The pinwheel has many names. Spinner, twirler, whirligig, twister, grinder, etc… Its origins begin with the windmill. That is a good place to start our discussion.
No one knows who the original inventor of the windmill was. No indication that windmills existed in classical Greece or Rome have ever been found. Evidence shows that the first windmills appeared in Persia around 644 BC. C. to raise the water. The path of development to the West begins in Arabia around 1000 AD Then through Tibet, China and finally England in 1150 AD These early devices were all of the horizontal type. In this type the blades or sails are connected to a vertical axis. There is no way it will change direction with the wind. At this point, the development of the horizontal windmill continued, but a new type of device called the post windmill appeared. This is the most traditional one we are familiar with. Its axis is horizontal to the ground and is geared to a vertical axis inside the mill body. Outside, at the end of the horizontal axis, there is a unit with four candles mounted on it. The angle of the shaft was set to allow the wind to push the sails in one direction causing the shaft to rotate. The first windmills of this type allowed the entire mill to rotate on the vertical axis. Later versions were developed that allowed only the top to swivel and with the attachment of a weather vane to the rear of the axle allowed for automatic steering.
Later in 1756, in what were to be the early American colonies, farmers found more uses for the new fanged windmill device. They found that birds and land animals had no use for the revolving structures and therefore smaller and smaller versions were built only for the purpose of scaring the animals. As they got smaller and smaller, a new word was coined to describe them: the whirlwind. The word is derived from the verb to turn. Perhaps it was the misspelling of the word with its similarity to the torture device, the windlass (developed in 1440), that propelled it to popularity. But before you know it, a whole plethora of little gadgets appeared. Including things with spinning legs, arms, spinning wheels or spinners, fast-spinning fans, etc. Many were in the form of hideous animal abominations. With a weather vane tail attached, they appeared to be alive. This aspect scared away troublesome birds and animals.
Whirligigs became popular again in the 1930s. They were a way for farmers to make money during the depression. After a while, rotating concerts branched out into different types of rotating devices. One was the pinwheel with its obvious connection to the original windmills that became an iconic children’s toy. The wind spinner came out of this too. This is similar to a vertical windmill in which a single twisted piece of metal is tilted into the wind. Any little breeze makes it spin on its axis.
The aviation windsock was also developed from the look of the weather vane and is used as a weather instrument. Some credit is given to the Chinese for the invention of the windsock. Kites flew from the year 500 a. Some were shaped like socks with one end open.
The pinwheel wheels or pinwheels shot off another branch called the pinwheels. Some are similar to pinwheels or the business end of a windmill with its axis horizontal. Some are based on the vertical axis principle and are generally suspended from that vertical axis which is the axis of rotation.
The vertical axis pinwheel has the added benefit of being viewed from the side or from a normal viewing angle. A single slab of wood or metal turning is satisfactory in itself. But remember the kaleidoscope where rapidly moving pages with coordinated changes in each “frame” create the illusion of movement.
Now imagine a single slab of stainless steel cut into multiple rings one inside the other. Then each individually folded around the axis. All rings equally spaced across a 90 degree arc. The movement of the resulting structure on its axis would also create the illusion of light moving from the center out. This is how the stainless steel windmill was born.
Today, with the advent of precise computer controlled laser cutting machines, any design within the limitations of the cutter can be created like a pinwheel. Stainless steel pinwheels will not rust making them weather resistant and come with their own twist and are available in a multitude of powder coated colours. Therefore, they can be used indoors or outdoors. For indoor use, motors are available to rotate them continuously. Out in the open the wind will turn them over. They can be hung from just about anything that gives them room to move.
You, your family, friends, and even your pets will spend hours watching the ever-changing light patterns.
