Wind driven prayer wheel

thingiverse

https://youtu.be/MhUgPj4w9BQ 8-7-2015 I Successfully Overcame Challenges with My Old Prusa i3 Printer. I Used Hot Glue Patches to Fix Prints That Came Out Wrong. Anyway, The First One Works Now. http://youtu.be/7GZfT1uJq5W In Tibet and Nepal, You Can See Holy People Spinning Wheels Similar to This. The Theory Is That With Every Rotation, Prayers of Compassion Written on the Side Will Be Sent Out to the World. Some Prayer Wheels Are Situated Over a Stream and Driven by Water. This Design Is Based on an Efficient Darrieus Wind Turbine from 1931. I Used a Standard 60-Degree Helical Swirl for Stability. The Blade Has a Profile Plotted Around Its Circumference, Rather Than Being Symmetrical. This Non-Symmetrical Blade Profile Gives More Efficiency and Easier Self-Starts. I Wanted a Design That Would Spin in the Lightest Wind with Minimal Resistance. I Tried Various Planetary Gear Mechanisms But They Had Too Much Friction. The Only Way I Could Get the Blades to Spin in Low Wind Was with a Simple Spacer Between the Wheel and the Blade Holding Mechanism. This Allows for Power Transfer Through a Small Amount of Friction, Enabling Continued Rotation After the Wind Dies. In Higher Wind Conditions, You Can Switch the Disk Under the Wheel to Increase Friction. The Wheel and Wind Turbine Use Four R4ZZ Bearings for Smooth Spin. Traditional Prayer Wheels Have Rolled-Up Prayers Inserted Into Them When Made. This Design Has Two Hollow Capsules in the Wheel. You Can Pause the Print, Insert Your Prayers, and Continue Printing to Seal the Prayers Forever. The Dalai Lama Says Electric Prayer Wheels Only Benefit the Electric Company.