Wind Sound Wheel

About the Sculpture

Wind power turns the wind wheel side of this sculpture and in turn, (no pun intended), turns the sound wheel The sound wheel has chimes, jingling keys, jingle bells, and a seed pod stick, made with BBs and a copper pipe. Unfortunately it would take hurricane force winds to turn this wind wheel since it is made of all metal. Sooo, I hooked up a BBQ rotisserie motor to the sculpture and geared and chained every thing to rotate in sync with each other. By far this was one of the most challenging pieces to date. There are 4 points of gear rotation, 3 chains, and one axle. In real life fantasy, steampunk engineers and builders would create these wind and sound wheels that towered up to 200’ in the air. It not only provided energy from the wind, but also provided gloriously pleasant and comforting sounds that could be heard throughout the community. Imagine that!