Project Porn

[fabricator]

Since this is the wind section and nobody seem to be doing much with hawts these days I thought I'd post some pics of my geared hawt,
it's a 4:1 machine, hooked up wye it cuts in at 73 rotor rpms which would be 292 alternator rpms.
It'll be an almost perfect match for a Classic 150, it has an Olson style spring tail, this tail system is awesome, it is infinitely adjustable, ten foot tail boom.
the rotor is gonna be about 14 foot dia.

[nickskethisnikske]

oh this is beautiful!

[tanner0441]

Hi

As it should be done and presented.

Is the lifting eye at the point of balance when the blades and fin are fitted, or just over the yaw bearing for ease of aligning with the mast?

Brian.

[fabricator]

Hi

As it should be done and presented.

Is the lifting eye at the point of balance when the blades and fin are fitted, or just over the yaw bearing for ease of aligning with the mast?

Brian.

It's just a little tail heavy now so it should be the balance point with the rotor mounted.

[electrondady1]

that's a tough looking machine.

[Bruce S]

Fab;
Nice !!
What's the service life of the spring?
Bruce S

[hiker]

nice work fab !!
how long did did it take to complete ?

[jlt]

That's a great looking machine.
      Are you using neo or ceramic mags? Size number and specs of coils.
    It is nice someone. is still building things.

     Any info on the ya bearing. How stiff. is the tail for twisting.
 Hope you get it running soon. JLT

[gww]

Fabricator
I love pictures.  Seeing yours, I may not be able to go out in public as I am green with envy.  cool
gww

[fabricator]

Fab;
Nice !!
What's the service life of the spring?
Bruce S

I have no idea but the default mode is furled if the spring breaks.

[fabricator]

nice work fab !!
how long did did it take to complete ?

Well that's hard to say, I've been working on it off and on for about two years, if I had all the parts ready to go and nothing else to do it would probably take a week.

[fabricator]

That's a great looking machine.
      Are you using neo or ceramic mags? Size number and specs of coils.
    It is nice someone. is still building things.

     Any info on the ya bearing. How stiff. is the tail for twisting.
 Hope you get it running soon. JLT

Neos, from when the price went sky high, I got pics of the yaw bearing I'll find em and post em.

[fabricator]

I made my own yaw bearings from 1/2" ball bearings, I used a rotary table on the mill with a ball nose mill to mill the half round groves in the races, then I hardened em, one welds to the tower stub and the other to the yaw tube so there is no bearing at the top.
I got most (all) of the ideas from Chris Olson, there is a seal at the bottom to seal it all off you can see it on  the tower stub in the one pic.

[snowmass]

Very nice. Is the 4:1 a premade gear and if not, do you have pics of inerts. Inspires me to go big.

[Frank S]

Fab you bearing looks nice did you make them as angular contact to accommodate lateral as well as vertical loading?
 here is a 28 inch bearing I made for a jib crane it can sustain lateral loading up to a full 90degrees from vertical 
74 3/4 inch balls + 5 5/8" gap filler balls
  material ASTM 514 TI steel for the races welded to ASTM Gr50 due to its size I w\am not concerned with hardening and will rely on work hardening and the formation of a bilby layer

[bob g]

nice work Fab!

very well conceived, and even better implemented

bob g

[Janne]

Haven't had much (any) time lately to work on wind projects, but glad to see others still do.. And find time to post about it
Nice looking build btw.

[fabricator]

Fab you bearing looks nice did you make them as angular contact to accommodate lateral as well as vertical loading?

Nope, the tower stub and yaw tube fit so close there won't be much if any lateral loading.

[clockmanFRA]

Fabricator, That is real nice, and as you said its real PORN, with real curves.

Will study very closely.....

[halfcrazy]

Is that a "Power Stroke" I see in the pic? Thought us wind guys where all Cummins gear heads   

[fabricator]

Yep, running on home made bio diesel, it's got the best diesel Ford ever put in a pickup though, the 7.3, you won't get an argument out of me though, Cummins builds the best diesel engines on the planet but they are still wrapped in a Dodge.

[gww]

fabricator
Not to take away from the "HAWT" but,  do you run bio diesel in the dodge?
Thanks
gww

[fabricator]

N0 I have the PowerStroke, but a Cummins will run just fine on it.

[gww]

Fabricator
I have the cummins.  last question so i don't hijack your post any worse then I already have.  Do you use lye in your diesel or some other concoction? Do you mix 50/50 with diesel?
Thank you
gww

PS
I'm still watching the turbine and loving it.  No wait it's porn, I should have said lusting it.

[dloefffler]

After the race was heat treated, was it gound?

Nice job as always. The case was made with plate and a slip roll? I assume that is part of your shop. Thanks for sharing.

Dennis

[birdhouse]

very nice work!  looks burly. 

jumping out on a limb here and guessing GOE 222 blades?? 

any forward movement on your tower predicaments? 

adam

[fabricator]

After the race was heat treated, was it gound?

Nice job as always. The case was made with plate and a slip roll? I assume that is part of your shop. Thanks for sharing.

Dennis

No, I polished them with lapping compound on a cloth wheel an a die grinder, they are plenty good for the job they'll do. Yep the wall was rolled and the front and back were lasered out with all the holes in em and everything is tig welded together.

[fabricator]

No I'm gonna order some blades from Chris and try em out, yeah my tower problems are solved, that's why it's painted flat gray, as will the tower, I'm gonna build my own monopole and put the damned thing up permit and ordinance be damned.

[fabricator]

Fabricator
I have the cummins.  last question so i don't hijack your post any worse then I already have.  Do you use lye in your diesel or some other concoction? Do you mix 50/50 with diesel?
Thank you
gww

PS
I'm still watching the turbine and loving it.  No wait it's porn, I should have said lusting it.

I use KOH (potassium hydroxide) and methanol, it's a standardized process, the same way they do it in large scale bio refineries, I run it 100% in the summer, down to 25bio/75 diesel in the winter, if you want to learn everything you ever wanted to know about making bio go here and read,read,read. http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=447609751

[gww]

Fabricator
Thank you
gww

[jlt]

Put a tv antenna on the tower. and an amplifier, then you can call it a wind powered TV antenna   

[fabricator]

It has been suggested if I put a Ham radio antenna on it they couldn't do anything because that is regulated by the fedgov and can't be touched by local authorities, problem is I'm not a Ham Radio guy.

[Frank S]

It has been suggested if I put a Ham radio antenna on it they couldn't do anything because that is regulated by the fedgov and can't be touched by local authorities, problem is I'm not a Ham Radio guy.

Yep Hams take a dim view of HUUBs trying to pass themselves off as an operator. If someone thinks a the stupidity of their local government is hard to deal with .just power up a ham and key the mic a few times then  try dealing with the professionalism of a couple of licensed OP's when they start explaining the fundamental purpose of the amateur radio service its rules and regulations, when they are through you won't even have to worry about the FCC
 No I would not think a ham antenna would be a good Idea
 However you could mount 4 or 5 small sat dishes on the top at various angles connect them to a laptop and call yourself an Amateur astronomer searching for a suitable planet to send all of the polly's the turbine blades are merely to cause an automatic pulsating  signal in response to a possible contact