17 foot blades

[freejuice]

Hi Folks,
 The 17 foot drama continues to unfold.
 Today, when I had some more time to spend on the blades I was able to get two coats of linseed oil on them.
 On my 11 footer, I gave them about 4 coats of linseed oil and about two-three coats of an oil base paint....whgich of course has to be battleship gray
 The finish seems to be durable thus far so I will copy the same technique on my 17 foot blades too.

 I constructed the blades out of eastern white pine...plentiful and cheap stuff around here. Yellow pine is much stronger but it can vary in weight drastically from board to board, depending on how much pine resin is in the wood...if you guys have never worked with this wood; some of the heart wood can smell like turpintine and burn like a tourch when lit.
 Also I have discovered it can warp dramatically over a period of time when exposed to the sun....So in the end Yellow pine scared me away.

I made the blades from 2x6 lumber which I snapped a chalk line down teh center of the boards and ripped down with a circular saw. It eneded up leaving me a solid working thickness of 2-1/2 inches after power planing the boards flat. The lumber was glued up with Titebond 3.
 For those interested in a "quick and dirty" materials list, I used a total of:
8 pcs of 2x6 x10 foot long
4 pcs of 2x6x8 foot long
( For all three blades)

 In the end 2x6's worked very economical on glue use, board cost. time behind the power planer, sander etc etc.
 I can say after doing so, building 17 foot blades is not a one day event....whew


Ha! current tower in the background!

 Now its time to toss the wore out sawhorses and toss a match on the sawdust pile...next is the tower upgrade....maybe before the end of August everything should be flying...

[TomW]

Is it just me or is that tower mast just a bit  off plumb?


Tom

[taylorp035]

Is it just me or is that tower mast just a bit  off plumb?

I am going to have to second that opinion 

[freejuice]

Is it just me or is that tower mast just a bit  off plumb?


Tom

 Tom,
 LOL, Maybe I'm a bit off plumb.
 Actually the tower is slightly uphill from where I took the photo...I was using the cellphone to do this stuff and I probaly had it cock-eyed to get the complete view of the blades.
 But the tower is plumb...its as straight as an Indian going to an outhouse.
 all the best,
 Gavin

[freejuice]

Hi Folks,
 The 17 foot drama continues to unfold.
Today I was finally able to devote some time to reinforcing the tower. In the photo you can see there is much more work ahead, with center mast to rectangular bracing and "X" bracing on the outside of the triangular structure. I will also replace the upper guys with 1/2 cable. The outside of the triangular tower is 24 inches.
Much more welding and fitting ahead. However in the photo I have about 40 feet of the tower ready for further bracing.

I found a good 14 inch metal "chop" saw from harbor freight for about 60 bucks, to cut all the bracing; while its a bit slow it is still speedier than the horizontal saw I use to cut pipe...its one of those Jet type saws which uses 1/2 X 61 inch blades
 I figured what the heck I will drill that harbor freight saw in the ground with hard use during the 30 day replacement window should anything happen to it. I made a few non lasting modifications to the saw, now it miters a 60 degree angle nicely...ready for welding up
 I also added another 20 feet to my gin pole.....the grip hoist makes it almost effortless to raise or lower it...but will see how much it can handle with the additional generator and tower add-ons

[TomW]

juice;

I used my new Jet Grip Hoist yesterday to raise my just repaired 9 footer on a 30 foot 4 leg tower.

I really like the control and slow as you go way it works. Just wish I had stepped up in rating when I got it but 1500 # is likely all I need especially since you can thread as long a cable on as you need so you can use multiple pulley reductions.

Sure is great to see a project come together ain't it?

Looking good!

Thanks for the share.

Tom

[freejuice]

Thanks Tom,
 I get to piddle with it on weekends, Saturdays the most.  Hopefully it will be up and flying in a few weeks.
 Yea, those grip hoists are fantastic! I never knew of such a device until hanging around wind generator gurus.
They make things less stressful and smoother to raise or lower.
Most of those things are fairly pricey, but the one I got from Northern Tool  was about 235 bucks...not bad for 3.2 tons!
...I might ease outside and steal a few more mins cutting pipe...
 All the best,
 Gavin

[freejuice]

Hi Folks,
 More of the 17 foot "tower of terror" unfolds
 About the only thing to do now is the cross bracing with rebar. Atr the moment it seems very sturdy! So the rebar is added insurance!
 Most of the hard part is behind me.
The "Triangle" is about 2 ft. x 2ft.' by 2 ft.
 The upper portion of the triangle is 1 ft. x1 ft. x 1 ft.
 I'm not sure if you can see it but each section where the triangle braces are, is the connection to the tower.
 So far I have burned about 25 lbs of 1/8 inch welding rods probably another 5 lbs to burn in attaching the rebar.
 I wore a respirator type mask ( replacement cartridge type) the whole time while welding this galvanized pipe, plus the wind help keep the fumes away too.
 Now to attach the rebar and do some painting...
 The grip hoist raised it and lowered it swell at this point. I will also do another test raise after the rebar is attached.
 In the foreground you can see the 10 footer tail and blades inrelationship to the 17 footer tail....quite a difference!

 Lots of work!