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How to Build Your Own Wind Axis

Vertical wind axis windmills are the latest trend in windfarm technology. Andrew Burger of CleanTechnica reports that vertical wind axis turbines may be as much as 10 times as power-efficient as traditional propeller-type wind farms with horizontal turbines. As a teacher, you can demonstrate the principles of wind axis technology in a 7th grade classroom. You will need to be able to use a utility knife and a pair of wire strippers safely.

Things You'll Need

  • Poster board
  • Metal straight edge, 12 inches
  • Utility knife
  • Screwdriver
  • Wooden skewers
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • Masking tape
  • PVC pipe, 1/8 inch-diameter by 8 inches long
  • Foam board
  • Metal rod, 1/8 inch-diameter by 10 inches, with attached bevel gear
  • Wine cork
  • Bevel gear
  • Bicycle dynamo
  • Wrapping wire, insulated
  • Flashlight bulb
  • Light bulb socket
  • Hot glue gun
  • Hot glue
  • Wire strippers
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Instructions

  1. Teacher's Prep Work Before Class

    • 1

      Cut eight strips of poster board, 2 inches by 6 inches with the straight edge and utility knife. These are your wind axis's wings.

    • 2

      Cut two 8-inch squares and two strips 1 inch by 8 inches of foam board with the utility knife. These pieces are the wind axis's base.

    • 3

      Cut three right triangles, 4 inches long with a 2-inch base from the foam board. They are the PVC pipe's supports.

    • 4

      Cut two 4-inch lengths of wire. From each wire end, strip 1/2 inch of insulation.

    • 5

      Remove the dynamo's gear with a screwdriver. Replace it with the bevel gear, making sure the angled side faces away from the dynamo.

    Hub Assembly

    • 6

      Cut two skewers into into into 16 1-inch long pieces. Discard the leftover piece. These pieces will hold the sails to the hub.

    • 7

      Draw an "X" across the wine cork's top with a pencil, making sure lines meet exactly in its center. Rotate the cork 45 degrees. Draw another "X" across the its center. Draw straight lines down the cork's length where the lines on the top reach the edge.

    • 8

      Make pencil marks on each of these lines, 1/4 inch from the top and the bottom. Push a 1-inch skewer piece perfectly straight 1/4 inch deep into the pencil marks.

    • 9

      Center each sail on a pair of skewer pieces. Hot glue it in place.

    Base Assembly

    • 10

      Glue the 1-inch foam board strips to the front and back of an 8-inch foam board square with a glue stick. This U-shaped piece is the base's bottom.

    • 11

      Position the support triangles, upright PVC pole, dynamo and bulb socket on the other 8-inch foam board square. The dynamo's gear must be close enough to the PVC pole to catch the metal rod's gear. You can position the bulb socket anywhere you want on the square as long at the 4-inch wires can connect to the socket's and dynamo's contacts.

    • 12

      Mark the pole's, dynamo's and sockets outlines with a pencil. Cut out the shapes you traced with scissors.

    Pole Assembly

    • 13

      Slide the PVC pipe through the hole in the base's top layer. Slide the metal rod through the PVC pole. Remember that the gear needs to be inside the base.

    • 14

      Push the top of the pole into the center of the hub's bottom. Make sure the gear drops far enough to catch the dynamo's gear.

    • 15

      Fasten the pole to the base with 1-inch strips of masking tape. Place the triangular supports around the pole and attach them to the pole and base with your glue stick.

    Finishing

    • 16

      Wrap one wire's exposed end to one of the dynamo's contacts, the other end to one of the bulb socket's contacts. Wrap one exposed end of the other wire around the dynamo's remaining contact, its other end to the bulb socket's remaining contact.

    • 17

      Push the bulb socket through the bottom of the base's top layer. Run a strip of masking tape across the socket's bottom end, so that it keeps it fastened to the base.

    • 18

      Lower the base top onto the U-shaped base bottom. Slide the dynamo into the top's cutout, if it has shifted. Position it so that the dynamo's gear has a good grip on the pole's gear. Run two strips of masking tape across the dynamo past the cutout's edges to keep it in place.

    • 19

      Run a strip of masking tape along the base top's front and back to secure to keep it in place. Screw the flashlight bulb into the socket.

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