Tilting At Windmills Again

I went out for a bicycle ride yesterday morning - 6 miles again. Not much distance but I'll take my time and work up to a respectable distance once again. It was chilly in the morning when I left the house. I like to wait until the high school kids are in school after 7:35 but if I wait until it starts to warm up it's been getting windy. I got a later start earlier in the week and the wind had picked up to 10-12 miles per hour with gusts maybe 15 or so. Riding into a headwind like that for a couple of miles, 6 or 7 mile ride is enough of a work out for now.

After I got home I happened to look out the front window and saw seven turkeys out in the front field. Later in the evening the dog started going crazy and there were a couple of deer out there. They're hard to see in the photo but I grabbed the binoculars for the first time since the cataract surgery and was amazed how well I could see through them. 

When I went out to the shop later I decided to get started on the spacer for the rear wheel. I've got it roughed out to the point it won't take but a few minutes to finish it. Once I get the bearings today I can figure out the proper length so all I'll need to do is flip the piece around, part it to length and then turn the OD in the middle to reduce the weight leaving a flange on each end to keep it centered in the bore of the wheel. 

When I finished with the spacer I decided to see what I could do with the sister-in-laws windmill. I worked on it not too long ago when a tree branch hit it and bent the part in the back where the vane attaches as well as the shaft right behind the hub. This time it wasn't staked down securely and went down and bent the center section as you can see in the photo, as well as knocking four of the individual vanes out of whack.

I'd been thinking about how to fix it off and on since I brought it home. I decided to cut a wooden block I could put on the hub as a fulcrum and then use a pry bar to try to lever it back in shape. It worked pretty well actually. I needed a longer block after the initial move and with a bit of patience I got it close to round once again. Straightening the vanes was fairly straight forward. Hammer, pull, tug, check, repeat until everything was close.

It's pretty close now. It'll never be new again but it should be serviceable.

I'll see about getting out on the bike today. Not only is it supposed to be windy again but it's going to be chilly the next couple of days as well. It won't be so cold I can't work on the Rickati wheel, though. I get the bearings and spacer squared away, I can see about making the axle spacers. I need to finish weld the swingarm first to make sure the wheel alignment won't change after welding. Progressing right smartly now.