My most recent wind turbine plans are dated 2014, and I don’t really make enough sales to justify updating them now but the list of UK suppliers at the back of my Recipe Book is out of date for sure. Often the best supplier will be a local one, but I will offer a list of suppliers below in case this is useful.
Magnets
Neodymium Blocks 46mm x 30mm x 10mm thick from Spider Magnetics These are grade N35 which is not particularly strong, but it is hard to find this size neo magnet these days. Powermagnetstore have N40 which is better for keeping the rpm down, but the cost is somewhat higher. You can get N42 from First4magnets but the cost is almost double the cost of the N35 ones. Thanks to Adriaan for pointing out Enesmagnets in Poland who can offer 50 x 25 x 12 magnets in N38 which should work well with the Recipes.
Ferrite Magnet 50 x 50 x 20mm thick (C8 Grade 3) as used in my 2F turbines
First4magnets have them.
Ferrite Magnets 75x50x20 Y30 as used in my larger 3F, 4F etc
Magnethandel in Germany have these.
First 4 Magnets have 75x50x20 blocks
Enes also have 75 X 50 X 20 / F30 – Ferrite Magnet
Winding wire
I buy my winding wire in 20kg reels from EC wire.
For smaller deals, here is an ebay supplier I found quite easily.
Resins, Vinyl Ester, Epoxy etc
East Coast Fibreglass
Polyfibre
These suppliers also offer the glass cloth you need for reinforcing the resin castings
Steel disks
Find a local workshop that offers profile cutting services. Bear in mind that it will be much cheaper to buy a larger batch if possible (shared with friends?). I like to get them sent to be galvanized on their way to me. Another option is to get them powder coated but I don’t find this lasts so long in my maritime environment. It is possible to cut your own disks using a grinder (a big polygon works OK). Harder to get a precise result this way.
Trailer hubs
There are several online suppliers.
Trailertek offer stub axles and hubs for small turbines around 2m diameter
(beware of the seal behind the bearings which will not last due to thrust of the wind, so safer to remove this seal)
and also some nice solutions for bigger machines at low cost.
I have also used AutoW for hubs and they offer cheap options.
Towsure are a good option too.
You may wish to replace the bearings with decent ones such as SKF or other major brands.
I hope this helps. If anyone needs further advice please contact me at [email protected]
