Wind Spinner/Display Cage

thingiverse

This wind spinner was designed to fit things inside! Print your favorite 3D model inside the spinner, string it up, and watch it go! This decorative spinning cage will draw in people's attention and add a certain flair to a model that you wish to display. I recommend outdoor use; however, this spinner was designed to catch the wind from all angles, so feel free to place it in any room with sufficient ventilation. Recent Updates: 2.2 - fixed orientation 2.1 - fixed a very obvious interference problem 2.0 - removed center column; added blades More about the design: As you can probably tell, this design is more than just a coil with a few rendering glitches. To define the the ribs of the cage, I used one 3D equation curve. This equation curve is set in spherical coordinates (r (radius), φ (azimuth angle), θ (polar angle)). My equation curve is defined as follows: r(t) = 50×(1+cos(t/4))/2×((8+1/2×sin(17*t)×cos(15×t))/8.5)^2 φ(t) = t/2 θ(t) = 12×t † 0 < t < 360 † t actually falls within a smaller range to minimize unwanted feature self-intersections. I realize that the radius equation can be easily simplified; however, this format allows me to make quick changes to the geometry of my design. Don't have CAD software? No problem! Being the nerd that I am, I design most of my models on graphing calculators. Then I copy them over to my computer. Go ahead... pick up your 3D grapher and punch it in! The three blades placed along the body of the spinner provide extra support and catch more wind. My original design used an ugly center column that proved to be rather useless. A special thanks to Thomas V. for printing out the prototype of my design on his Maker Bot Replicator 2 and for advising me throughout the design process.