Why a functioning weathervane is more important than you’d think…

Following the storm 'Amy' this weekend, the Borthwick Valley is looking a bit of a state! There are a couple of good sized trees down, branches everywhere and the whole place is suddenly looking a lot more leafless and wintery. Fortunately the power is back on, but phone lines and internet have been down since Friday. On the plus side, we spent the morning in Coffee End in Hawick eating cake as a means of responding to emails, so it's not all bad!

Our weathervane however, is exactly where we left it. Why? The quick answer is: Because it functions!

The slightly longer explanation is that there is much greater surface area at the back of the sail, and the sail is also perfectly balanced front to back. This means that when the wind blows, it catches the Clangers design at the back of the sail and turns the heavier arrow to point to where the wind is coming from.

Most people don’t really have a need for accurate weather reading from their weathervane these days what with modern forecasting techniques; however a functioning weathervane sail is a lot more important than you’d think, for one simple reason:

If it doesn’t turn into the wind, the side of the sail will feel the full force of the wind. Given the state of the trees in our valley after the storm this weekend, if our weathervane didn't work, it wouldn’t have stood a chance. Strong wind is definitely capable of bending steel, and once it’s bent, the wind can catch it and lift it off the pole completely. So if your weathervane does not accurately read the weather, it is much more susceptible to taking storm damage.

How does a weathervane sail turn into the wind?

A weathervane sail turns into the wind if:

1. It has significantly more surface area at the back than the front of the sail AND
2. There is equal weight at the front and back of the sail, hence our arrows being cut in much thicker steel.

Most weathervanes available online do not function; this is one way in which they are able to be sold at a lower cost. It's not rocket science, but it does take expertise plus a bit of time and effort to make a weathervane sail function, and quite simply many companies either cannot be bothered or do not have the necessary skills. All of the weathervanes created by Black Fox Metalcraft were designed with functionality in mind, and we'd never sell one that didn't work.

When a customer commissions a bespoke design, we do occasionally need to balance their ideas with functionality to ensure the sail will turn into the wind. This can be as simple as, for example putting the dog with the greater surface area at the back of the sail, however it can also take a lot more time and effort on our part, for example:

• Being clever with the design in putting cut outs at the front of the sail.
  
• Welding two arrows together to make a sail balance.
• Cutting a tail to sit at the back of the sail where extra surface area is needed.
• Trial and error with the positioning of a profile.
• Adjusting the length of the sail bar.
  
• Re cutting parts of a profile in thicker steel.
  
• Re cutting a profile in a different size.

These are all things that take time. Knowing how a new design will behave is a skill only developed with years of practice, and even now with more complex weathervane designs we occasionally have a bit of trial and error at the making stage to ensure a bespoke weathervane will work properly. This is something that we always put the time and effort into, and we will never add on extra charges for this.

A question we are frequently asked is ‘do I need to take my weathervane down if a storm is forecast’ and in conclusion to this blog, the answer is no, not if the weathervane actually works! If your weathervane sail turns INTO the wind, it will not feel the full force of it.

If your weathervane has been damaged in a storm and you’d like to replace it with one that works, speak to Black Fox Metalcraft (once our phone line is up and running anyway!)