Building a wooden windmill is one of those unique projects that you can take on if you have an inherent love of woodworking. Not only will you have a unique structure to decorate your garden, but you can also jump on the bandwagon of going green by harnessing the power of wind energy. And yes, this can be done if you have great wooden windmill plans.

Windmills have been around for many ages. But unlike the decorative windmills we see today, the windmills of yesteryear were primarily used to harness the wind and convert it into electricity. And if you have this desire to build a windmill that generates real power, that too can be done over the course of a few weekends or evenings.

Whatever your purpose in building a wooden windmill, here are a couple of things you’d better consider well before you start construction:

location and size

If you are going to build a windmill for decorative purposes only, size and location would not be much of a consideration. You just need to build something that is prominent enough to be a part of any landscape design. And you just need to place it somewhere in your garden where it can catch the eye and go well with the whole landscape design.

However, if your main goal in building a landscape is to generate a considerable amount of energy and convert it into electricity, the size and area where you will install the windmill are important. For one thing, it has to be big and tall enough to harness a considerable amount of wind power. And secondly, it must be configured in such a way that the maximum wind power is harnessed through its blades.

Materials

The next thing to prepare is the tools and materials you will need to complete this project. For a decorative windmill, you won’t need a lot of materials to build it. But for a fully functional wooden windmill, close attention must be paid to the design and the materials required to complete the windmill.

Just to give you a simple overview of the materials needed to build a basic windmill, here is a basic list of materials needed: Wood (plywood and lumber will be needed to form the blade and build the main frame of the windmill ), wood screws, epoxy, steel shaft and sandbags. As for tools, you will need a handsaw, band saw, power drill, screwdriver, and wood lathe. Also, you would need a power converter to get electricity from the windmill.

Plans of wooden windmills

If you want to save yourself the unnecessary hassle of construction, you should have great wooden windmill plans to guide you through the entire process. This is especially necessary when you plan to build a power generating wooden windmill.

Quality windmill plans will have introduced you in detail to the materials and steps you need to take to build a windmill, whether for decorative or functional purposes. Plus, you can expect the process to be demonstrated using illustrations so you don’t have to waste time getting confused by the instructions.