Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

An inch beyond this square shoulder, another one, C, is welded on the shaft, which for the balance of its length is three-quarters of an inch in diameter.

Just beyond the shoulder or collar, C, the crank is formed, two inches wide and three inches out from the shaft. Beyond the crank another collar, C C, is welded on, and beyond this the shaft should measure six inches in length.

The total length of the shaft is fifteen inches, and all the collars and smooth surfaces should be dressed down with a file and then painted. The head to which the fan-tail is attached is made of two blocks, cut as shown in Fig. 21, and fastened five inches apart on the lower rails that support the long rails to which, in turn, the tail is attached.

The upper ends of the blocks are cut out so as to admit the shaft. The collars, C, and C C, are at the inside of the blocks. To hold the shaft in place, straps of iron are screwed fast over the top of each block.

This head rests on the top of a trunk or hollow square post, through which the rod passes that connects the crank with the piston-rod of a pump. This trunk is of three-quarter-inch wood and seven inches square, as shown in Fig. 22 A; and at the top of it a flat iron collar, B, is screwed fast.

To hold the head on and keep it in the proper place, four iron cleats (Fig. 22 C) are screwed fast to the under corners of the head to grip the projecting edge of the collar. This arrangement will hold the head stiff, but will allow it to move about as impelled by the wind acting on the tail.

A little grease or vaseline should be placed on top of the collar, so that the head will move on it easily. The top of the connection rod should be attached to the crank, as shown in Fig. 22 D, where a strap of iron passes over the crank and is bolted to the top of the hard-wood rod.

The tail is attached to the head as shown in Fig. 23, which is a rear view of the head block and a portion of the forward part of the tail.

The tail is thirty-three inches long and twenty-four inches wide at the rear end, and is made of boards three-quarters of an inch in thickness. If the mill is to be placed over a pump, a platform should be erected to which the trunk may be braced with props, as shown in the illustration, and on which the lower end of the trunk may rest.