Bill Stock wrote:
"Mark and Kim Smith" wrote in message
...
I built mine out of my old redwood fence. I used the pieces the the bugs
didn't eat. No plans, either. Just picked a size and made it!!
http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond118.jpg
http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond119.jpg
http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond120.jpg
Mo http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond6.htm
Very nice, your spoke/hub design looks a lot like the plans I just bought.
What are the angles on the joints for the rim boards, 135°? What did you use
for bearings? Does the weight present a problem, since you don't have an
outside post? I don't plan an outside post either, but my wheel will be
considerably smaller.
My 'pump house' will be smaller than yours, just big enough to hold a couple
of barrels for the filter. My space is somewhat limited. Does the full flow
of the filter go over the wheel or is some it directed around the wheel? I
plan on about 2000 gph of flow, which will be too much for a small wheel. So
I will need to divert some of it back into the pond.
I don't remember the angles. I calculated them some time ago and the
papers are buried somewhere in my archives.
I did biscuit and glue them. They are also held together by the screws
on each spoke. Hmmm, 8 joints into 360 = 45 degrees. That sound about
right?? I biscuited and glued two pieces for each section, attached
each section to another with biscuits and glue, attached the spokes
temporarily, marked center then made a jig to cut the outer diameter
with my bandsaw. Marked the orientation of the spokes, removed them,
measured the height I wanted the side wall to be, then used a jigsaw to
cut the inside diameter. Reattached the spokes. Installed the paddles
with screws. Installed the bucket bottoms with screws. Since there
were so many slats for the bucket bottoms, I don't think I calculated
the angle. I took a couple of samples and fudged the angle on my table
saw. Just got 'em close enough. Figured the water would make them
swell and it didn't hurt to have a little water dripping through.
Turned out I was right.
For bearings, I got some pillow block bearings from McMaster. I used a
1 1/4" steel rod for the shaft. It is about 7' long. It's weight is a
bit of a counter balance for the wheel. The wheel is about 12" wide, so
the first bearing is about 18" from the outside of the wheel. The other
bearing is about 6' from the outside of the wheel. The wheel is held to
the shaft with some 1 1/4" I.D. collars that I also got from McMaster.
Weight is not an issue.
Looks can be deceiving!! The wheel house is only 6' tall. It's foot
print is 6' x 6'. The footings are 6' by 4' and some change. The wheel
itself is only 4' tall. The house is just big enough to fit two barrel
filters, some valving and some lighting timers.
My 2000 gph pump actually deposits the water, through the filters, into
the sluice. It runs 24/7. When I need to top off the pond, I turn on
a remote valve which runs water over the wheel. I'm sure, if you want
to, you could valve a portion of your water over your wheel. The only
way I could have done that was pre-filter, off of the pressure side. I
didn't want to do that. Only a very small trickle is needed to get the
water wheel effect going. My pond page 5 shows a lot of this
construction. In fact, if you look in this pic:
http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond102.jpg You can see where the 2" outputs
from the filter pour into the sluice. Way before the wheel was built.