Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Making the Blades
Cut the top and bottom off the plastic water bottle. Place the open end of the water bottle down onto a piece of corrugated cardboard and use a pencil to trace the top half of the circle. Slide the bottle to the left about 1 inch and trace the bottom half of the bottle. The result should be a circle with the top half offset from the bottom half. Cut out this piece and use it as a template to make another piece.
Poke a hole into the center of each offset circle with a nail.
Cut the water bottle into two equal halves. Sand the edges with sand paper to help the glue adhere better. Hot glue one of the template pieces to the top of the bottle and one to the bottom. You now have your Savonius VAWT blades. Set this aside for later.
Making the Base
Locate the center of the plywood board using the ruler. Place the point of your compass in that center and draw a circle with a radius of 2 1/3 inches. Draw an "X" in the center of the circle so you divide it into four sections with 90-degree angles. Draw a straight line through the center of the "X" that extends 3/4 inch past the margin of the circle draw a square box here at this point.
Place the screw into the center of the "X" and drive it in. Glue the 12-inch square dowels to the square boxes you drew on the board. Use the hot glue gun for this and allow the glue to dry. Place three of the small square dowel pieces at the back and sides of each square dowel. Hot glue them as supports on each square dowel.
Use the pencil and mark the center point of the remaining square dowel. Put the screw eye at that center point and turn until the last thread is visible. Take the round dowel and sharpen one end of it with a pencil sharpener.
Measure 1/2 inch from the top of both square dowels on the base and mark that location on the dowels with a pencil. Glue the dowel with the eyehook to the supports on either side at the location you just marked. The eyehook should face the front of the base. Insert the sharpened round dowel into the eyehook and place its point directly over the center of the "X" drawn on the board.
Cut a piece of foam board that is just over 1 inch wide and 7 inches long. Wrap electrical tape around the board in four evenly spaced stripes. Wrap the 28-gauge magnetic wire over each of those four stripes of magnetic tape. Wrap each of those stripes 200 times. Leave a little space between each section or "coil" of wire. Slip the first coil off the foam board and tape the coil so it stays in one piece. Repeat for the remaining three coils of wire. Sand off the last half-inch of both free ends of the wiring.
Wiring the Turbine
Connect one of the free ends of the wiring to the LED electrode. First, place one coil on the outer end of each of the 90-degree angles on the circle you drew in the first step. When you have positioned all the coils properly, glue them down and connect the other end of the wiring to the LED electrode.
Use the compass and mark two circles onto corrugated cardboard that are the same size as the circle you drew on the wooden base. Cut these circles out using the box cutter. Glue these circles together with the white glue. Use a ruler and draw an "X" in the center of the circle.
Punch a hole in the center of this cardboard circle with a nail. Hot glue each of the fender washers to the outer part of the circle. The lines from the "X" should be visible in the center of each fender washer. Let the glue dry. Place one magnet over each washer; if the magnet isn't sticking, flip it over.
Push the sharpened end of the round dowel through the nail hole you made in the templates in the first section. Push the sharpened dowel through the center of the cardboard base with the magnets on it. Three-quarters of an inch of the sharpened dowel should poke out from the cardboard.
Glue the magnet circle in place on both sides of the dowel. This is so it doesn't slip off while spinning and create an electrical problem. Let the glue dry. Check the clearance between the coils and the magnets. You should have a 1 mm gap. If the magnets and coils are touching, simply adjust the screw in the center of the circle until they are not. Your Savonius wind turbine is ready for action.