thanks for the replies guys, and the links - they are very helpful.
The salvage thing probably wont work too long, because for one thing, stuff only gets thrown away when it is really beyond repair, and as a result salvage parts will be hard to find for more than a few wind turbines.
I am still hoping to go down the manufacture route rather than the motor route, with the hopes of stimulating local manufacturing. I have some contacts who think they can get hold of the magnets there. Im trying out some designs at home to see what will work and what wont, so that we can set up a few projects together with a local university, allowing the students to try out some designs and work out what will work best for them.
My first attempt used a single phase single rotor with 8 neo mags, and 8 coils (150 turns 24 swg). however, it was not a very good design (magnets and coils were fastened on to old CDs!) With PVC blades, I am able to just about get 3v out of it - a lot less than I thought I would get, but I suspect I need a better tower as well.
I decided to move onto a dual rotor design, and have sourced some 10 inch steel discs. Will try a 12 x 2 magnet design and see how it goes. Will experiment with 12 coil single phase as well as 9 coil 3 phase to see which will get me more power.
Will try keep this updated.
Thanks again.