YOUR OWN WATER-POWER PLANT
(Page 5 of 8)
Power Increases with Width
RELATED CONTENT
Although of simple construction, an overshot wheel is
cumbersome in size. For this reason, before attempting to
build one be certain you have the facilities to move and
lift it into place when completed. Also allow yourself
plenty of working floor space. It must be understood, too,
that such a wheel is a sizeable project and requires a lot
of material and time. Extreme care in cutting and
assembling the parts is not essential, however, because the
wheel, operating at slow speed, need not be accurately
balanced.
Accompanying this article are drawings that illustrate the
construction of a small wheel suitable for a water head of
6' 3". The wheel itself has a diameter of 5', leaving a
flume head of 15" to propel the water into the buckets. As
shown in the table at the bottom of page 31, you may build
the wheel to give a power output ranging from 1/2 hp. to 1
hp. at 10 r.p.m. All dimensions remain the same except the
width, the horsepower increasing as this is increased. For
1/2 hp., the wheel should be 15-31/32" wide. For 1 hp., it
should be 31-29/32". Before deciding on the wheel size,
you'll want to make a survey of the power available in the
stream (PSM, April and May '47).
Virtually all large wheels are built with wood or steel
arms, as in the drawing below, and have a shroud plate only
around the outer edge, but you may find it simpler and more
satisfactory to build the drum-type wheel described here.
In this case, each shroud plate is a disk of 1/8" sheet
steel. Each disk is braced by a 1/8" sheet steel sole plate
to which it is continuously welded, by the buckets, by one
of the two large diameter 1/4" steel hub flanges to which
it also is continuously welded, and by the long hub itself.
Large Sheet Required
If preferred, the shroud plates may be made of wood. If so,
care should be taken to bolt them securely to the hub
flanges. Bushings pressed into the wood for the bolts will
give the wheel a longer life expectancy.
Sheet steel for the disks may be ordered direct from
several large steel companies in case your local supply
house is unable to furnish it. Ordinarily, such steel comes
in standard 48" widths, so you may have to weld together
two or more sheets to get the required 5' diameter, using
either a butt weld or a backing plate. This will produce
some distortion or ripple, as will the welding on of the
numerous clips required. So long as distortion is local,
however, and the main lines of wheel and shaft remain true,
this will do no harm.
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