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wood blades
By KC8QVO, Section Wind Posted on Fri May 30th, 2008 at 12:23:15 AM MST
techniques for making wood blades

I am wondering what everyone here thinks would be OK for blades. I am going to try and CNC mill them this weekend and need to get my block(s) set up for cutting the blades out of.
My first thought is to use 2x4's glued long face to long face (maybe 3 of them). Then, run them through a planer if needed. Since the mill will be cutting pretty far in to the block I don't think cleaning them up with the planer would be essential, though.
I also have access to some ruff 2x10' pine. This would need to be cleaned up but I would have bigger pieces to use.
Any thoughts? Are there any issues with wood blades warping over time? I know they need to be sealed, but other than that is there any other matinane needed?
Steve

wood blades | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: wood blades (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by wdyasq on Thu May 29th, 2008 at 11:39:38 PM MST
(User Info)

IF you know what you are doing yes you can do any or all of the above. The fact you ask about warping indicated you don't know enough about wood to even start to explain what and how to you.

Regrets, but that is the way things are. I can't and won't try to cram 35-40 years of study and experience into a post. You will find those who claim you need to do nothing but laminate and cut. This may be true if you have proper wood to begin with. With proper wood, lamination isn't even necessary.

Good luck,
Ron
Adventure is just bad planning." -- Roald Amundsen

Re: wood blades (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by frackers (g8ecj at *nospam* gilks dot org) on Fri May 30th, 2008 at 04:13:37 AM MST
(User Info) http://www.gilks.org

Well seasoned (NOT kiln dried) timber will be your best bet - I did well at the reclamation yard with some old joists, well denailed and planed off on one side and edge to give a reference to work from.

So far they haven't budged a bit and the wood was a joy to work with - no knots, burrs or splits (I did spend a fair time selecting the pieces I wanted!!). Did I mention cheaper than 'new' timber?

I've painted mine (4 coats oil based enamel) but left the ends of the blades untreated (built 1" too long, painted up to the end and then cut to length) so that they can 'breath'.
Robin - Down Under (or are you Up Over)

Re: wood blades (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by TheCasualTraveler (a.miklos@yahoo.com) on Fri May 30th, 2008 at 05:06:55 AM MST
(User Info) http://thecasualtraveler.com/wind.htm

Might want to mention the length of the blades, the climate and what size alt they are turning.

24" blades for an ametek motor in Iowa or 10' blades for a 3 KW machine on the coast of Washington? I would think made to different standards.
Andy

Re: wood blades (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by KC8QVO (kc8qvo@yahoo.com) on Fri May 30th, 2008 at 06:19:08 PM MST
(User Info)

First of all, I am not much of a woodworker. I have experience making things out of wood, but I would not consider myself to be an "expert". I am not an expert fabricater either - I have a lot of machining experience (several classes related to manual and CNC machining), but I am not a fabriactor. I have some experience welding (I have a 110v wire feed machine). So this project from the start was not encompassing much of what I am an "expert" in. I do have the ability to come up with ideas and make those ideas come to life, so I put that to use and came out with a machine. No it isn't perfect, and no I didn't do a whole lot right with it. But guess what? It is my first wind turbine and I am happy that I had the opportunity to build it.

By the way, if you want to see what it looks like so far go here: http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o117/KC8QVO/wind%20turbine/

WHEW! Now that all of that is out of the way:

I was thinking 4' blades, but I really think I need to make them even longer now. Going through the transmission (see the link above) I need a good bit of torq to get the thing to spin. I am thinking about 5' blades or so. I need torq. Speed is irrelevent, as long as the rotor spins over 110 RPM I'll be in good shape.

The generator is an Ametek 30vdc motor - HOWEVER: apparently it isn't the same motor that most people have used on here because it needs 1100rpm to produce 14vdc. That is the reason for the 1:10 transmission - to get the RPM's up from the rotor blade to the motor.

Steve

wood blades | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial)

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