20$ Tornado(vortex) Generator

thingiverse

About a month ago, I was halfway through my peanut butter toast when my wife mentioned to me that our older son had chosen his subject for his third-grade presentation: a tornado! That's awesome - I'm always up for something cool like that. So, I started searching for some kick-ass ideas to spice up his presentation. I found a pretty cool tornado vase online and decided to print it out on my 3D printer. As the print was finishing up, I was already thinking about how I could make it even better. But then I realized that the design was a bit too passive-looking. So, I went back to my childhood memories of playing with bottle and tornado couplers. I remembered having so much fun creating mini-tornadoes in a jar, and I thought, "Why not create something like that for my son's presentation?" I started searching online for a similar design and found one that I could print out on another printer. The bad news was that we didn't have any 2L bottles at home to use as the container. But I was determined to make it work. I asked my wife to pick up some 2L bottles filled with liquid from the store, and she agreed. As I was working on the project, I couldn't stop thinking about how to improve it. Even traffic jams became an opportunity for me to daydream about this project. When I finally got home from work, I sat down at my computer and started brainstorming ideas. I wanted to create a kit that would make the tornado effect look even more realistic. So, I searched online for motorized designs that could blow air into the bottle and create the tornado effect. But I couldn't find anything that fit my needs exactly. That's when I decided to fire up my CAD software (FreeCAD) and start designing something from scratch. My goal was to make it as affordable as possible, so I kept an eye on the cost of materials. I ended up using a 5-10$ ultrasonic mist generator, a 50-60mm 24v centrifugal computer fan, and a cheap standard on-off rocker switch. But when my 24v fan and PWM pot didn't arrive in time, I had to get creative with the design. I used an LM317 voltage regulator, some resistors, and a potentiometer to create a makeshift wind speed controller. The design was built with a 150x150mm delta printer in mind, so it should be printable on most 3D printers. And although this is just the first release of the project, I'm excited to share my progress with you. After countless hours of printing and prototyping, I finally got the design working as intended. It looks amazing, even if the photos don't quite do it justice. The LED lights up a droplet of water, creating a mesmerizing effect that's hard to capture on camera. But when my kid showed off his presentation at school, I had to keep it under wraps until he was finished. I mean, can you imagine if another kid in the classroom showed up with a similar tornado generator? It would be a nightmare! The hardest part of this project, though, was convincing the teacher that my son designed it all by himself. Just kidding - it was worth it to see his face light up when he saw the finished product. Overall, I hope you find this project useful, and if you're looking for a unique room humidifier, this might just be the thing for you!