I made a “Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me” whirligig for our local woodworking club’s whirligig contest that was held at our Spring picnic. It was a beautiful day and the whirligig did a great job at keeping the flies away from my plate. Watch this video of the build and see it in action!
The propeller is made from fly swatters from the dollar store with the handles cut off. I made a red square hub out of wood and hot glued in the fly swatters.
I used leftover wire from a fly swatter handle, an eye bolt, and a piece of straight 1/8″ steel rod to make the action mechanism. I cut these with large wire cutters and bent them into shape with pliers. This takes a little fiddling to get it to work smoothly.
I cut out the wooden parts, then drilled all of the holes prior to painting and assembly. I think outdoor whirligig projects look best with a mix of bright colors. I was really happy with the table cloth pattern I got by masking off stripes and spraying light coats. I attached a small wooden name badge on the whirligig.
Plus, the swinging hand keeps the flies away! If you’ve never tried to make a whirligig before, you should definitely try it. They are fun to make with a big payoff when the wind starts blowing. These are great projects for getting kids of all ages involved in woodworking. Have fun!
SOURCE: The Carmichael Workshop – Read entire story here.