■OM^.-. kM 1 |BH«W .
VOL. LXI
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 1, 1906.
NO. 35
FARM WIND POWER.
Generating Electricity to Light the
and Barns.
Home
The windmill is no new thing, but new
uses are constantly found for the power of
the mill on the farm. It has long been
used for pumping water for house use and
for watering live stock. It is not expensive machinery to erect and there is no
cost of fuel to run it. It is true that there
are seasons of calm, and little wind to run
it but these do not as a rule continue long.
The latest use of the windmill is in running dynamos for generating electricity to
light the home. It is said that this problem has been, worked out, though in
many instances in the past such attempts
have failed in using the windmill to run
dynamos, on account to the variable power of the wind. The storage battery will
overcome this inconstancy of the wind, as
storage of electricity in batteries for running electric automobiles Is accomplished.
There are times when the wind mill is not
needed for pumping water and other uses,
and at such times it may run the dynamos
end store in batteries the current for lighting the house and barn. With such a
storage the seasons of calm and light wind
currents may be bridged over till the mill
has power again to do its work.
With electricity generated in this way
the farm home could be lighted cheaper
than city homes are, and with a light of
the very best kind. If the wiring of the
home and barn is done with the proper
insulation nothing is added to the cost of
insurance. And so we are on the threshold of a most important use of wind power on the farm, and it looks very much
like the farm home was soon to have all
the advantages of town and city homes,
and more, for the many uses to which this
power is put, and its cheapness, will give
the country home the advantage.
It is not very difficult to erect a windmill for ordinary purposes about the farm.
There are always various uses in which
the power may be employed to advantage.
There is water to pump, grinding devices
to run, dynamos to generate electricity for
light, and perhaps a sewing machine or a
machine in the shop to operate. In order
to get the power needed to do the work,
the farmer can, without very much labor,
construct a windmill of the character exhibited in the cuts shown here. The first
thing to do is to prepare a plan of the
frame for supporting the contrivance.
This is shown in figure I. Fixed to the
frame piece, which is wood, 2 by 4 in size,
are the uprights c, c. These too are hard
wood, 2 by 4 in dimensions and long
enough to make the proper support for the
bearings a, a, of the revolving shaft which
caries the hub and tail of the mill. The
bearings may be any style of common metal boxes. They can be purchased from
dealers in second hand machinery. The
hub for the mill blades is secured to the
end of the shaft by means of keys or set-
screws. A common design of wheel hub
will answer all purposes. The tail is a
piece of sheet metal or flat wood secured
at the back of the revolving frame by
means of the iron bracket b.
The crank in the shaft is quite a little
trouble to make. The shaft is usually
about one inch in diameter except for a
heavy wheel, In which case larger shafting is employed. In order to get the desired form of crank, the shaft is given a
thorough heating in a forge and the form
of the crank moulded on the anvil.
Often times a very    good crank shaft,
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Construction of  Wind Mills.
ready made, can be picked up among a lot
of other discarded apparatus in the junk
pile or in the second hand machinery and
tool establishment It might be well to go
to one of these places first and make a selection of necessary pieces. It will save
a great deal of trouble and expense.
After the shaft is in place and the hub for
the blades and the tail piece are fastened
on, It is time to give attention to the rod
which reaches down to the work to be operated at the ground level.    A connecting
link with proper bearings may be constructed of iron or wood to join the crank
shaft with the upper end of the drop rod
by making the union as at d with a pin
extending through. The drop shaft itself
is provided with the needed supporting
bearings as at e and these bearings may
be made of wood, or forged from iron. Or
they can be purchased in readiness for
use. The union is a contrivance by which
the entire carriage which supports the
frame can revolve with the drop rod while
the mill revolves. The union is a cap of
iron, properly grooved to carry the headpiece f of the conecting rod. Hence the
upper part of the mill can turn so as to
meet Avith the conditions of the line of
wind.
The blades or vanes of the mill may be
of various designs. Fig. 2 shows the type
of vane with a cut-off end, figure 3 shows
one with a round end. Both types are
used with effective results. The blades
are sometimes made of sheet metal, and
again of thin hard wood, properly planed,
braced and seasoned.
The method of securing the vanes to the
hub involves the use of strips of metal g,
g rivetted on either sids as shown. These
pieces are blocked at the ends and are fitted into the hub. The mill is not complete without the weather vane device
shown in figure 4. This vane may be constructed from iron. But it is better to
buy this part ready made and fasten it to
the right position on the windmill central
support.
In order to derive the power needed to
drive a pump or machinery below, the
rod is carried down through supporting
bearings at intervals, to the wheel on the
driven shaft j, figure 5. The lower end
of the rod is fitted with the required bearing k, for adjustment on a pin set into
this wheel. Hence the movements of the
revolving windmill are imparted to the
shaft j. To this shaft there are keyed the
necessary pulley for carying power from
the driven shaft to the shaft operating
some machine. Or as the case may be,
the power is taken direct from the rod to
the pumping device. Figure 6 shows the
arrangement of the vanes. The entire
windmill is, as a rule, supported on a
trestle. Sometimes the top of a barn or
shed is employed. The frame portion
shown in the cut is arranged to turn on
the base material formiug the support.
Therefore the mill can be turned to the
wind.
THE WEVTHER  SUMVURY.
Our weekly weather bulletin for last
week states that the first six days of the
week were very warm, with a high percentage of humidity, much cloudiness, and
an unusual number of thunderstorms
which, in many places, destroyed much
property. At most stations the maximum
temperature equaled or exceeded 90 degrees every day, being slightly lower in
the northern counties than in the remaining portions of the State. A decided
change to cooler took place Sunday night
Generous to excessive rains fell over the
geater portion of the State. Light to
heavy showers have fallen in all sections
of the State since Saturday morning, being heaviest in the eastern and southwestern counties.
A very sudden and marked change in
the temperature occurred early last week.
On Sunday p. m. the thermometer stood
at 94 degrees in the shade; Monday night
the mercury fell to 50 degrees. The night
was decidedly chilly.
A settlement of bumble bees was found
near Newberry, Bartholomew Co. recently
and no less than 41 nests were turned up
in plowing a single field.
Last Sunday was one of the hottest
days of the summer; the mercury stood at
94 degrees at 3 o'clock. A storm came
up in the evening and next morning the
mark was 74 degrees and the change was
very marked.