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Vermont Whirligig - Handcrafted Tin Garden Wind Spinner
Vermont Whirligig - Handcrafted Tin Garden Wind Spinner
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Handmade by an independent artisan
The Vermont Whirligig is a hand-shaped tin garden wind spinner, made one piece at a time by retired tinsmith Russ Holcomb in his small barn workshop in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Built using fifty-year-old tinsmithing techniques most craftsmen no longer know, every whirligig is engineered to spin silently on the lightest breath of air — and built to last decades, not seasons.
Choose Your Design (all hand-crafted )
▶ The Frogs in motion
🐸 Frogs on a Penny-Farthing (Bestseller)
Russ's signature piece. A pair of frogs in top hat and bonnet ride a vintage high-wheel bicycle. The story behind it: Russ met his wife Helen at a Vermont swimming hole watching frogs in the lily pads — fifty years ago this fall. Hand-painted in tannic green with bright accents.
▶ The Cat & Rat in motion
🐱 Cat & Rat on a Classic Motorcycle
A whimsical cat-and-rat duo riding a vintage 1950s-style motorcycle. Brightly hand-painted with marine-grade enamel — orange tabby cat with a determined grin, grey rat in a leather jacket holding on for dear life.
▶ The Mantis in motion
🦗 Praying Mantis Pair on a Chopper
Two praying mantises riding a low chopper-style motorcycle. The most sculptural of Russ's designs — long mantis legs gripping the handlebars, intricate hand-shaped tin bodies in fresh green-and-yellow paint. A favorite for visitors who want something a little different.
Whichever design you choose, the engineering is identical: same triple-tinned soldering, same sealed ball bearings, same marine-grade enamel, same solid-steel ground stake. Russ tunes every piece on the same workbench.
What Makes It Different
Most garden wind spinners sold today are stamped sheet metal with plastic figures and a metal rod-in-a-hole bearing. They look fine on the shelf — but by the second season, they squeak, rust, and end up in the trash. The Vermont Whirligig is built the way old-school New England tinsmiths used to build things: to outlast you.
Built the way it should be:
- Triple-tinned soldering — every joint sealed against moisture from the inside out, the way old-school tinsmiths did it. Won't rust at the seams like the import junk.
- Reclaimed American tin — hand-shaped from old food cans and salvaged bicycle parts. Heavier gauge than mass-produced spinners, with a real material story behind every piece.
- Sealed ball bearings — two in every wheel. Spins silently on the lightest breeze. No squeak, no friction, no quarterly oiling.
- Hand-painted marine-grade enamel — UV-resistant, frost-proof, salt-air-tested. Decades of color life. Helen Holcomb hand-paints every face and every eye.
- Solid 5/16" steel ground stake — drives in once and stays put through any nor'easter. No flimsy 3mm tubes that bend in the first wind.
- Tuned for low-wind performance — Russ balances every wheel by hand, exactly the way he learned to balance turbines. Starts spinning on a single breath of air.
Specifications
| Total Height | 56" (142 cm) including ground stake |
| Front Wheel Diameter | 16" (41 cm) |
| Material | Hand-shaped reclaimed tin, marine-grade enamel paint |
| Bearings | Sealed ball bearings (2 per wheel) |
| Stake | 5/16" solid steel, included |
| Weight | Approx. 4 lbs (1.8 kg) |
| Origin | Hand-crafted in Craftsbury, Vermont, USA |
| Care | Wipe occasionally with damp cloth. No sealants needed — built for outdoor weather. |
The Story Behind the Workshop
Russ Holcomb spent fifty years as a working tinsmith in the Northeast Kingdom — copper roofs, hand-formed gutters, weathervanes, chimney flashing. After he retired in 2017, he kept noticing how poorly most garden whirligigs were made: dead in a stiff breeze, squealing in a light one, rusted by the second winter. So he started building them the right way.
Today his small barn workshop in Craftsbury is closing — the property has been sold to an out-of-state developer who's converting it to luxury vacation rentals. This is the last batch of Vermont Whirligigs Russ will ever make. When the spring 2026 deadline hits, his workbench goes cold for good.
Daughter Sarah handles the online side, so Russ can spend his last months at the bench. Every order ships from the workshop, hand-packed.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Set your Vermont Whirligig in the garden, watch it spin on the first breath of air, and feel the weight of the tin in your hands. If you're not 100% satisfied, send it back for a full refund — no questions asked. Russ and Sarah stand behind every piece.
Hand-crafted in Craftsbury, Vermont · Limited final production · Ships within 3–5 business days. Deliverytime 3-10 days.