Windmills in the garden, made of plastic bottles, decorate almost every site. Such a modern representative of architecture looks pretty good. Especially in this kind of weather, when the breeze blows. Slowly swaying windmills relax attention. There is nothing difficult in making such toys. Affordable starting material (plastic bottle), scissors, a little desire - that's what you need to create a plastic windmill. It's amazing that this fun isn't just about visual interest. Summer residents have learned to make such windmills that scare away all kinds of birds and, importantly, moles. How to make a windmill from a plastic bottle? This and other questions should be answered below.
What is a wind turbine?
Maybe someone does not know this. But a wind turbine is a kind of structure that can convert wind energy into mechanical energy. Plastic turntables are beautiful accessories.
They are not capable of such feats, but their rotation can turn into relaxation energy. After all, sometimes it's so nice just to look at a beautiful windmill. Its rotating blades are soothing and relaxing. Therefore, every suburban area is simply obliged to acquire such a windmill.
Varieties of "turntables"
There are tons of ways to make a wind turbine. Large, small, oblong, short - all types cannot even be listed in one go. What's the difference? Yes, in general, none. The only difference is the kind of shape. The principle of operation and manufacture is almost the same. So, the first wind turbine from a plastic bottle. You can make a small turntable with your own hands.
It will consist of the bottom of the bottle. The second windmill will resemble the sun: large flat blades, bright colors. The third decoration is especially for gardeners. The remedy against moles and all kinds of birds is simply irreplaceable. Windmill-fighter - this is how you can dub a turntable that can drive away unwanted animals.
Step-by-step instructions: wind turbine from plastic bottles
A daunting task lies ahead. Not that the process of making a turntable would be that difficult. No, but no one has yet canceled meticulousness and accuracy.
Step-by-step instructions depend on the type of windmill, its size, shape, so each "propeller" will be slightly different both outside and during its manufacture.
Windmill from a plastic bottle - you can make beauty with your own hands
There is not even a drop of doubt that the above accessory adorns any site. Gray gardens are taking on completely new colors. The view is immediately transformed, naturally, for the better. So, first, a little theory. The case begins with the selection of a plastic bottle. For this type, you will need a container with a flat bottom. It is the bottom that will become the basis of the windmill.
The practice begins by cutting the bottle in half. The part where the neck is located can be thrown away. She is not needed. Carefully trim the remaining cut so that it is even. The most painstaking part is cutting the blades. The cylinder should be cut lengthwise. Thus, you get a kind of circle with rays. The distance between the blades should not exceed one and a half centimeters, but they should not be placed too close. The "rays" themselves should be about a centimeter wide. So, a small piece is almost ready. There is little left to do. The blades need to be bent at an angle of forty-five degrees. Thus, they will not look inward, but sideways, located behind each other. Now the blades are ready.
Final version
So the windmill from a plastic bottle is almost finished. It's not difficult to do something good with your own hands, right? But something is missing in this design. Souls. "Naked" plastic does not attract attention at all, does not decorate the garden. On the contrary, it evokes feelings of emptiness. What to do? We need to get down to design. Yes, only eccentricity can turn a plastic windmill into a beautiful accessory. It's probably worth starting with painting the blades.
Bright colors, sparkles, beads - all this will give the windmill freshness. On the blades, you can draw patterns, straight and curved lines so that when rotating, some kind of silhouette will be formed. Also, do not forget about the foundation. A simple stick? It's too boring. A magic staff, a small tree, a liana - you can think of anything you want. The main thing is to move away from the template.
Wind turbine rocket
"Turntables" can be located anywhere, and the playground is no exception to the rule. Children love everything that is festive and unusual, so the "gray" windmills will not attract attention. What design and shape to come up with for children? Everyone in their youth wanted to become an astronaut. It's interesting and funny. Most of all, rockets are attracted to this topic. Here's the idea. Rotary rocket. Yes, the plan is not bad. That's just how to make such a windmill from plastic, because it is many times more pleasant to see on the site. After all, the soul is invested in them. The rocket wind turbine will be located non-standard: horizontally. You will need one plastic bottle to make. The blades will be located at the back. How? The bottom of the bottle is represented by an unusual shape. Namely, with four petals. If you use your ingenuity, then small rounded blades can be cut out of them. The nose should be solemnly painted in a bright color. Now you're done. It remains to plant the rocket on the axis, and it is ready to rotate and conquer space.
Country prototype
What else can a wind turbine from a plastic bottle be? You can make a pest repeller with your own hands. More precisely, summer residents have long learned to make a windmill from plastic bottles from moles. The design is simple: blades are cut out on the sides and the bottle is placed on a metal pin. It is he who makes a sound that scares away moles.
With the onset of summer, many gardeners notice bumps from the ground in their beds. Their presence suggests that a mole has chosen the site. This animal is dangerous in that it eats root crops, violates the root system of plants. To save your crops, keep crops from dying, explore popular ways to make noisy turntables.
How to make a do-it-yourself mole repeller from plastic bottles
Keep in mind that a mammal is blind, but its hearing and sense of smell are impeccable. For this reason, it is important that the plastic bottle mole repeller generates noise and vibration. This effect is achieved due to the blowing of the wind, which sets the device in motion: the blades spin, transmitting sound waves downward: a resonance is created inside the earth that scares off moles. Remember that to protect 6 acres, you need to place about 3-4 small windmills.
The device is made from simple and affordable materials. The design can be of different sizes. A windmill for the garden is created using:
- two plastic bottles with a volume of 1.5 liters (use plastic of different colors or paint it in advance with acrylic paints from spray cans);
- durable scissors;
- sewed;
- pliers;
- clerical or construction knife;
- strong but easily bendable metal wire;
- four multi-colored plastic bottle caps;
- large beads.
Decide in advance on the size of the structure to scare away the mole. Before making a large turntable, additionally acquire:
- a high wooden pole;
- round metal pin;
- a small wooden block;
- multi-colored or transparent plastic liter bottles - you need 4 pieces;
- two washers.
Step-by-step instructions for making a turntable
Explore the most popular way to make a mole spinner from a plastic bottle. The main stages of creating crafts are as follows:
- Cut the bottles in half: use a construction or office knife, be extremely careful when doing the job. Use the top of the containers for the windmill.
- Using scissors on the halves of the containers, cut out the blades of the same size.
- Carefully bend the cut blades at the base at an angle of 45 degrees, slightly smooth out the bent elements.
- Use an awl to make holes in the center of the wings and cover.
- The bead is strung on a wire.
- The metal wire is threaded through the lid, the windmill, the second lid, the bead, the third lid, another blank, the fourth lid, the final bead.
- At the end, make a bend with pliers to secure the elements strung onto the wire.
Remember that the more details and blades the turntable has, the louder its sound from the wind, the more effective its appearance. If you decide to create a large mole repeller, then follow these instructions:
- Take a wooden block, make a hole in it: its diameter should be slightly larger than the diameter of the installation rod.
- Fix the covers on the four sides of the bar using glue or galvanized fasteners.
- Cut out oval windows on each side of the plastic containers.
- Screw the containers with the holes made to the fixed lids: as a result, the slots should "look" to the sides, and not up.
- Fix the structure made on the pin, fix it on different sides with metal washers, cover the top of the pin with a plug.
If it is not possible to use several containers, then you can limit yourself to one. For work you will need:
- plastic bottle with a volume of 1.5-2 liters;
- metal pin;
- part of the water pipe;
- construction or office knife.
The scheme for making a turntable is very simple. Do the following:
- Find the place where the mole passed, install a part of the water pipe below the detected path.
- Take the pin, place it in the installed pipe, fix the part with a plug or using a metal plate and self-tapping screws (tighten them until the caps fit snugly against the plates).
- Make a hole at the bottom of the container: its diameter should be larger than that of the pin.
- On the walls of the container, draw the letters "P" tilted to the side.
- Cut out the blades according to the markings, bend them.
- Put the made of plastic propeller on the pin: it should go up to the neck, screw on the cap.
A weather vane is a special device used to measure the strength and direction of the wind. It has long since migrated from meteorological laboratories, where more accurate electronic devices have appeared, on the roofs of houses, becoming a successful and useful element of decor. Windmills in the form of exotic animals or birds with moving parts set in motion by a gentle breeze look elegant and always attract attention. Complex forged products are easier to buy or order from an experienced craftsman, and we will tell you how, if you have a creative approach and a plastic bottle with your own hands with a propeller.
The weather vane was originally considered a purely meteorological instrument, with the help of which scientists observed the speed and direction of air currents. But people, who noticed the useful properties of this simple device, began to make with their own hands from improvised means and install wind turbines on the roofs of houses. Over the years, the weather vane has not changed its design, which consists of the following elements:
- Housings. The body is called the part into which the axis of rotation of the windmill is placed. It can be cylindrical or rectangular. For steel models, a piece of pipe is used as a housing, into which a bearing is inserted. For homemade wind turbines, the body is made of a wooden block.
- Cap. The cap is a funnel-shaped or round piece that fits over the pivot shaft to protect the body from moisture penetration. In addition, it acts as a limiter, fixing the axis of the weather vane at the required height.
- Axis of rotation. This is an indispensable element of the design of the windmill, on which the weather vane is put on. It is inserted into the body and rotates the weather vane due to the impact of wind gusts on the weather vane. The axis can be made with your own hands from metal rods, wire, sticks or even a nail.
- Wind rose. This term is called a device for determining the cardinal points. It consists of two, cross-linked sticks or pipe segments, each of which points to a certain direction (gray, south, west-east). When the wind sets the weather vane in motion, the arrow points to one of the cardinal points, which helps to determine the direction of the gust.
- Weathervane. A wind vane is called a rotating element of a windmill, which indicates the direction of the wind. It consists of an arrow and a counterweight and is fixed on the axis of rotation. A weather vane can be made in the form of a simple pointer, an animal, a bird, or a whole plot. It is made of galvanized steel, copper, wood, and the easiest way to make a weather vane from a plastic bottle with your own hands.
Note! Some models determine not only the direction of the wind, but also the strength of the gusts. For this, the weather vane is equipped with a hanging piece on a rope and a special scale. The suspension can be made from a metal plate or a piece of wood. This element is fixed to the weather vane. The force of the blowing wind is determined by the deviation from the vertical position using the scale.
Making from bottles
If you do not want to spend money on an expensive metal windmill, you can make it yourself from improvised materials, for example, from plastic bottles, which accumulate in a country house a lot. You can turn this activity into a fun workshop for children or enjoy the creative process on your own. To make a weather vane in the form of an airplane with a propeller, you will need 2 large bottles with lids, a wooden block, a long nail, wire, cardboard, a marker and a sharp stationery knife. The work is done in the following order:
Important! During the manufacture of the weather vane, make sure that all materials used are light and moisture resistant. A heavy wind turbine will not spin well in a weak wind, and a cardboard craft will quickly get wet in the rain. If you want the weather vane to accurately show the wind direction, it must be fixed at a height of at least 4-5 meters.
Windmill functions
A weather vane is an invariable attribute of seaside towns and villages, where the winds blow constantly, and knowledge of the direction of air movement is not useless information, but a means of survival. Sailors, fishermen and other people whose lives are closely connected with the sea install wind turbines to know if there will be a storm. A properly made and installed weather vane performs the following functions:
- Helps to determine the direction and strength of air currents. This information is useful for going out to sea, for performing some agricultural work (sowing, treatment with fungicides and other chemicals). Helps to keep nature observation diaries.
- It is a striking decorative element that distinguishes the house from its neighbors. The weather vane complements the architectural image of the home, making it certified and showcasing the individual style of the homeowner. Models with moving details, depicting plot paintings, immediately attract attention, and hand-made windmills from bottles or plywood speak of the owner's creativity.
- Rotating parts and the sound produced by the weather vane will scare birds away. Some bird species are malicious pests that destroy the harvest of fruits or berries in a matter of hours. A weather vane made of plastic bottles or sheet metal, rotating, scares away uninvited feathered guests with the help of noise and brilliance.
- A windmill can serve as a signboard, symbolize the occupation of the owner of the structure. For example, shoemakers often installed a weather vane in the form of a boot, millers in the form of a mill, and a hairdresser could make a vane in the form of scissors.
Interesting! In the old days, the weather vane was considered a powerful amulet that protected from the evil eye, evil spirits. Rotating parts, noise were supposed to confuse and scare away all hostile forces from the home. Even if superstition is alien to you, a beautiful weather vane can become a kind of talisman or family name.
Video instruction
You will need:
-2 plastic bottles
-4 plastic bottle caps
-3 large wooden beads
-Pliers or wire cutters
-Scissors
-Metal wire
-Painting knife
Making a windmill from plastic bottles with your own hands
1. Cut the bottle into 2 parts with a painting knife.
2. Cut the bottle in half with scissors and start cutting the "blades" of the windmill
3. Begin to bend the petals at an angle of about 45 degrees. You can bend the petals-"blades" not only at the base of the bottle, but also in the middle.
4. After that, carefully, taking care not to damage the blades of the windmill, smooth them out.
5. Make a hole in the middle of the fenders and cover
6. Paint the blanks (bottle caps and cut out blades) of the wind turbine. Spray paint works best for this. Then you can paint the bottle in several colors.
8. Using a glue gun, glue the bottle caps to the bottom of the prepared blades.
9. In the bead, if necessary, enlarge the hole with a drill.
10. Bend the end of the wire and slide it over the bead.
11. Put on it a blank windmill, a bead and another blank and a bead
12. Bend the end of the wire and cut off the excess with wire cutters.
13. Connect to the metal post with a clamp.
What is it needed for low-power wind turbine? The answer is to provide yourself with a certain amount of energy: for lighting in autonomous conditions (on a hike, on a picnic, on an expedition, in the country), for powering and charging portable electronics (phone, tablet, navigator, flashlights, radio, etc.) , even in the US Army they use a marching mobile wind generator... So homemade portable wind turbine It is also useful as a backup power source in a settlement, for example, if it is installed on a balcony, roof or pole or even a tree, it can also power sensors and other low-voltage devices without mains voltage, and also serve as an advertising structure (kinematic sculpture ). It is also possible to check the wind possibility of installing a powerful wind generator (if a small wind turbine does not work, then there is nothing to say about a big one).
You can make a carousel wind turbine from several regular PET bottles of 1-1.5-2 liters. A lot of affordable and simple options were sorted through, and a wind turbine from plastic bottles turned out to be the most affordable, simple and reliable option: the bottles are light and strong, have a round shape, there are many of them and they are almost free. The development is based on the author's patent UA №59312 "Wind generator (wind turbine), Moseichuk hydrogenerator".
There is wind almost always and everywhere (especially at a height or in the intervals between buildings or hills), and complete calm occurs only about 20 days a year, in contrast to sunny days, for example. In addition, we will make a universal wind generator that can work both as a damless mini hydroelectric power plant (mini HPP) and even in manual mode in the absence of wind (for this, our wind turbine has a manual dynamo generator mode)! Attractive? We read on.
Materials we need
Steel thin-walled (wall thickness 0.8-1.1 mm) pipe with an outer diameter of 25 mm: 2 sections of 0.5 meters (for the axis of the windmill and the base of the console), 2 sections of 0.4-0.5 m each (for connecting axles and bases of the console top and bottom), one piece of 0.15 cm for attaching the generator to the lower console, in general, you need about 3.0 meters of pipe (they are just sold for 3 meters). For the prototype, I used a thin-walled chrome pipe with a wall thickness of 1.0-1.1 mm, its strength is enough for a household wind turbine, and it looks beautiful;
16 PET plastic bottles 1.25-1.5 liters, preferably cylindrical in shape, without concavities for the hands (interestingly, recycling one plastic bottle saves the energy of a 60-watt electric light bulb that works for three hours and up to 2 million are thrown out in the world every day plastic bottles).
16 plastic PET bottle caps;
2 bearings No. 205 (GOST 180205, 6205-2RS);
2 clamps 6 \ 4 "for pipes with rubber for fastening axle bearings with studs 8 mm;
2 clamps 3 \ 4 "for pipes with rubber for attaching the wind turbine to a pole, tree, wall, mast, to ensure fastening, you can simply tie the wind turbine console along its entire length to the support with a rope or wire;
1 clamp 3 1 \ 2 "for mounting a dynamo-flashlight or stepper motor;
9 screws М4 * 35, preferably with a press-washer head;
16 enlarged M5 washers (namely M5, not M4 to increase the area) for attaching the plug caps to the axis;
Rubber tube 10 cm long and 25 mm inner diameter for attaching the dynamo generator handle and axle, or a sleeve in a 25 mm tube with an 8-10 mm hole for mounting a stepper motor.
The tools we need
Electric drill;
Pipe cutter or hacksaw for metal;
Drills for metal 4.0; 8.0 mm
Phillips screwdriver;
Preferably a wrench 7 for tightening the M4 nuts.
The basis of the entire structure of the wind turbine is a rectangular console made of steel pipes. The console consists of a vertical axis rotating on bearings, two crossbars at the top and bottom, and a base. The axle is fixed in the bridges by bearings. The generator is located on the bottom of the axis.
The difficulty in making the axle is that you need to drill holes for attaching the bottles along two parallel spirals, like in a DNA molecule. Since the holes on the pipe are of small diameter, we first mark the place of drilling with a marker, and then we nibble it.
Let's start with one of the most difficult procedures. We retreat 10 cm from the top of the axis and begin to drill through holes 4 mm in a spiral with an offset to the left horizontally by 2.5 mm vertically by 82 mm. Then we drill the holes of the second spiral 90 degrees from the first.
To fasten the safety bolt of the bearings, we move 10 cm from the bottom of the axle and drill a through hole of 4 mm.
To secure the bottles, you first need to attach the caps. Pre-drill (burn) holes of 4 mm in the plugs. To fasten the plugs in pairs to the axis, we take a 4 mm screw, put a wide washer on it, insert this structure into the plug from the inside, push everything through the pipe. On the other side of the pipe, we put the plug on top of the pipe, put on the washer and tighten it with a nut inside the plug. And so we repeat 8 times.
We screw tightly into each cork on the axis along the bottle-blade.
Blades
Windmill blade made of plastic bottles and is a PET bottle with an elliptical half-cut on the side. We get such a wind turbine blade. We do not touch the bottom - it is necessary for strength. To start cutting, it is advisable to burn through the initial hole on the seam of the bottle with a hot nail or file, and then cut a semicircle from it with scissors.
Generator
As wind turbine generator you need to use something slow. It can be a 1, 2, 5-10 watt stepper motor, a bicycle hub dynamo or a flashlight dynamo. I chose the last option - it fits very well: it has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 6 cm, convenient for clamping with a clamp and unfolds, is waterproof, has a built-in controller and a 380 milliampere * hour battery, can shine in two modes for 1.5 or 5.5 hours , in a stable wind or in manual mode, it can recharge external devices via a Nokia-type output (wide, 2.5 mm) or a Nokia cable with a USB-male, which can be used with a USB-female-USB-female adapter.
We insert the handle of the dynamo flashlight into the bottom of the rubber tube at the bottom of the axis. We center and fix the generator in a clamp, which in turn is cantilevered to the lower pipe of the large console.