Never thought about it myself. My initial response would be to use the front hub & spindle assembly off a small lawn tractor or go-kart. Look for one with an aluminum hub. The tapered roller bearings should last forever in that application as long as you can keep water out. Let me know what you end up with.

Many yonks ago I made a wind vane and its bearing was nothing more than an upright stick with a nail point upwards.

The moving wind vane has, at its centre of gravity, an upturned 'cup', so that when the vane is lowered onto the nail the cup holds it in place by its weight.

Nothing else is needed, the bearing is pretty low friction so it operates even at light wind speeds. I never had it 'take off' or anything, afterall the wind vane is heavy and presents little resistance to up or down wind speeds, only to the measured wind speed.

John.

I'm presuming your vane is a propellor like design, not a sevonius rotor (like those roof vents). for amoderate size unit use a vehicle hub assembly. Subaru make just what you need for their front wheels. it will also allow a certain amount of movement in the up/down plane which can be useful to counteract the difference in air pressure between the top and bottom of the rotor, particularly if the unit is close to the ground. The Subaru setup is unusual though basically it is two cone shaped bearings with a fixed preload forcing them apart or together, the lifting force is added to the preload, preventing the rotor lifting off.

the means to lock the vane, to keep it from blowing off due to uplifting drafts or spinning off it's spindle is a simple retainer screw.

This site has many ornamental weather vanes as well as simple directions for installation and mounting showing the required hardware.

http://www.guttersupply.com/p-weathervanes.gstml?s=gaw&kw=weather+vanes

http://www.guttersupply.com/file_area/public/File/WV%20Lg%20assembly%20instructions.jpg

http://www.guttersupply.com/file_area/public/File/Mount%20Lg%20installation.jpg

joshua

Thanks joshua, This is pretty close to what I thought I wanted. If I could just find a dimensioned drawing of their bearing assembly I probably could cobble something similar from my junk pile.

I recently made a weather vane pivot that seems to meet the requirements, without even intending to do so. I call it my antenna vane.

When I needed to find temporary mounting for a 10-ft, roof top antenna mast, I procured a 10-ft, 4" x 4" treated post, bored 1 foot into one end, slipped the mast with affixed antenna into the bored hole, clamped around the 4-by with hose clamp (to reinforce post against split-out by the mast), hoisted the whole affair and lowered the un-bored end of the post into a post spike that had been driven into the ground, tightened the post retainer clamps on the spike, and reconnected the antenna down lead. I guyed the mast support post, intending to later guy the mast during "refinement" of antenna pointing. However, before that could be done--the spike being firmly imbedded, there seemed no imminent danger of overturning--a series of weather systems passed through the area.

Checking the antenna after each one, I soon discovered that from whichever direction the wind was/had been blowing (between SE and N), the antenna was pointing "faithfully" towards that direction--this in spite of the mast's having been fitted rather snugly into the bore hole!

Does this really contribute...? Probably not. But it seems to say, that unless it's "microbreezes" attempting to be tracked, the bearing/pivot "mechanism" can be quite crude and still do the trick. As to preventing uplift, in my case it's apparently the deep socket and weight of the "vane" (and there being nothing substantial to lift against) that fits the bill.

BTW, since most of reception (preference) on my dual tuner set is digital, the moving antenna did not seem to cause unacceptable (noticeable) degradation of picture.

Dear commentators; I am almost 100% positively sure that each and everyone of us has practiced Reverse Engineering since the age of 2!

"I am almost 100% positively sure that each and everyone of us has practiced Reverse Engineering since the age of 2!"

Wow! ronald sure helped us out with that comment didn't he?

WOW!

Re-inventing the wheel is fruitless! When you need to know resort to rev-engineering!

That's basic.

Did I not Enlighten you with my answer. Did I not provoke your senses?

"Re-inventing the wheel is fruitless! When you need to know resort to rev-engineering!

That's basic.

Did I not Enlighten you with my answer. Did I not provoke your senses?"

Well now ronald, enlightement may only be in the eye of the person attempting to put forth an intellectual statement. You were unable to provoke any one of my five senses! However you did provoke a single thought! And that thought would be, hmm, how would you reverse engineer something that you didn't have in your possesion? Maybe you have a sixth sense? Oh well, the response is appreciated even if it is of little help!

I have read all posts....

non bad..

Old pre 1930's design had a wooden bearing fabed out of soap-wood ( same as your Granny's hand clothes ringer)....wrought iron vertical shaft...lubed by a 1/4 inch water tube direct off the pressure head of the pump feeding a taller tank/reservoir. ...it was on an old homestead farm.....no longer in use but fed a cattle trough in an otherwise "no water" area...... to best of my knowledge...still running....close to 100 years.

Can soap-wood still be procured?......don't know but I thought it an ingenious application of on hand materials. Soap-wood bearing equaled in length the overhung top load. The whole windmill was wood/peg construction except the iron shaft mentioned........even the blades....wood parts maintained by annual application of boiled linseed oil as preservative.......again.....old timey stuff.

MR. GUY

googled soap wood and found it is from Guyana and French Guianaand is Abarema jupunba (Mimosaceae) here is link http://ecofog.cirad.fr/Mariwenn/00/Vernaculaire.aspx?id=999

and on this pdf

http://www.mnh.si.edu/biodiversity/bdg/medicinal/MedPlantsGui3.pdf

I have never rev engineered a wind vane, but I had to set-up a pivoting screw driver for a medical device manufacturer and they needed it ASAP. I used the bearing part of a stainless steel caster off a rollabout table that was not being used at the time. It worked OK.

http://www.castercity.com/cm3ss-stem.htm

or Google "thrust bearings"!

ronald,

Isn't a caster overkill for a wind-vane application? Maybe you are trying to measure the direction of "rolling thunder"! <grin>

Here's "The Poor Man's Wind-vane Mechanism" (my title, like it?): Mount the wind-vane (the stiff flat part that aligns with the wind, wooden board, steel plate, plastic sheet, etc.) securely on smooth straight steel drill-rod (or stainless for better weather resistance) as a vertical axle. Diameter could be between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch or more, depending on the weight of your vane and the unsupported length. Assemble in a slip fit hole (drill one number size drill larger than diameter of rod) in one long or two short, but spaced apart, pieces of a low friction, strong but ductile plastic like unfilled nylon, Delrin (acetal), or even polypropylene (if large enough, though it will wear out faster than the others) is your best bet for a low cost, low friction mounting that requires minimal maintenance. Place a steel and/or plastic washer on top of the plastic bearing to take the weight. For better lubricity (less friction) squirt some dry lube like powdered graphite, teflon, or moly (molybdenum disulfide), not grease or oil, which will attract dirt. This is available at hobby stores or as lock lube at Wally World. Any old piece of steel or aluminum drilled for the axle diameter with a cross drilled and tapped hole for a setscrew will service as a clamp to prevent the vane from "taking off" in a high wind. Mount this on the rod under one of the plastic bearings.

Here's a hint for the actual vane design: The flat shape can be anything as long as the surface area multiplied by the distance from it center of mass to the axle is less on one side of the axle than the other and the weight is fairly equally distributed on both sides. One upscale restaurant/butcher shop in our area flies the cut out profile of a pig as its weathervane! The two sides should NOT be identical or you will never know (just by looking anyway) the true wind direction. Sure the vane will line up with the wind, but you won't know whether the wind is coming from one direction or going in the other direction, since it will be bi-stable instead of uni-stable. Triangle, arrows, or some other pointing shape are very popular, but any large flat shape on one side with only a narrow pointer on the other could work well also.

I admire it very much!

http://www.gardfoods.com/coffee/coffee.engineer.htm

Overkill? Hmmmm?

How's this for overkill!

MAKE A WIND VANE

YOU NEED:

• 1 straw
• 1 straight pin
• 1 index card
• pencil with eraser
• tape

DO THIS:

1. Cut the point and tail of an arrow out of an index card.

2. Tape them onto the ends of the straw.

3. Push the pin through the middle of the straw.

4. Stick the pin into the eraser of the pencil. Make sure the straw can turn freely.

You can have a recessed base which receives the shaft and a floating collar with a couple of cables to keep it from plummeting to earth. Sorta like this.

Ain't Google 'Sketchup' cool?!