Wind vane

thingiverse

Edit March 8th: I've added a curved blade for a unique look. This is my project for a wind vane designed to provide better performance than the small pinwheel my daughter used to have on the balcony, which broke after just a few weeks due to its flimsy all-plastic design. Here's the result: The max diameter of this wind vane measures 49 cm and its length is 55 cm. All components are printed in PLA plastic and optimized for maximum use of my printer bed's 200 x 200 mm size. Only bolts and bearings were included to ensure strength and durability. Here are the specifications: Main axle + vertical axle 2 - 100mm long x 8mm thick, with a hexagonal head and 4-5 nuts Blades 8 - 30mm long x 4mm thick, with a hexagonal head and 8 nuts each Rear cone + main body 4 - 30mm long x 3mm thick, with a round head and 4 nuts each Tail 2 - 15mm long x 3mm thick, with a round head and 2 nuts each 1 - 10mm long x 3mm thick, with a round head and 1 nut I used bearings labeled ZZ809 from an old set of inline skate components for added stability. There are 4 bearings in total: 2 to support the propeller and 2 for smooth horizontal rotation. The bearings have the following dimensions: - External diameter: 22mm - Internal diameter: 8mm - Thickness: 7.2mm Each blade measures 236mm long, the maximum printable length at a 45-degree angle on my printer bed's 200x200 mm surface area. To make it easier to print and reduce its size, I included an additional shorter blade measuring 205mm long. After rigorous testing for several months under various wind conditions, this design has proven reliable even in extreme situations. Despite the large tail appearing daunting, it's actually a carefully engineered feature that provides necessary stability when exposed to gusts and turbulence on balconies. Thanks and best of luck with your prints! Print Settings Rafts: Don't worry about it. Supports: Don't worry about it. Notes: You can skip using supports entirely; where needed, I've already integrated them into the design. To ensure optimal performance, I use a standard filling rate of 30%, adjusting it to 50% for the main body and 25% for the blades. Three perimeter walls are always used. My printer nozzle is set to 0.5mm thickness with 0.4mm layer height (blades at 0.3mm).