Building nice wood

Easy to make wooden wind spinner

This project was inspired by Carmen Salamone who sent over a picture of a neat little wind spinner he made out of cedar. I have seen these before: they seem to be common at craft fairs. I can understand why. They are super easy to make and there is a lot of room for customization. They have a pretty good profit margin.

Woodworking options
For mine, I used stock 3/4" pine boards and ripped them into 3/4" strips, which I then cut to various lengths. This was all very simple on my table saw but if you dont have one, you might be able to find thin strips of wood at your local home center that will do the trick. You can cut them to length using a hand saw or jig saw.

The only other bit of woodworking involves drilling a hole through the center of each piece. I used my drill press to speed up the process and to ensure they were all centered, but you should be able to drill holes with a hand drill. Mark the centers carefully so the finished spinner will be balanced.

Hardware
I used a length of 1/4" threaded rod and attached an eye bolt to one end using a coupler. I locked these into place with a thread sealant (Loctite) and attached a swivel clip to the top. We havent had any strong winds since I built this but I would like for it to spin in slight breezes, so I am going to try a barrel swivel instead and see if that spins better. You can find these at sporting goods stores: fishermen use them to attach lures to lines.

Get creative!
The fun of this project is really in the decorating and painting. I chose to make a rainbow pattern on mine because I like bright colors and wanted this to contrast with all the earth tones outside. This would be a great project to get the kids involved!

*****