down.
I built a small box for shop class at school. It is really nice and I wanted to put a nice finish on it. I didn't think of lacquer at the time, so I used plain vegetable oil to bring out the grain. Is it a bad idea to add a lacquer on top? I was told that staining it now would be not such a good idea.
