Hi - Im not sure there is every anything such as a 'final' design. Perhaps we should call it the 'latest experiment'.
The blades have not changed.
The origional page is here: http://www.otherpower.com/17page1.html
We changed the rotor diameter to 18"
We are using a heavier duty wheel hub.
We upgraded to N40 grade magnets
The stator is closer to 3/4" thick (instead of 5/8")
The stator is 2" larger in diameter.
Overall, all the pipe is larger and all the steel parts are heavier except the tail boom, which is about the same.
These pages all have some of the detail.
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/11/1/155025/392
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/11/12/161630/06
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/12/10/152829/44
I doubt this one will go up before next spring - we were optimistic about getting things done sooner, and the tower is under way - but the heavy snow has delayed things I expect for quite some time. I look forward to getting it up and tested though!
A safer machine might be to go to the next thicker gage of wire, reduce the number of turns appropriately, and fit a smaller blade. It would surely stall if you did but you'd be almost assured that teh stator would never burn out. I think this one is still on 'risky' ground although the way we have it set up now it should furl earlier than my current 17' machine. The cutin speed on Shawns is still a bit too slow (partly due to stronger magnets) so my thinking is if we used two strands of 14 gage in hand (rather than 15 gage) and perhaps 50 - 55 windings or so per coil then we could fit a 16' blade and have a bit less heat in the stator. Resistance might have to be added down stream in that case to prevent if from stalling.