You'll Be Blown Away by the Right Weathervane
A weather vane, also known as a wind vane, is both a scientific instrument and a decorative item for a barn or home's exterior. This tool, made of materials such as copper, iron, or aluminum, and sometimes wood, shows the direction from which the wind is blowing. A rooster weather vane is mounted at the highest point of a cupola or building to catch the wind and show its direction.
How should you select a weather vane on eBay?When you're searching for a new or used weather vane on eBay, there are various factors you should take into account. eBay has several categories to help with your selection, too. Here are some things to consider before purchasing a weather vane:
- Size - They generally come in three different sizes, and getting the right size for your home, barn, or other building is of primary importance.
- Dimensions - When mounted on a small cupola or shed, a wind vane shouldn't be more than 21 inches long and 8 inches tall. A larger building or cupola can handle taller and longer weather vanes.
- Weight - The roof mount is also an important choice. The largest and heaviest weather vanes should be attached to a mount that can handle more than 40 pounds.
- Extension length - Eave mounts can also be attached to the exterior wall of a barn and extend as much as 12 inches from the wall.
- Condition - eBay offers inexpensive used weather vanes in good condition or new, pricier ones.
- Brand - You can select a specific brand like Whitehall, or you can choose one that is handmade.
Weather vanes are often made of some kind of metal for its durability. Some of these metals include:
- Copper - Copper is the most popular type of material used to manufacture wind vanes, primarily due to its appearance. The tarnished look can be applied to copper during the manufacturing process, or the copper can be allowed to tarnish naturally from wind and weather.
- Aluminum - Aluminum is also used to manufacture weather vanes because it withstands prolonged sunlight, moisture, and wind. Aluminum is also easy to shape, which allows them to be designed more intricately than wind vanes made from other types of materials.
Weather vane manufacturers produce four main styles of vanes. The silhouette style focuses on the shape of the object or design selected. It is usually flat with no detailing. The simple swell-bodied styles consist of two identical silhouette shapes welded together for a fuller look. The detailed swell-bodied style includes details such as eyes, claws, and hooves for an animal or ornamentation on an inanimate object. Full-bodied, three-dimensional wind vanes may feature a pig, dog, or other animal made to scale.
How did the weather vane come into general use?The earliest weather vanes dating back thousands of years have been discovered in Greece. In Colonial America, these wind indicators were important to farmers and sailors. They used the direction of the wind and its speed to make weather predictions. Nowadays, a rooster directional vane is primarily seen on a barn, and bars have them as well featuring an arrow, a whale, an eagle, or a horse.