I've been thinking about what would be easiest to do. A motor conversion might be the best plan.
I would like to follow through with my 18 month old plan of building a mini axial flux alternator out of saw blades and ceramic magnets. But the stator is where that plan "ran aground." With the weak magnets, small rotors and no real reference material or experience to base any guesses on, any attempt at a stator would be a shot in the dark. Factor in my current lack of time, no place to put it (deed restrictions prohibit windmills) and no need other than morbid curiosity and you might understand my total lack of progress for the last year. But I still think about ti all the time.
The FEMA buyout of my once happy home on the beach (eaten by Hurricane Ike in '08) fell through, the County vetoed it as they didn't want to lose the tax base. So I now have a good site available, a 100' square sand box 100 yards from the Gulf of Mexico. It is always windy and there is nothing taller than 2 feet between me and the sea. But without any dwelling, structure or even a decent camp site, there isn't much point. Anything I put out there will just get stolen. One of these days, when I have money, I'll build a wind and solar powered cabin out there. For now I'll just have to play with toys in the back yard.
