| Post Info | TOPIC: Finding wing materials |
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GLC
Newbie
Posts: 1
Date: March 20th
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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Hello seeing how I'm new to the conversation and the last post was 13 days ago, I'll still add my 2 cents. When I made my wings, I used aluminum flashing from home depot. It's tin and flexible yet strong enough to do the job. It's also easy to work with. Depending on how big your wings are, you might have to have a seam. It's also pretty cheap to buy.
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keithturtle
Senior Member
Posts: 174
Date: March 15th
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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They are rather flimsy since the material is so thin, but I figured a few ribs and the encaps, plus at least one thin spar near the TE oughta stiffen it enough to survive a test run.
More later
Turtle
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electrondady1
Senior Member
Posts: 430
Date: March 15th
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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that's clever.
with end caps to help it keep the shape at speed,
you might have eliminated all the support webbing.
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wiboater
Senior Member
Posts: 242
Date: March 15th
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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If I remember right the Austrailian blades weren't available anymore.
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keithturtle
Senior Member
Posts: 174
Date: March 15th
| Finding wing materials |
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I saw a link a while back to an Australian chap making extruded PVC blades; cain't find it now.
I did find a formed PVC piece called "Solid Gutter Cover" to keep leaves out. A goodly dose of heat, a pipe and a bucket, and thick gloves had interesting results on a short piece of it.
Forming a full blade will be much more challenging
Turtle, slow
-- Edited by keithturtle on Monday 15th of March 2010 07:13:55 AM
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wiboater
Senior Member
Posts: 242
Date: Mar 8, 2010
| Finding wing materials |
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| Customer QuotationQuote #: 519991Customer: quoteContact: John Doe2505 S. 162nd St Phone: 1-262-784-4140New Berlin, WI 53151 Fax: 1-262-784-3130Date: 03/08/2010 Time:Shipping Method Notes:11:37.27PCs Inch Description Qty Unit Per Ext Delivery3 96.000 .025 x 24 5052 h-32 aluminum flat 16.70 24.35 PC 73.05 1 day sheetTotal: 73.05Any Questions , call - JJ KammersEnter Purchase Order # and fax to number listed in the footer of every pagePurchase Order # SignaturePlease Note:This is a combined QuoteQty's are approximate. Quote is valid for 10 days. Price and availability is subject to prior sale. 1 E-Mail: Speedy Metals LLC jj_k@speedymetals.com I think this is a very good price. It's for 3 pieces 96 inches X 24 in. .025 thick. I paid more for the aluminum I bought at the sheetmetal shop but there is shipping charge yet. Shouldn't be that bad though because they can roll this stuff up to ship it.519,991Ph: 262-784-4140 Fax: 262-784-3130Need to place order-- Edited by wiboater on Monday 8th of March 2010 05:47:23 PM |
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wiboater
Senior Member
Posts: 242
Date: Mar 8, 2010
| Finding wing materials |
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| I have bought metal from Speedymetals.com like the aluminum tube for making the spacers between the magnet disks. They have a live chat and I just asked them if they would cut and ship larger pieces of aluminum sheet than they list on their site. They said yes. So you can order 3 pieces of .025 24 X 96 or whatever size you want from them . They are going to email me a price for 3 pieces not counting shipping. they will ship but cost depends on your zip code. link to site is www.speedymetals.com They will match prices. You can just click on contact , use live chat or call to order size you want. It looks like the 6061 grade is the cheapest but they have that in .032 size which should be close enough. A 12 X24 piece is $6.20 so I'd imagine a 4 ft would be $24.8 and 8 ft would be $49.60 . I'm still waiting for the email quote though. will post it when I get it. -- Edited by wiboater on Monday 8th of March 2010 05:34:30 PM |
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keithturtle
Senior Member
Posts: 174
Date: Mar 8, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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d3lilley
Veteran Member
Posts: 49
Date: Mar 7, 2010
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vawtman
Senior Member
Posts: 251
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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I used aluminum trim coil for the skin on mine and comes in rolls 2'x50'.It took 24ft of the stuff for 1 wing.
It's available at most big box stores like Menards.White on one side and brown on the other so it's preprimed for any paint or leave alone.
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d3lilley
Veteran Member
Posts: 49
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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I am doing 24 in x 96 in. Would that be too thin?
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Caleb
Senior Member
Posts: 473
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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| d3lilley wrote:
How does this look? Its way more then I need but so far I can only find rolls that are 50 feet long. It is 24 inches by 50 feet and is .012 thick. Is that too thin?
Heres the link: http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/4462842
That's the stuff I've been working with. It seems rigid enough for smaller stuff (say 1/2m x 1m) if you give it a little shape.
- Bryan
Mechanical Engineer turned stay-at-home dad. |
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d3lilley
Veteran Member
Posts: 49
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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| How does this look? Its way more then I need but so far I can only find rolls that are 50 feet long. It is 24 inches by 50 feet and is .012 thick. Is that too thin? Heres the link: http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/4462842 |
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keithturtle
Senior Member
Posts: 174
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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Twenty thousandths steel will be plenty stout.
Polycarbonate might be a better choice than acrylic; stiffer per unit thickness and more UV resistant. Acrylic excells in heat-forming, but lacks rigidity in sheet form compared to PC
Heat bending polycarbonate is quite challenging, but possible
Turtle
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Project
Veteran Member
Posts: 97
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| Finding wing materials |
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| d3lilley wrote:
I never thought of the flashing, does it work well? What size thickness do you use for the flashing? Also, anyone have any links to places they bought their wing materials at?
d3lilley, Just measured my flashing, .02 in steel. Jerry -- Edited by Project on Sunday 7th of March 2010 05:19:05 AM |
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Project
Veteran Member
Posts: 97
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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What about this off the wall suggestion, .25 acrylic comes in 4 X 8 sheets. How about some clear acrylic blades.......... that would look pretty cool. You could bend it over a form with a couple people and heat guns. It holds shape very well. Probably not good for the birds.
Jerry
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d3lilley
Veteran Member
Posts: 49
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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| I never thought of the flashing, does it work well? What size thickness do you use for the flashing? Also, anyone have any links to places they bought their wing materials at? |
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Project
Veteran Member
Posts: 97
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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| wiboater wrote:
The flashing is pretty thin, I use .025 aluminum.
I have a 3 foot lenz up for more than a year, just to see how it would hold up with the flashing. No problems to date. I am finishing up a 2nd machine with 5 foot blades and I plan on using the flashing again. I will be adding extra ribs. Jerry |
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wiboater
Senior Member
Posts: 242
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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The flashing is pretty thin, I use .025 aluminum.
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Project
Veteran Member
Posts: 97
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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I use rolls of flashing, 2 feet wide is the max I have found, but lengths come in various sizes. Aluminum and steel available. Found in most "Home Depots" and "Menards" hardware stores.
Comes in various colors if your picky : )
Jerry
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keithturtle
Senior Member
Posts: 174
Date: Mar 7, 2010
| Finding wing materials |
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| Aluminum siding and trim sheet is usually 0.019" thick. Ed used 0.032" thick stuff in his Lenz 2, I think. I have a branch of these blokes nearby http://www.alro.com/If you have a largish metal jobber around, stop in the sales counter and ask to see the drops bin They'll have cut-offs, bent corner stuff, possible stained metal, even whole cutting jobs that were run off-spec. I just picked up two pieces of 0.035" aluminum sheet totaling ~50 square feet [and some other stuff as well] for less than 50 turtlebucks. Keep in mind that a drop is the waste from a cutting job, and the full sheet was billed out; that remainder is all profit to them, so you might get it cheap. Take mics or verniers and don't act stupid. Turtle -- Edited by keithturtle on Sunday 7th of March 2010 12:09:36 AM
Soli Deo Gloria |
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electrondady1
Senior Member
Posts: 430
Date: Mar 6, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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check out stores/contractors that do aluminum siding,
custom eavestrough , soffit and fascia that sort of thing
there aluminum comes in a roll
perhaps you could get a bargain on odd colors or a scratch and dent discount.
size the wings to take advantage of a common material dimensions.
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Caleb
Senior Member
Posts: 473
Date: Mar 6, 2010
| RE: Finding wing materials |
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I've been using aluminum flashing from the hardware store.
__________________
- Bryan
Mechanical Engineer turned stay-at-home dad. |
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wiboater
Senior Member
Posts: 242
Date: Mar 6, 2010
| Finding wing materials |
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I've been talking to d3lilley on private message about where to get aluminum for wings on a Lenz turbine. I get mine from a sheet metal shop. They sell by the square inch of ft. Does anyone else have suggestions where he can get something for the wings that isn't to expensive? He wants to build a 3 X 8 ft.
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