# wind mill kit from ****



## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

I have wind mill kit that i'am ready to trash. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get the metal nuts in place so you can put the bolt in to it so you can thigthen them. The kit is from aero-dec inc spirit lake iowa. I tried to call them for any suggestions. But thier number has been disconnected. Any help will help. Thanks


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Those kits aren't THAT bad. I've only built 3 and sold maybe 20... 

As for the nuts you have 3 options. 
1. bent needlenose pliers 
2. a nutdriver that is slim enough to reach through. 
and my personal favorite 
3. put the nut on the end of a coffee stirrer with a tiny dab of glue


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

SOme spit on your finger will hold the nut pretty well, for you to get started with the screw.


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

> put the nut on the end of a coffee stirrer with a tiny dab of glue 

I use a touch from a glue-stick. That way no glue is going to dry and cause problems. 

Best, 
TJ


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

Well thanks for the ideas but my wife and myself finally after FOUR hours and me having a few fits finished the [email protected]&^* thing . No way would i build another one. My wife said i need patience, I told her doctor and hospitals have patience.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By pete on 30 Jan 2012 07:56 PM 
My wife said i need patience 
Yup!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By pete on 30 Jan 2012 07:56 PM 
Well thanks for the ideas but my wife and myself finally after FOUR hours and me having a few fits finished the [email protected]&^* thing . No way would i build another one. My wife said i need patience, I told her doctor and hospitals have patience. 
Something tells me you aren't quite ready for a live steam locomotive kit....


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

Mik you are right about that. I have watched folks run their steam engines see that they are having a good time doing it. But at the same time it is not as simple as push a button or click on a switch and off goes your train. Please do not get me wrong the steam folks are having a great time and their engines are very cool and i do enjoy watching.Pete from nogrs


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete;


I have one that has set for years for the same reasons you mentioned. Maybe it is time for me to try again. I have some of that Dept56 tacky wax now. It would probably allow me to hold the nut on a finger until I could start it.
So many unfinished/unstarted projects; so little time!









Best,
David Meashey


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Gosh it wasn't that hard to assemble, just took a tad of finagalling to get it together. 

First start all nuts but don't tighten them until all are started. 
2nd, use a slow speed electric screw driver to spin the bolt as you rock the nut until it catches, apply finger pressure until the nut spins under your finger. 

Leaving the nuts loose allows you some slack to position the stamped out parts. 

You might want to add lock washers to the tail screws, my tail dissappeared in a strong wind! 

John


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 30 Jan 2012 03:11 PM 
Those kits aren't THAT bad. I've only built 3 and sold maybe 20... 

As for the nuts you have 3 options. 
1. bent needlenose pliers 
2. a nutdriver that is slim enough to reach through. 
and my personal favorite 
3. put the nut on the end of a coffee stirrer with a tiny dab of glue 

You missed the fourth option,

4. Women have smaller fingers. Let your wife do it. That's what I do.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Two places on mine broke rather quickly and I have noticed other people seem to have had the same problems with the ones they got from the drugstore. The drugstore no longer has them!

1. The connection between the direction vane and the axle of the fan blade (where the axle bends 90degrees to become the pivot axle) was just a small tack weld and broke in a high wind. Found the vane in the neighbor's yard!

2. The top part of the tower where the 4 legs come together and that holds the pivot bearing is just a thin folded sheet of metal. A strong wind caused it to flex too far and left the fan pointing straight UP! There was just no way to straighten it to an acceptable position.

I repaired the direction vane with a 1/2" copper pipe about 10 inches long. I cut a wide slot in the pipe, removing about 1/3rd of the circumference of the pipe, about 4 or 5 inches long at one end. This was enough to let the pipe slip (with some difficulty) over the horizontal portion of the fan axle (beating on it with a hammer helped a lot to get it to fit nicely! [I hummed the "Anvil Chorus" while I did it]). I then drilled a couple of holes (1/8th inch) through the pipe and the axle so I could bolt the two pieces together with some 1/8th inch bolts. The vane itself was 2 pieces bolted together so it was easy to separate them to slip over the copper pipe and tighten the halves to clamp on the pipe; sliding the vane on the pipe helped me balance the top part before tightening the bolt to make it pivot in the wind better.

I repaired the bent top with a large block of aluminium I happened to have. I cut it to a flat top pyramid shape with a hacksaw and drilled a hole down the center to accept the pivot axle shaft. A couple of washers on the top help the shaft to easily pivot the weight of the fan and blade. I also drilled and tapped holes in the pyramid sides to accept bolts at the location of the holes already in the tower sides. (I had to round the corners of the pyramid to get the struts of the tower to fit, because when I drilled and tapped the holes I forgot that the strut inside corner is rounded and not sharp and my holes were too far from the edge to fit. I suppose one could make this part from wood, but I happened to have the aluminium block of an appropriate size.

This all occurred in the first month of putting it in my yard. It has now been out there at least 6 years and I see I need to replace the fan axle or bearings because I see the fan is now sitting at an odd angle to the shaft. I had greased the bearing with some lithium grease and the grease is still there, but something has worn badly or the fan would still be at 90 degrees to the axle.

The suggestion here to not tighten the bolts until all are started is a good one. It was difficult to get some of the nuts started if things were not plenty loose to make it easy to get the bolts in. I found it easier to start the nuts by holding them with the index finger of one hand and turn the bolt in the holes with the fingers of my other hand... less chance of starting the bolt in a cross thread condition. Turn the bolt backwards until you feel the bolt thread 'drop off' the inclined plane of the nut thread and then turn it forward to engage the threads.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Electrical Tape wrapped around your finger with the sticky side out and the nut will stick to the tape while you screw it in. 

JJ


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## Ron Hill (Sep 25, 2008)

Is that the metal wind mill like St. Aubin sells? I purchsed one of those at a train show in Perry, GA. a couple of years ago. Pete, I feel for you. I about threw it against the wall a couple of times too. A tiny amount of silicone glue on the end of your finger helps with the nuts. The ones at the top were the most frustrating for me. 
Ron


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

Everyone has good ideas how to put the windmill together. We being my wife and myself worked together and got the thing put together. That being said doing one is enough for me i wish i had more patience and my hands were steadier but the hand thing comes with age and there is not much i can do about that. Anyway it's all good and we love the trains. Pete& karen digiacomo.


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## pethia (Jun 10, 2011)

I just put mine together yesterday. It took me a good 3 hours! Same situation as many others...fat, unsteady hands and at age 61 loss of some finer motor skills. I ended up using a pair of long needle nose pliers and licking my finger to help hold the nut in some spots. I also almost gave up, but would walk away for awhile and come back to it. It came out great though when finished!


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## SailorDon (Jan 6, 2008)

I have attached two videos of windmill kits I recently bought (on the internet) and assembled. I don't think they are the same as the windmill kits you guys are talking about. When completed, these windmills are strong and sturdy. I had the same problem with the small screws and nuts, but the suggestions listed above all seemed to work to some degree. About 3 hours to assemble the tower. The rest took about 5 minutes.

Windmills with electric trains (about 3 min.)

Windmills with live steam locomotive (about 45 seconds)

Sorry about the live steam not steaming. For the live steamer, it takes about 15 minutes to set up, 15 minutes to get up a head of steam, and then after the live steam run, there's about 30 minutes of clean up and maintenance. (And this is just a simple butane fired locomotive.) I just ran out of time.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

LOL! My Windmill kit came to me on a business trip to Mexico, Mo about 15 years ago now. Flying home with my carry on was a neat experience as the security person asked me what the metal "spaghetti" was...took the box out to show him...LOL! A few years later and my fiance and I would spend Sundays with her Grandmother and do our laundry and a few odd chores for her. A nice relaxing Sunday generally. I took my windmill kit out and found it slightly frustrating as well. Sourced a pair of needle nose pliers and assembly got much better. Reminded me of the older erector sets with the little square nuts. 

Chas


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