Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Hi to all
I am fascinated by the old windmills.
I am from Holland and you don’t see them much around here. So I build my own one to pump water for the greenhouse and to watch at.
I also want to make a vaneless model just for the fun of it.
If there is someone who has plans of one I’m interested

Welcome to the site! Vaneless mills usually run behind the tower, with a counterweight out the front. Vaneless also usually open like a flower for the wind to go through so they don't turn too fast. Not sure about making one of those, would be complicated.

If you can get the book, "A Field Guide To American Windmills" By T. Lindsay Baker, then you should have all the information you need on windmill function, the different types, and all the mechanical ideas.

You probably already know the simplest type of mill is a Direct Stroke, where the fan (wheel) turns a 'crankshaft' of sorts, and the "rod" on the crankshaft goes down into the well to pump.

Ask what you may. Lots of folks here can help.

Welcome Sidebikecomete! Glad you've found us. You're our first member from Holland!

The work you're doing on the wheel is great. Please continue to share you progress with us.

If you need help or have questions, just ask.

Nice work. Can’t wait to see more pics. What part of Holland? My parents were from Freisland.

This is the end result. Just need some finetuning to het it running with low wind. It is a direct drive need to play with spring and weights to get it in balance better.
I am from the south of Holland. Noord-Brabant for dutch terms a long way from Friesland.

Wow, fantastic!

That's awesome!

Very nice duplication of an Aermotor style wheel under tension. You must have had one for a pattern?

If you post good pictures, I will look close. The wheel on the bench you made a common assembly mistake of not switching the starting point of the outer band when arriving back at the starting point. Overlap of the outer band in the 4 oclock position needs to lap the other way. You did good on the inner band overlaps. The pic of the finished product isnt good enough to see all the laps. Maybe you took note of that for the final assembly?

I am impressed with the one piece spoke braces on the inner bands but thinking getting spokes in position on the outer band would have been hard?

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

Welcome to the group! I have found much knowledge and help here, just as I'm sure you will.

You do beautiful work and I will be especially interested in your vaneless project. Even though my background is in wind electrics, I have a long held interest in the vaneless Duplex mills and am beginning to restore a Baker "L". Both of those machines will just be running unloaded in my yard but I once saw a "modern" steel wheel, vaneless machine that had a design that might interest you. (I'm sorry to say that I do not remember the name and I didn't take pictures, but I know there will be someone in this group that can name the brand.)

Once you identify some vaneless machines that interest you (through a source like "A FIELD GUIDE TO AMERICAN WINDMILLS"), you might try the US Patent Office. The drawings attached to US patents can be very helpful and can sometimes be detailed as much as blueprints, and best of all, they can be downloaded free.

Downwind, vaneless machines are a beautiful thing to see operate (when running properly). They can govern really well and recover quickly without the shudder downwind electric generators can suffer from. Tower shadow on high speed rotors could cause problems and inefficiencies but with water-pumping windmills, the effect is not as great. I have spoken to a number of "old timers" living out in the high wind areas of the Great Plains and they would have ONLY a vaneless mill. HOWEVER, the large number of parts and the almost countless number of wearpoints have been the cause of many problems.

I'll be cheering you on!......

Burt

Great Work a real craftsman. Were you a Mechanical Engineer by trade?