| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| litespeed |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 14:55:51
This post is directed specifically to Ben, Superwindy and others who have messed with PVC blades extensively. I have done a bunch of searching here and on the internet for info. and I am at a loss.
I am at the point now where I am needing to build the blades for my little project. What pipe (in particular) should I be using for this. Water, Sewer, conduit or other? Is there a specific thickness and diameter that seems to work best? Blue, turquoise, Purple, Pepto, Grey, White?
I found some water pipe the other day. It is 6". However it is about 1/2" thick. I cut one blade just for fun... It is way to heavy.
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BushWhacker |
Posted - 09/03/2008 : 00:36:20
Litespeed, if you go to new construction areas and look for track hoes chances are you will find some pipe in various diameters and lengths, that most construction companies will give you as they are scrap and will be thrown (hauled) away. The green colored pipe is what you are looking for.
Be sure to paint the blades to prevent UV from breaking down the pipe. If the pipe is very pale green or almost white when you find it you are too late as UV has already done the damage.
Good luck,
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
| daveb |
Posted - 08/03/2008 : 22:01:13
Hi litespeed,ive just put together a 5 blade hub using blades that look like MattM's made from the 6" diameter brown PVC pipe very fast but it cost me £30-$60 for a 3 meter lenght so your $30 looks cheap to me?
Daveb |
| litespeed |
Posted - 07/03/2008 : 14:54:48
Thanks guys! No need for the sander now. I found what I need yesterday at a irrigation supply place. They had literally every pipe under the sun at this place. 6 acres of land, with pipe stacked 20' high all over it. Problem is they did not have any scrap and they wanted $30 for a 14' piece.
The green stuff is the stuff I need. 6" sewer pipe. I am finding that there are a lot of different varieties of this stuff.
The above blue pipe is supply pipe for fire hydrants. The fire hydrants actually mount on this blue pipe with a large metal collar.
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| ghurd |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 15:23:41
BW, They will ship that sander to Canada. G- |
| MattM |
Posted - 02/03/2008 : 20:51:18
quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS A
I do not use a curved leading edge like Ben but a straight angle see www.tlgwindpower.com
I noticed you taper your blades. Why not leave them the same thickness all the way out? I haven't noticed any tangible reason to taper sheet metal blades because the camber thickness is nearly zero so drag from rotation is virtually nil. I also have not seen any benefit for a curve in the blade, keeping the blade built to one slope (15-20º) with a safety kink on the leading edge (a mere .25" on a 70-75º angle to end up perpendicular to the air flow) has been better in my opinion. Sheet metal blades seem more akin to rigid sails than aerofoils.
Go Huskers! |
| litespeed |
Posted - 02/03/2008 : 20:10:17
Here is the pictures of the offending blade. I think I'm just going to keep looking for different pipe based on the above and some more research. This stuff is a little too Heavy Duty. I should have put these up yesterday.
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| DENNIS A |
Posted - 02/03/2008 : 20:08:59
Hi litespeed
I know that this has been stated before but the simplest way to make plastic blades is from circular form guttering. One edge is already formed. I do not use a curved leading edge like Ben but a straight angle see www.tlgwindpower.com I would recommend a oblong 2mm thick clamp washer to spread the load as these blades spin very fast and gutters are only 2.5 mm thk.
Dennis a |
| BushWhacker |
Posted - 02/03/2008 : 09:16:37
Best $15 (on sale) I ever spent, 1x30" bench top belt sander. Harbor Freight #2485.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2485
GHURD, I make sawdust for a hobby as well so I am inclined to call that deal 'theft'. Mind you after it crosses the 49th parallel it would probably cost about $300. Sometimes it sucks to live up here.
All the same a very good find!
Cheers!
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
| litespeed |
Posted - 02/03/2008 : 01:51:03
quote:
Originally posted by ghurd
Best $15 (on sale) I ever spent, 1x30" bench top belt sander. Harbor Freight #2485.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2485
Certainly worth the money if you will be making more than a couple sets.
Use it outside when possible. PVC makes a lot of 'static-sticky' dust.
G-
OMG... If I bought this thing... I would never hear the end of it and the wife would probably leave me. Everything in the house would have some kind of "smooth" edge on it. LOL! From the silver ware to the furniture.
If I had this sander I would try to use this pipe. Then I could actually try to shape them, like wood blades (sort of).
Thanks for the link!
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| donniedingle |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 16:51:08
hi lite speed
the pipe in question is pvc sewer pipe, sold over in 110mm and 160mm sizes, you can still get the old imperial seizes ...lol. but i'm sure you'll find pvc under ground sewer pipe, builders merchants perhaps.
donnie.
just keep her spinning.. |
| ghurd |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 16:41:49
Best $15 (on sale) I ever spent, 1x30" bench top belt sander. Harbor Freight #2485.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2485
Certainly worth the money if you will be making more than a couple sets.
Use it outside when possible. PVC makes a lot of 'static-sticky' dust.
G- |
| MattM |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 16:03:31
Perhaps you got ah old of that fiber reinforced pipe for pressure lines? It is a lot thicker, usually more than one layer of material although it may not be readily apparent to the naked eye.
--------------------
Go Huskers! |
| litespeed |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 15:38:56
OK... Thanks Ben. I'm way off base here. It will be tough to find that. But, I will keep looking. Seems like everything I have found is one extreme or the other. Either too thin or too thick. I have never seen brown over here. Maybe that is the same as the Pepto colored conduit stuff?
I'm now assuming that I should go as thin as possible. But not so thin that the blades are flexible...
EDIT: Thanks Ghurd! We must have been typing at the same time. Your post popped up above mine... I appreciate the info. I will keep this in mind. I cant imagine trying to shape this stuff. I may give it a try if I can borrow my neighbors belt sander. Maybe add a 3rd bolt in each blade to handle extra weight?
I'll be ordering that controller next week. Thanks again for all the input on that as well!
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| ghurd |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 15:38:36
The thicker the better, IMHO.
Weight won't be a problem unless the shaft is very thin.
Thicker gives a little more material to sharpen the trailing edge and round the leading edge. I hear it helps output but don't have the equipment to measure small changes. It can make it a little more quiet.
The thinner the wall, the more variation of thickness from one side to the other. Meaning it's hard to get a set of nearly matching blade weights from the same piece of pipe. Maybe it was bad luck on the pipe I had.
The medium thickness PVC can bend a long way back in a good wind. Frightening.
The gusts in the big winds make the blades flex more and less, over and over. I worry about stress fractures.
A very thin green PVC set I used had visable color changes (turned white) where the flexing was worst. I expect it nearly folded back a time or 2. (very small set, 25" Dia, 4" PVC) That can't be good.
G-
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| gotwind |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 15:18:33
Probably differen't colour pipe over here, but I used the brown PVC sewer pipe, 6" diameter, 1/8" thick approx.
try and get some UV treated pvc if possible, or a good few coats of paint - I used white to reflect more light away, not sure if it makes any difference (the colour).
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