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Motorising a Airfix/Dapol Windmill

Hi all

Fareham club needs to motorise one of these for use on our kids "drive it yourself" layout.

It will be the second one we have done, the first one had a motor in the base and transferred the drive to the sails via a rubber band, but it was very erratic in operation and the blades did not spin at a constant rate. It looked so obviously "wrong" on the layout that we took it off to find a better solution. However, now no one can remember who has it and everyone denies having it at home so I have bought a new kit and intend to build it with a proper mechanism.

Has anyone done this successfully? what did you use?

Grateful for any steers before we break the new one out of its packet and start to assemble it.

Elliott

Reply to
Elliott Cowton
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I think the one thing you did was use a 'rubber band'- a rubber belt, preferably flat rather than square, would have been a better choice.

Reply to
turbo

Hi Elliot,

why not do it with a crown wheel and pinion? You could make the top of the windmill turn to face the wind as well!! Shaft up the middle from a reduction gearbox at the bottom.

Anyone got some spare Meccano?

Paul

Reply to
Paul Stevenson

Faller makes a circa 15 rpm direct drive motor for their windmills and water mills. It works well and would be about the best solution if it will fit in the Airfix head.

If you come across a second-hand motor, the driving disk is secured to the shaft with a small piece of thin rubber sheet for alignment purposes and this perishes after 25-30 years, but is easily replaced.

Greg.P. NZ

Elliott Cowt> Hi all

Reply to
Greg Procter

The message from "Elliott Cowton" contains these words:

Only a very slight change: forget the elastic band. Use a drive band from a cassette rcorder, either one from an old machine, or even (shock, horror) buy a new one - cost about 50p. They stretch enough to put over the pulleys, but don't stretch unevenly when in use so you get a smooth drive.

Reply to
David Jackson

No, so am just thinking about it, might give you an idea. First thought is that this sort of windmill does not spin like an aeroplane prop but rather rotates slowly and ponderously. So needs a large reduction gear ratio and a heavy flywheel. My first thought would be to have a bevel gear set or a contrate and pinion to drive the sails from a vertical shaft, probably get one of these from the drive gears of a broken toy car, Scalextric or whatever. Then under the base make a horizontal flywheel, say from 19 mm MDF about 6 inches diameter horizontal in the base. A motor with a small rubber wheel can then drive onto the rim of this flywheel. The result should be a steady quiet drive. Keith

Reply to
Keith

Or a motor from a car wingmirror. Very slow rpm. Pick one up from your local scrapyard.

R.

Reply to
Richard

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