Making wind generator blades is a great way to save money on the first wind generator that you build. My recommendation to everyone is start out with a pair of homemade blades and than when your wind generator has saved you a bunch of money move up to a good set of fiberglass blades. Lets take a look at how to build wind generator blades.

Wind generator blades can be made out of wood or PVC. I don't recommend building any wind generator blades out of wood for several reasons. The first reason is that no matter how well you coat the blades with water protectant one of them is bound to get a little chip in it. It may be big enough for you to see, but most of the time you'll be hard pressed to find it. Once this crack forms the wood will start absorbing moisture which is going to make it heavier than the other blades. This will lead to unbalanced blades that are going to wobble quite a bit. If it's not caught in time the unbalance can completely break the blade off (they move fast and they're heavy so serious injury could result). Wooden blades are time consuming to make and it's quite complicated (you need airfoil shapes etc.). I prefer to use PVC as the blades can be built and balanced in an afternoon and they perform quite well for what they cost.

To make all three blades all you need is one piece of 4" or 6" PVC pipe that's less than 4' long. For blades that are less than 30" long you can use 4" diameter PVC, but if your blades are between 30" and 48" you'll need to use the stronger 6" PVC pipe. I don't recommend building wind generator blades longer than 48" long as the PVC starts flexing quite a bit. An 8 foot diameter wind generator will still produce plenty of power though so you can save up for a good set of windmax blades.

What you need to do is mark a centerline down the pipe, but don't cut it! The blades are actually offset from this centerline because they catch the wind better (which means more energy produced). The blades taper from about 5" at the base to 2 3/4" at the tip. When you've marked out where to cut it will look like you're cutting a very weird shape, but don't worry that's how it's supposed to look.

Cutting the blades is only the first part of making wind generator blades. You also need to sand all of the edges down so that they're smooth. You'll notice a marked difference by doing this.

Before we can balance the blades you also need to put a couple coats of UV protective paint on them. PVC becomes brittle when it's exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. By putting two coats of UV paint on them they'll stay nice and strong for as long as you use them. Any paint will work as long as it says "UV Protected" on it. If you're not sure just ask somebody in the hardware store. Tell them you're looking for paint with UV protectant in it.

Now all you need to do is balance the blades. To do this all you need to do is mount them on your hub and put your hub on something that turns easily (piece of steel rod with some pillow block bearings works good. Simply give the blades a good spin and mark down which one ends up on the bottom (number the blades). After a couple turns one blades will appear on the bottom more than the others. Simply trim a little bit of the end of the blade off and repeat. It doesn't take too long and balanced blades are a lot safer than unbalanced ones (remember the unbalanced wood blades?).

That's pretty much all there is to making wind generator blades. It can be done in an afternoon and they'll last you quite a long time (plus they look pretty good too). If you're interested in learning how to build a wind generator just click the link at the right that says 'Become a Member' or join our newsletter.

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