The Climax windmill was made by THOMAS & SON of Worcester, England. This company's windmills date back to at least 1903 when they exhibited their products at the Royal Agricultural Society of England trials in London, but the company iself began in 1822.
The only known Australian agent was "BONWICK, HIGNETT & Co" of 14 Moore Street, Sydney. However "STEWARTS & LLOYDS", the South African company that imported the CLIMAX mill into that country between the two world wars and later manufactured them, was actually operating in Australia at the period, so they may also have been a source of this mill.
This particular configuration was used for windmill with wheels with diameters from six to sixteen feet in diameter. For the eighteen foot version shown in the unfortunately poor drawing below, double gears were used.
The tail vane found with this mill was too damaged to restore and the rest of the tail assembly was missing. However, the general appearance of the sheet and of the manner which the blades are fitted to the rings is very similar to later models made by the company.
The first oil bath model made by THOMAS & SON was brought out in 1925 so it is assumed that the museum model was made up to about that time. A brass compound is used for bearings throughout and very large oil wells are fitted around the various points of the mill. The hub shaft oil wells are actually a separate casting which bolt onto the main casting. A very unusual feature of this mill is the use of double helical cut gears.
The main casting of this mill is massive and incredibly heavy for its wind wheel size, as can be seen from the photograph.
This particular unit was found near Morawa in Western Australia on what is believed to have been a Government well.