Posts Tagged ‘Wooden Blade’

We recommend using two different blade materials. You can use the one that fits your budget or the one that is most readily available.

First off, we recommend PVC plastic sewer pipe in the 8 to 12 inch range to make the blades. The great part about using this large sewer pipe is that it is usually available at large city construction sites for free. Simple ABS pipe works well too.

Look for pieces in the 4 to 5 foot range if possible. You will want to build a wind generator with blade diameter of around 8 feet if possible to produce the most power you can with your DC motor and you will need at least 4 feet long blades to do that.

The PVC sewer pipe, if you had to buy it, comes in 16 feet length and costs about $183 per section. Kind of expensive, so those pieces you have in your hands are very valuable.

Why use PVC?

We have tried many types of pipe, from ABS to thin wall PVC, but nothing seems to hold up like this green or blue sewer pipe does. It is thicker and stronger than other pipe and all it requires is a coat of UV (ultra violet) resistant paint to keep going for years.

One note of caution, if you use this kind of pipe you will not achieve the kind of efficiencies of design inherent in using wooden blades. The main reason for this is because the pipe is rounded. The wind does not flow nearly as well off of a rounded blade as it will from a flat wooden blade. You can, of course use ABS or the thinner PVC if it is available. Try to find free sources if you can.

You will have to paint those blades. The only drawback to using PVC sewer pipe, or any pipe for that matter, is that it was intended for use below ground or inside. Thus, you will need to paint the pipe sections of your blades with a tough UV resistant paint to combat the nasty effects of the sun over time. The PVC pipe will get brittle and crack over time. This can be a very dangerous situation when your wind generator is spinning at high RPM and little (or large) pieces of the blades start flying off. Be careful.

So, paint the blades with a UV inhibitor. The main ingredient in most of these paints is Titanium Dioxide. Just look for that in the can. Ask at your paint store or hardware store and tell them what you are painting, and what you are looking for. This is not a hard to find product, even though at first glance it may seem that is the case.

You can check the recommended ebook Build a Home Made Wind Generator

In our next post we will discuss how to cut the PVC blades. Stay tuned