Construction Pictures

[Propwash]

I'm sure this is old stuff for most of you but I'm sure you'll find some of my methods entertaining.

The mill was built from Hugh Piggots plans. It is set up for 12 volts. I made jigs and cut most of the blades on a thickness planer. The planer would not cut the deepest part of the root area. I used the chainsaw and disc sander to do that area only. Scary as it looks the chainsaw worked quite well and I may attempt to build another set of blades with just the chansaw and disc sander just for the fun of it. The mill has only been run on a test tower for a couple of hours. It worked very well on test day in light winds. Tower and base are in the works. I'll have more info and pics this weekend if all goes well.

[jmk]

 Great stuff! I didn't think of the chain saw. That would be quick. I used a power hand planer,and a body grinder with 36 grit sanding disk. The body grinder works prety good. I did set the drill press to a slower speed. I can go one speed slower. I will try that. You are probably right. I am drilling it to fast. I was trying to find my bees wax for lub. I used motor oil from a squirt can. I will try to sharpen the bit up, and slow the press down. Nice looking machene!

[Flux]

Nice job, I like your jig to position the coils. Look forward to hearing the results when it up at proper height.

Flux

[BT Humble]

Scary as it looks the chainsaw worked quite well and I may attempt to build another set of blades with just the chansaw and disc sander just for the fun of it.

You used to be able to buy (here in Australia at least) a metal disk with "chain saw" teeth around the rim, that you fitted to your 3" angle grinder for wood carving.

I don't know how effective they were, but they looked at least as dangerous as a chainsaw for the job! ;-)

BTH

[Propwash]

I think I saw one of those riggs used on the Otherpower site. As I recall it was being used in the root area of blade making. The comment was that it worked quite well but was one of the more dangerous tools the fellow had ever used. I have read on many sites that a drawknife is the tool of choice for blade making but I don't own one. With a little practice a chainsaw can be quite accurate. Its always good insurance to make four blades if you only need three when using a chainsaw to compensate for the "oops!@#$%^&*" factor.

                        Kevin

[ghurd]

Welcome home Mr and Mrs BTH.

G-

[BT Humble]

Welcome home Mr and Mrs BTH.

Thanks G, we've actually been back for about 6 weeks now, I've just been very slack about, well, pretty much everything. ;-)

The Fiji project was a bust, because although our half-tonne of gear made it to Suva it still hasn't made the next leg of the trip out to Vanua Balavu (~200km boat trip).  I'm sure it'll get there eventually, but I'm not going back to VB until I know that the equipment has arrived.

The next project will be on the mainland, because half of the population of Fiji are Indians who have just as tough a life as remote islanders.  The whole trip was quite an eye-opener for me, it makes you realise what poverty really is.  

(And Fiji is relatively affluent, by third-world standards).

BTH

[Propwash]

This tower is 20'. Stays are 5/16. Stays are anchored 50-60' from tower base. I expect to go with a taller tower in the future. This is kind of a test tower.

I placed two D2 Caterpillar idlers on the tower base to hold it down.

The make shift panel consists of brake switch, amp meters, volt meter, and tachometer.

The mill is working great. Yesterday I was getting 35amps in puffy winds but having problems with the tail furling to soon. This morning tower came down and added 20 pounds to the tail. Zero winds today so no data.

[jmk]

  congratulations! I'm surprised to see no snow. We are all froze up with a six inch snow cap here in Oxford, Mich. How are the noise desibals? I haven't done a whole lot on my mill except buying the rest of the tower parts. I am thinking on buying a winch like dan uses. I need to find one that can hold about 100' of 1/4" cable.  

[jmk]

 The tachometer is a great idea. How did you wire it up? Were did you get it from?

[Propwash]

We just got a dusting of snow here. There is a big storm passing us tonight but its supposed to miss us. It has gotten very cold here. Looking forward to getting out the ice boat (http://groups.msn.com/iceboatmaine). As I mentioned in the other post. Tach is a Medalion marine tach. It is being fed from one of the three stator wires and grounded to the battery ground. The tach is adjustable and can be calibrated to work with the mill.

[Propwash]

[Propwash]

http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/4796/S4200204.AVI