Blade Carving videos (power tool aware)

[OffGridGuy]

I took these videos a couple of years ago when I had to carve my first blades.

I wanted to put them up then, but got sidetracked with life.

The first blade took me all day, the 2nd and 3rd took me a another day.

I did my second set of 3 blades in just one day, so practice does speed things up.

I've hand carved blades (with Hugh and the Dan's) and as much as I enjoyed it, I don't consider power tools to be cheating.

Not sure about the audio here, but these clips will give people who have not made their own blades a good understanding of what the carving is all about.

Windmill Blade Carving - Step 1 (Band Saw Blade initial Cut)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ffM6NZLJY

Windmill Blade Carving - Step 2 (Chisel between the band saw cuts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HftGRe1YTuE

Windmill Blade Carving Step 3 ( Belt sand till smooth)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgCeIXrZsms

Once we get our new web site up, perhaps a bunch of us can load up some more videos of our work.  

Aaron

[WindJuggler]

Nice videos,

But wouldn't it be easier to use the bandsaw in the other direction and cut of what you chiselled of in the second video?

I used it that way to cut my first set and then I hand carved it to the right shape.

It took me about a week for 3 blades 1.3m. I allways want it as perfect as possible. It took a lot of time finetuning the blades.

[OffGridGuy]

RE: "bandsaw in the other direction"

If I'd have had a LARGEr bandsaw then I could have easily ruffed it out by cutting along it's lengths. However the old craftsman saw I have just won't handle it.

[taylorp035]

I find it hard to twist the blade through the bandsaw, so my last set I used a saw-sal in which the blade bend a bit.  This way a set blades made of maple can be made in an afternoon.

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

There's two "other directions" and you don't need a bandsaw the length of the blade.  If you could cut the slots with the blade tip pointing, say, north you could walk a quarter of the way around the bandsaw and do the whole cut with the tip pointing west.

[hysteresis]

Ever see an axe handle carving machine ?

You could put a finished windmill blade in as a template for it to follow, and then just fit in a solid piece of oak wood and it would literally carve it out as it rotates. Sounds like a nice way to rough out a blade. Of course the machine would have to be extended to make a blade longer than an axe handle.

It's the concept that's intriguing. Sort of a mechanical CNC.

Each one that comes off the machine would be an identical piece, and would afford balancing as an easy situation.

I've watched these things at antique machinery shows running them off all day long and people taking them when they are done.