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Windmill Bearing
The Windmill Bearing turns a structure of sails into a source of rotation. Unlike a water wheel, it depends on nothing but itself: no current, no fuel, it spins anywhere, even in the Nether. Its power depends on the number of sails: a small windmill gets you started, a big one runs a whole factory.
Quick facts
- Category
- Kinetics (source)
- Speed
- 1 RPM per 8 sails, from 1 to 16 RPM
- Capacity
- 512 SU per RPM: 512 SU at 1 RPM, 8,192 SU at 16 RPM
- Minimum
- 8 sail blocks to start
- Sails
- Create sails and sail frames, any wool
- Dyeing
- Dye: the sail you aim at, then its neighbour, then the whole surface; shears: back to a frame
- Version
- Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1
Crafting table recipe
→ 1 Windmill Bearing
The bearing grabs what sits ahead of it
The bearing has two useful faces. At the back is the rotation output, which connects to a shaft or a cogwheel. At the front is its wooden plate: that is where it grabs the block placed ahead of it, and everything glued to that block. So face it towards the spot where you want to build the blades.
Building the blades with glue
For the structure to turn as one piece, its parts have to stick together. Sails attach to their neighbours on their own, but other blocks (the planks and logs of the cross) must be joined with Super Glue: select the area to glue, as in the animation where green outlines surround the arms.
Enough sails to make a windmill
The structure only counts as a windmill if it holds at least 8 sail blocks: Windmill Sails (in any colour), Windmill Sail Frames or any wool. Below that, the bearing refuses to assemble. A sail is crafted from wool, two sticks and Andesite Alloy, and the recipe makes two.
Starting it with a right-click
Right-click the bearing: the structure assembles and starts turning. The bearing is now a source, and the network connected at its back spins. Another right-click stops it and places the blocks back down so you can edit the blades. Leave room all around: the blades sweep a full circle and do not pass through blocks.
Speed depends on the number of sails
The windmill turns at 1 RPM per 8 sails, up to 16 RPM with 128 sails. Its capacity is 512 SU per RPM: a small windmill with 8 to 15 sails gives 512 SU, a big one at 16 RPM gives 8,192. It is slow but very strong, and a ×2 or ×4 stage of cogwheels adapts the speed to your machines.
Choosing the direction
The direction has nothing to do with wind: you set it on the bearing's value panel, clockwise or counter-clockwise. Handy when a machine must spin a particular way, such as a fan that should blow rather than suck.
A windmill of any shape
Nothing forces you to build a cross: any structure glued to the bearing counts as a windmill once it holds 8 sail or wool blocks. A spinning house, a logo, a ship's propeller… only the sail blocks matter; the shape and the other blocks are up to you.
Sails hold on by themselves, and take dye
Windmill Sails need neither glue nor chassis: each sail grabs the blocks next to it within its own plane, so the central block and the other sails. In the loop, twelve sails placed around a wooden column make up the blades without a single glue outline. The sail count sets the speed: the code divides it by 8 and drops the remainder, so these 12 sails give 1 RPM, 16 sails give 2 RPM and 128 reach the 16 RPM maximum.
Right-clicking with a dye colours the sail you aim at; a second click colours its neighbour, a third one the whole connected surface of sails. Shears strip the cloth off and leave a frame.
Windmill Sail Frames
The Windmill Sail Frame is the open version of the sail: same job, same glue-free grip, and it counts exactly like a full sail when the speed is worked out. It cannot be dyed; think of it as the step before the cloth. To switch between the two, put the item alone in a crafting grid: a sail becomes a frame, a frame becomes a white sail. The sail itself is crafted from one wool block, two sticks and one Andesite Alloy, and the recipe makes two. Frames suit decorative windmills, or blades you want to see through.
Common mistakes
- The bearing refuses to assemble: fewer than 8 sails, or some blocks of the cross are not glued and are not part of the structure.
- The windmill stops dead: a blade hits a block nearby while turning. Clear the whole circle, down to the ground.
- The network stalls despite a big windmill: the speed is too low for your machines. Speed it up with cogwheels: the SU capacity stays the same, but each machine gets the speed it needs.
- The windmill spins the wrong way: change the direction on its panel, there is no need to rebuild it.
Related pages
Sources for the numbers (Create 6.0.8 code)
- Speed: WindmillBearingBlockEntity.getGeneratedSpeed = clamp(sails / windmillSailsPerRPM, 1, 16); CKinetics.windmillSailsPerRPM = 8
- Minimum: CKinetics.minimumWindmillSails = 8; BearingContraption (AssemblyException not_enough_sails)
- Capacity: AllBlocks.java, WINDMILL_BEARING CStress.setCapacity(512.0)
- Sails: tag create:windmill_sails (sails, sail frame, #minecraft:wool)
- Direction: WindmillBearingBlockEntity.movementDirection (RotationDirection, clockwise / counter-clockwise)
- Recipes: crafting/kinetics/windmill_bearing.json, white_sail.json (wool + 2 sticks + Andesite Alloy -> 2 sails)
- Glue-free sails: BlockMovementChecksImpl (a sail is attached towards the faces off the axis of its FACING)
- Dyeing: SailBlock.useItemOn / applyDye (aimed block, then one neighbour, then the connected surface; shears -> frame; frames cannot be dyed)
- Sail <-> frame: CreateStandardRecipeGen.SAIL_CYCLE (crafting grid conversion)
- Scenes: BearingScenes.windmillsAsSource, windmillsAnyStructure, sail and sailFrame
Original texts and animations by Create France, rendered from the mod's Ponder scenes. Create is a mod by the Create Team, not affiliated with Create France.