Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

He's got my vote! I still wish we had someone real smart who could go interview Windy and put the interviews into a book. Bet it would be great reading.
It could called The Windy Tales!

Wayne, by chance do you have any pictures that you can post of your PVC cylinders? I'm a newbie so any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

I make mine with just the pumping valve in the cylinder so they don't need to be so long. I use an inline check valve that you can buy from a good plumbing supply. It is the brass looking thing to the right of the bottom 90. If you want to pay the shipping I can supply you with all the schedule 80 grey pipe you could want.I probably have 80 ft of it and 100ft of 2 inch white. If you want to send me an email
axtellstandard@gmail .com

Wayne , check valve doesnt care what angle it is placed in ????

I think that check valve has a flapper in it. I have one on my setup that pulls from my pond. It sits horizontal like Waynes.

Kenneth

Yeah these check valves work fine sitting horizontal. I was real happy when I learned about them. All my cylinders are on pumps that are on wheels. So it was a big help not having to make the cylinder so long. All the room you need is for the length of your pump stroke.

It's been over a year since I last updated this post. My project has been filled with many stops and starts. Life gets in the way. The head and tail assembly had been assembled on a make-shift base and everything worked well. I have recently rebuild the bottom 10 feet of tower with a combination of both old and new steel. I was hoping to faux paint the new steel to match the original metal. I want to recreate the aged galvanized and weathered rust look that mother nature spent over a century creating. I originally planned to paint all of the new metal with Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing Compound, then top coat with a rust colored brushable oil based exterior paint. I have since learned that the Rustoleuim paint can only be top coated with water based paint. Also, the exterior oil based brusable paints that I have seen all seem to be gloss, which I know won't look correct. My other option is to re-paint the entire tower, but I want to retain the patina. Does anyone have any suggestions on how best to proceed with paint? I want to look convincing and be durable. Thanks!

John , nice work , quality craftsmenship , that 10ft'r will look great up in the air

Hey John,if you have any left over new angle try experimenting with it making the galvanized paint look old. Maybe lightly painting so some of the rust comes through when rained on?. Never had to do this maybe someone on the forum has.

Looks good.

You could cold galvanize it with either a spray can or a paint brush/roller, then lightly fade in flat gray and flat brown over that with a rattle can to blend it. I’ve had to match a new blade to a rustic patina wheel before doing similar to the above.