Windmills [33x40] [Animated] (Patreon)

Today we bring our first animated map, it was much harder than expected, but we learned a lot. Hope you like it!

How windmills work

A typical windmill is powered by the wind, that pushes the sails and makes the central beam rotate. A series of gears makes a millstone rotate over another one, each weigh one ton. The grain is passed through both stones to make flour. The distance between the stones can be adjusted and will make the grain thinner if desired.

These need to be reshaped every 15 days to ensure they are working efficiently. The whole machinery needs to be dissasembled and then reassembled again, so this process lasts one whole day.

But there is something different with these specific mills, they rotate towards the wind to harness its full power.
To help orient the windmill towards the wind, the leading stick is used. This stick is connected to the roof and the entire windmill structure, and it moves the roof to help face the wind. To move the leading stick, a winch called the "borriquillo" is placed in the boulders around the base of the windmill. This winch allows the miller to adjust the windmill's orientation and take full advantage of the power of the wind.

To see where the wind is coming from the miller feels the wind through little windows located around the windmill. Depending on the number of trade winds in the area, the windmill may have more or fewer windows. Once the wind direction is determined, the miller adjusts the sails to control the speed of the windmill. The sails cloth can be folded or unfolded on its frame or just a percentaje of it. This step is key to avoid any accidents that may could occur due to the sails going too fast.

Inside the windmill and near to the main axis, there is a brake that stops the windmill and that is used in case of emergency or to manipulate the sails. It’s very important not to use the break too much or it could start a fire.

These windmills are inspired by the same windmills that inspired Cervantes to write Don Quixote more than 400 years ago. Typical windmills in La Mancha, in Spain.

Enjoy!

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