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wind vane finish
eligius1427 -
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 4:39pm
patina | steel | wind vane Hi all, I coming to the end of a giant windvane project and would like some input about the finish. The client chose the look of a blued steel finish with an orange rust patina randomly placed throughout and a clear top coat. My concern is that this vane goes on top of a house out in the country and is surrounded by fields which for at least 4 months out of the year could have a sandblasting effect on the vane. I am also worried that the rusting patina won't fully stop rusting. I have been considering having the vane powdercoated or professionally painted black, or blueblack, and then use guilders paste to give the patina effect. I would then clear coat the whole thing for extra protection. I can't change the materials(mild steel) and it goes on a giant house(thus the size to keep in scale). I think the closest one could get and still see it, without getting on the roof, would be 90-120 feet. Since it's going to be hard to see any small details I'm beginning to lean more towards a faux finish with more protection than the real deal. What do you think? I posted some picts below. The vane is roughly 9' and there are some decorative elements which make up the clients crest that go in the upper dead space, but I can't show them due to confidentiality agreements, sorry. Jake
 The design actually started
eligius1427 -
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 6:08pm
The design actually started out in copper with brass and handblown glass inserts, then quickly moved to steel because of costs. Too bad, because it looked pretty cool. In the long run, I still think using materials that don't have to be painted is probably cheaper since it would last a lot longer, but oh well. It's funny you brought up leveling the vane, because i just started getting paranoid that it wasn't going to work right. Hopefully the wind will pick up around here this weekend so I can test it out. Thanks for the advice. Jake » reply  Galvanized
warren -
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 8:02pm
Since it is going to be in a location where you will probably or most likely never want to go again, I would look at having galvanized. Then put your finish on that. warren » reply  .....do you have any
Kimberli Matin -
Sunday, June 1, 2008 - 11:19am
.....Enrique, do you have any pictures of your owl weather vane you could post here? Don't think I've seen pics...... » reply  Since you asked... Click the
QuiQue -
Sunday, June 1, 2008 - 11:51pm
Since you asked... Click the image to get the details. » reply  hot metal zinc spray
Giusseppe -
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 8:45pm
In the years before stainless I found that the widest range of finishes could be put onto shot blasted and hot metal zinc sprayed surfaces ...the zinc does not have to be treated with a mordant as it would with galvanized and the shot profile allows paints and dies to be applied reliably ....I tended to use dies ( wood stains) and gold and bronze dust ....then finished with satin yacht varnish. You are correct in thinking that more expensive metals often work out cheaper in the long run ...especially for large installations where paint can get damaged during lifting. » reply  Jake, I'd certainly
Rich Waugh -
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 9:19pm
Jake, I'd certainly recommend going the route of a properly applied complete finish system consisting of snadblasting, 90% zinc primer, epoxy-based oxide primer, and two or three topcoats of automotive acrylic enamel with urethane hardener, followed by any faux finish effects you desire. Do the faux finish stuff using the same automotive paints and don't worry about a clear coat. Clear coats are inherently weaker than pigmented paints so you really gain nothing except a chance that the clear will flake, chalk, craze or peel off. One thing I'll add to the comment about making sure it is perfectly level and plumb is to carefully test the vane itself for sufficient drag differential between the arrow and the fletching. It looks, to me, a bit too evenly balanced to work well in a light breeze. I've found that you really need about a two ro three to one ratio of respective sail areas for the vane to respond well to moderate breezes. More if the mass is high. You can test a weather vane using a good-sized fan and a cheap bicycle speedometer of the type that measures wind speed. These are definitely NOT snazzy highly accurate Bourdon-tube arrangements like on an airplane; they're little cheesy plastic things with a sail vane coupled to a pointer on a scale and about as accurate as a good guess, if that. They do, however, allow you to fiddle iwth modifications and get a feel for how they affect performance. » reply  Weather Vane Finishes
Nic East -
Saturday, May 31, 2008 - 12:03pm
Jake: You also need to keep in mind that the mechanicals must keep on ticking for a long time, for a stuck vane is a useless vane. Also, it will always be seen as a silhouette, so color is not as important as reflectivity, especially at 120 feet against a bright sky. I think you will make the proper choices anyway, given the helpful comments above from all your buddies. Nic East, Jim Thorpe, PA USA » reply Hi Rich,
eligius1427 -
Monday, June 2, 2008 - 11:57am
Hi Rich, I took your advice and changed the ratio of the front and back part of the arrow. I also used tubing and lighter gauge material to reduce the weight. Due to the offset, the arrow isn't balanced and sags to one side, so I think I'm going to add weight to the arrowhead until it's balanced? The arrow direction collar has a little play around the pole, about 1/16" which I was told I could take in with brass shims. This would take care of the sag, but wouldn't it still put stress and rub at certain points if it is not balanced? I tried a medium sized fan i had in the shop and it wasn't strong enough to swing the arrow around, but it's a big arrow(almost 48"). When I held it closer to the fletching it moved the arrow. Should I put a Zirc grease fitting on the collar? Thought it might help prevent corrosion around the hub as well as help the arrow spin. Jake » reply  It seems to me that
Rick Crawford -
Monday, June 2, 2008 - 7:24pm
It seems to me that balancing it would be the best idea. Having a grease fitting is also a good idea. Just remember that you will probably be the last one to put grease in the fitting. How many folks will climb onto the roof for a squirt of grease? Not sure, but not many, is my guess. SmokyRick » reply Jake, Yes, you need to
Rich Waugh -
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 12:34am
Jake, Yes, you need to balance the arrow statically so it stays concentric and can rotate freely. If it is well-balanced and pivoting on a decent bearing surface, yo udon't need a zerk fitting - who's going to climb up there and grease it yearly, anyway? When I make things like weathervanes, which I don't do much of here in the islands by the way, I use one polished bearing ball for the thing to pivot on. I just make a detent for it with a dapping punch and put the bearing in place, then drop the moving part down onto it. I use a tube within a tube sort of design. It definitely needs to be as low-friction a joint as possible, for sure. I'm not sure how yours is constructed internally, but it should be as smooth as humanly possible and preferrably not need to be greased. Grease will actually make it stiffer, particularly in cold weather. If you need a lubricant, try ATF or light instrument oil, rathher than grease. » reply  Finish
Jacob John -
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - 11:38pm
What do you think about using adhesion promoter and then a clearcoat. I've never done it, but I wanted to find out what you guys thought before I tried it on my project. » reply |
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ArtMetal
Sounds to me like you should
Sounds to me like you should be using painted faux finishes. I would not attempt to put on a real rust finish and then top coat it. The only weather vane I made was made with stainless steel, copper, and brass. No steel. No paint. It was an owl weather vane I made for UNC at Chapel Hill.
One suggestion. Make sure the vane is installed perfectly level. Otherwise, it's not going to work correctly.