More on 'Barrel Turbine' - Elora Sculpture Project

So here is the progress so far:

Original Concept    /   'Barrel' Construction

By Sunday (yesterday) I had the exterior / major form completed:

Barrel with Turbine

This is a side view, the complete height is about 6 1/2 feet tall.
There are two more of the 10 inch wide solid 'staves' that complete the barrel form. These are held in place with pin remove hinges, so to allow for access into the interior. (If you look close on the left of the image, you can see the gap where one has yet to be installed.)

When compared with the original concept, you can see I have made a few design changes - primarily to the turbine:
- The individual blades have the centres cut out. This to (hopefully) improve the performance.
- The individual shapes, although identical, alternate 'one up - one down'. This to provide a (slightly?) more interesting visual.
Mechanically, I solved the overlapping problems of weight / strength / fabrication by using light weight 20 gauge stainless steel rivetted to short lengths of mid steel flat stock. Those in turn are welded to a central core of steel pipe, which fit down the central shaft.

The shaft is made of 5/8 diameter threaded rod. The combined weight sits on a roller bearing on the bottom plate. A second bearing is installed at the top plate to reduce friction there.

If there is a 'problem' with this design, it is that each individual part of the mechanism that is attached to the central shaft has to be threaded down over some long part of that shaft. Screwing down the top turbine (about 2 1/2 feet total) took me * 45 mintues * of threading by hand !!

Next - converting all my concepts about moving / sounding 'mechanism' and attempting to construct and install each.

Deadline for Competion - FRIDAY

(stay tuned)