Twenty five years ago I drove up to Mick Sagrillos shop and picked up a used Enertech 1800. It was the high point of my quest for a wind powered generator that began in the 70's following Mother Earth News with my home built 12 volt car alternator and blades made out of styrofoam insulation.
The learning experience continued and advanced with help from Home Power magazine and the MREA (Midwest Renewable Energy Association). It continues to this day.
Fast forward to 2021 Covid was ending and so was the life of my turbines blades. One of the blades had rotted off at the root. I removed the other two thinking I would get some wood and make replacement blades. I had read Dan Bartman's book and had the original blades for patterns. How hard can it be? Lets find out.
First stop was Menards to get a 20 foot long 2x8. My reasoning was to get one piece of wood and cut it into the three lengths I needed so they would have the same weight. (Should have brought my saw and cut it at the lumber yard.)
Two cuts later at home. I was looking for a piece that had vertical grain like quarter sawn but instead went for a clear piece with very small knots and flat grain or plain sawn piece.
The next step was to get some data on the weight of each piece. My cheap'o digital scale only went up to 7 pound so I had to improvise.
Very happy with the slight weight differences in each piece.
Making blades for a wind turbine, how hard can it be? Lets see...
No comments:
Post a Comment