Kinetic wind sculpture lotus flower leaves

thingiverse

I've always been fascinated by kinetic sculptures, both inside and outside the house. So now that I got myself a 3D printer, I wanted to try and make one myself. To be independent of wind directions, I decided to go for a horizontal based model (instead of vertical like a pinwheel). To optimise the effect, I chose to print two wheels, spinning in opposite directions. And to make sure everything spins smoothly, I designed the base wheels to fit a classic ball-bearing (608ZZ - ABEC-7). I used Bgloyalty's 'leaf with hole' from thing:5322382 (Rose (printed flat) Rivet style) as the leaves. I also designed a simple tube to slide over the support pole, to separate the two base wheels to make sure the leaves would not hit each other while turning. After bending the leaves and the stems of the upper wheel, I melted the leaves to the wheels and assembled it. And I really love it! PS: I wonder how it would like if I printed the leaves of the top wheel in white...