Wind vane

thingiverse

Edit 8 March 2017: Added a new curved blade, for a different look! This is my project for a wind vane I did not want to make a wind generator, my goal was originally just to replace the little pinwheel that my daughter had on the balcony (it broke after a few weeks, all plastic) with something more robust (and nice); Here is the result: The max diameter is 49 cm and the length is 55 cm All parts are printed (in PLA) and sized to exploit at the maximum the size of my printer bed (200 x 200 mm). There are no other metallic components than the bolts and the bearings described below Here the bolts quantity and the dimensions: All the sizes are in millimeters The main axle + vertical axle nr. 2 - 100 x 8 - hexagonal head + 4/5 nuts Blades nr. 8 - 30 x 4 - hexagonal head + 8 nuts Rear cone + main body nr. 4 - 30 x 3 - round head + 4 nuts Tail nr. 2 - 15 x 3 - round head + 2 nuts nr. 1 - 10 x 3 - round head + 1 nuts The bearings used are labeled ZZ809 and they come from an old set of inline skate. There are 4 bearings, 2 for the propeller support and 2 to assure the horizontal rotation. Dimensions: External diameter 22 mm Internal diameter 8 mm Thickness 7.2 mm The blade’s length is 236 mm, the longest possible to print, (and quite challenging) at 45 degrees on a 200 X 200 mm printer bed. For this reason I added also a shorter blade (205 mm), easier to print or if you prefer a littler fan (the max. diameter become 42.5 cm) The vane has been tested for several months without any problem, even with high winds. Tail may look big, but is the result of several tests, and guarantees a correct directional stability, also in the presence of the unavoidable turmoil existing around a balcony. Regards and good work! Print Settings Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Doesn't Matter Notes: There is no need of supports during the print, where necessary the supports are already included in the project. The filling is generically settled at 30%, 50% for the main body and 25% for the blades, with a minimum of 3 perimeters. I print with a 0.5 mm nozzle and 0.4mm layer thickness (blades at 0.3mm)