Hockey sticks make excellent weather vanes. They have all the right attributes, and you just need to add hardware. As most stick blades have either a right or left curve, your weather vane can be asymmetrical, or you can use a couple of screws to affix an identical stick with the opposite curve to give your weather vane the chicken-tail look. The “stabiliser” or blade of the stick will catch the wind and swing the point of the stick directly into the wind. The “indicator” end of the stick should be carved and sanded to a nice point. A brass pointer fixed over the end would look classy. If you are a true wizard of artisanry, consider as ornamentation a hammered copper rendition of Ken Dryden fending off the north wind.
A weather vane pivots along a horizontal axis, so you need to set up a system to allow yours to swing with the wind. Wind vanes usually pivot on a pin that swivels in a tube filled with grease. A really long nail of the kind used to hang rain gutters will make a good pin. Using a bit the same diameter as the nail, drill a hole through the stick, top to bottom, half-way between tail and tip. Put the nail through this hole, adding some glue or epoxy to hold it firmly in place. Now comes the tricky part. If this is to be a true wind vane set up on your roof, I suggest that you retain the services of a metalworker who will make the tube that holds the pin and also the bracket that screws onto the roof, which is bolted to the tube. Over the years, these instruments of wind indication go through a lot of stress. You need tough hardware. Metal-workers are familiar with these set-ups and can manufacture you a custom-made gizmo. When you are installing the wind vane on the roof, pay attention. You don’t need extra holes up there; it is a roof, after all. Install it over the eaves, or attach it to the chimney. Now stand back and get downwind from all those compliments.
Here’s the truly tacky version. Duct tape an old skate to a broken stick, and put an old hockey glove over the other end, with the stick in the index finger of the glove. Tape the glove to the stick. Drill the stick and add the pin, as above, and duct tape the nail head. Drill a block of wood with a bit slightly larger than the nail, throw some grease in the hole, insert the pin, and you’re done. You now have a weather vane worthy of a last minute science fair project. You will score high on laughs, low on science.
