quick vawt correction

[feral air]

Yaknow, I really should measure more often. It turns out that my quick vawt wasn't made from 6" diameter pipe like I said it was. It was made from 4" pipe. I got a piece of 6" pipe today and there's an obvious size difference. Doh!

I still think cutting 2inches out of the pipe is a good idea but that's for 4" pipe, not 6" like I assumed. If you haven't been following along, cut your 4" pipe like so...

I really think it makes a difference in the top speed and that the efficiency should be increased ever so slightly. You do reduce the blade area a little but the change in shape should counter that. I'm still not sure whether the way I attached the blades to the "U" brackets makes a difference or not...talking about the way they overlap a touch...but everything together on the quick vawt seems to make it a speed demon.

Now I get to figure out the "optimal" cut and air gap for a 6" pipe, woohoo! I think this time I'll do it methodically since last time it was just a matter of "have to" and circumstance. We'll see.

..sorry about that.

[feral air]

Ok, I lied, I'm a bad person. I just couldn't do it methodically though - too eager. I figured wth and cut a 3" strip from the 6" diameter pipe. That's easy to remember, half the diameter, even if it's not the most efficient it should still speed it up a bit. I used masking tape to mark it all out and I still couldn't cut it exactly straight...rough it is.

While I was in town the other day I picked up a package of 4, 1 inch "L"/corner braces...about $1.60 for the "name brand" package because that's all they had. They didn't have any kind of "U" brackets but whatever, I can use the "L"s as the "U" brackets...

upside-down-L upside-down-and-backwards-L

(pvc between)

L backwards-L

I guess now that I've got this part figured out I just need an alt to match. Pointers?

[Norm]

I used masking tape to mark it all out and I still couldn't cut it exactly straight...rough it is.

 A steel tape measure and a fine tip permanent

marker ...for straight lines...masking tape to

hold the steel tape while you're marking it.

 A hand saw makes a nice straight cut, a utility

knife to scrape and smooth the edges.

            ( :>) Norm.