My DIY Wind Turbine

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My DIY Wind Turbine
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• This is my project and it is not finished yet,
  but I figured I would show it to you. It can be
  done and sometimes cheap. First of all we will
  start off with the supplies a friend gave me.
  Most of them were free. His son worked
  construction and he was building a house and had
  lots of extra stuff left over and he wanted to
  get rid of it. So I helped him out. He gave me
  30 - 8 foot 5/8 all thread some ¾ plywood and
  some kitchen lights. These are the ones that are
  4 foot and recess into the ceiling. I paid for 2
  bearings and the solid steel 10 foot rod. The
  real money comes when you make the generator but
  thats the part that isnt done.

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• Let me tell you how I constructed this out of
  those parts in our list above. The picture is
  above so you can see it as we are going through
  the steps. Step one was preparing the plywood. We
  need two round circles to start with.

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• Trick here on how to get them both the same. You
  need a table saw for this and you need to find
  the center of your plywood. You should also make
  the marks for the blades this is easier when the
  plywood is square. If you have 6 blades you need
  6 marks should look like a pie with 6 evenly cut
  pieces. The more blades the smaller the pieces of
  pie. This really needs to be done right for
  balance. These marks are for the positioning of
  the blades so the marks need to be made on the
  inside top and bottom when the project is put
  together.

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• My plywood was already 4.5 x 4.5 when I started.
  Now you need to make a hole in the table saw (I
  had to add extra table panel on mine to use all
  the wood) about dead center of the blade. If the
  hole is 2 feet from the saw blade you should get
  a 4 foot round circle

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• First take off the guard and lower the blade all
  the way down. You hold it down with some all
  thread or 4 to 5 inch bolt and I used a weight
  from an old weight bench and some washers and
  nuts. Put the plywood with the hole in it and put
  the bolt with a washer down through the weight
  then the plywood then the table saw. Now put the
  washer and nut on. Do not make this too tight!
  The idea is to roll the plywood round and round
  until we get a circle.

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• Best results you need a very good blade or new.
  Warning TAKE YOUR TIME!!!!! You just raise the
  blade a little at a time. Start very small to get
  a feel for it and spin the plywood slowly. Keep
  your hand away from the blade but firm on the
  board. Should look like this when youre done.

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• Now put the two round circles together and mark
  your hole for the all thread to hold the turbine
  together I used 5/8 all thread. Remember they
  were 8 foot so I cut them with a chop saw and use
  a die to clean up the thread. I used 4 of them.
  Also you need to mark the side with a V so you
  know what is top and bottom. If you use the V
  method then you will always be able to match
  them. These holes need to be fairly perfectly
  placed for balance.

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• Its coming together now you will need nuts on
  both sides to lock it in. I bolted the bottom
  together first put the top on loose. I bet you
  are wondering where the recessed lights come into
  the turbine project. In the light there where two
  nicely shaped, rounded pieces of metal and two
  diffusers prefect for our blades. You will have
  to work on the next part, moving the blade
  around. The way I did was if you ever saw a
  blower cage or look at my turbine at the top to
  get an idea.

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• Once you get where you want it then from the
  marks you made you should be able to duplicate
  the rest so they are all the same. I used small L
  brackets and screws to hold it together. Then
  tighten all the nuts up remembering about
  balance. Try to get everything the same your
  blades and the all thread. I started the all
  thread at the very bottom of the nut (flush).
  When you cut the all thread all should be the
  same length. If you really want to get technical
  you can weigh them. Also I doubled the nuts for
  security reasons.

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• Final thing is to get the bearings in straight. I
  only used a 1 inch solid rod I am going to go 1 ¼
  80 grade pipe with some stronger bearings. I
  hoped you like this article and hoped the
  pictures will give you some ideas on some junk
  your friend might have that you could put to use
  to make a wind turbine. I will keep you informed
  on the rest of the project as it comes along.
  Find out more about wind turbines here.
• http//www.windturbinesprosandcons.com