I like VAWTs, but anyone who wants to play with them must be realistic about whats possible. They have higher torque, but less RPM's if placed in the same wind with a prop-style of HAWT (and both have the same swept area)
They have a narrower RPM range, because even though they have early start-up, as soon as wind starts to pick up, a high pressure area builds in front of them, and a lot of wind volume simply goes around it instead of through it.
Very similar characteristics to the high-solidity water-pumping wind-mills farmers/ranchers use. Early start-up in light winds enchant the inexperienced public into daydreaming that there 'must' be a way to make lots of power from them.
In electrical generation, RPM's count. Higher RPM's are a case where 1 + 1 = 4
I am in the middle of a move to Kansas City, but I plan to make a flash-light battery charger from a coffee-table sized VAWT, and Ghurd sent me 2 stepper motors from trash-day copiers along with diodes and a wiring diagram (Thanks Glen in Ohio!).
I have purchased a camping LED lantern for testing, but it might take a few months to settle in and finish. Have fun...