Check out the comparisons. We try to deliver the LOWEST cost per AMP of any gen on the market, and a fine, quiet, powerful blade based on a NASA 0417 and NACA 4418 design. Our feedback shows we try hard to deliver fine art and every blade is custom carved to YOUR wind specifications.

The process after ordering takes time. It used to take 1-3 months. We have new crew/pros doing our blades now and it is usually 1-3 weeks, however weather does affect coating times as moisture causes pinholes, so long stretches of rain means our coating racks are down. If you are in a hurry and need it rushed, we will send your blade 'as-is'.

Please be patient as we are the ONLY firm that will custom carve airfoils to specific local wind conditions free of charge.

Here is the overview:

1. The Monday your payment appears on the report, your stock is included with that week's purchase. If it's a clear coat douglas fir blade they USUALLY have it in stock, if not you lost a week.

2. By the end of that week, your blade is usually carved with the batch. If it's a large batch, it's carved generally by the following Tuesday.

   Days are about the same day-in-day-out:

   • 6 to 7am: climb the mast, check the rig, swab the deck, vacuum the cockpit/bench area, pull blades out for morning shoots.

   • 7 to 9am: prep-sand and shoot any clear coats, LPUs that have no major sanding problems and custom airbrushed artwork.

   • 9 to 11am: get hubs, bolts, paint, paper, materials, new bits, whatever is needed for that day, ship CDs, blades, order gens, and get coffee or juice and hunt down Jerry, the NASA gent if he's around; he gets up at 3am so he's hard to find sometimes.

   • 11 to 3pm: have a blade a day rough cut by noon. Shape, cut or sand others as the day progresses, depending on orders, available materials, rack space etc., and sand any problems that came from the paint racks and were skipped that morning.

   • 3 to 5pm: racks are free as morning blades can be handled, swap problem blades onto racks, shoot and...

   • 5 to 6pm: get in another clear coat shoot if possible, start to clean up, bring blades in, sweep chips.

   • 6 to 10pm, dinner, emails, rough cut 1/2 a blade by hand (Organic Blades at our website-no fossil fuel used in production), and use the wood chips for the fire.

   • 10 to zzam: Draw mermaids, yacht and marine artwork, sketch/pencil any artwork to be painted on blades, more emails, make webpages like this.

   • Saturdays, bury Tom's 65 foot 1910 yawl to the rails in 25 knots of wind, set up new tooling, try to get a shoot on blades that are late.

   • Sundays, go to the jazz gig/firepits at the Brewery 'round 4; on the harbor, overlooking my boat or ...

     ...spend the weekend just cutting a few more blades and use the scrap for a BBQ, or ...

     ...we run a Free PCs for Kids program (since 1983) and take computers to barrios, ghettos, shelters, foster homes etc. and do free labs where they get to keep the PC they build. Check out eduhosting.org for more info.

3. The second week the batch is shaped with a belt sander, cheese grater and draw blade. Our blades are custom cut and balanced at each step.

4. The next week the batch is rough sanded, then smooth sanded, ready for coating.

5. The next week the clear coats start. Even the LPU yacht paint blades get this coating. We used to use an somewhat expensive oil based primer ($20 a gallon), but were adviced that the clear coat has a better bite, better UV resistance, better sanding (the primer clumped up) and as a marine grade spar coating at $65 a gallon, customers are getting a better overall durable finish.

6. Clear coats can take 1-2 weeks, bringing the total duration to 3 (small batches) to 5 or even 6 weeks. LPUs take longer as the yacht paint requires 24-48 hours PER SIDE and we put on 4-7 coats, plus divide colors into white, black, red, blue etc., and each of those has to be masked and shot seperatly. It's a long process. The longest wait on record so far is 2 months for a rainbow blade and 1.5 months for a flag blade so please be patient.

   The exact make of paint we use is ENDUTHANE and you can view the specs here. While that page says 'Dry time to touch ... 6 hours' we have found that 24 hours later the paint will more often than not, absorb deep permanent finger prints (very ugly on a finished product) and so we prefer to let each coating sit for 48 hours before handling or sanding.

   From the manufacturer: Endu-thane, unlike conventional urethane finishes, has increased durability in regard to weathering and gloss retention. Recommended Uses: Endu-thane is suggested for use on tanks, transportation equipment and other equipment and structures in chemical plants and manufacturing facilities. It is especially recommended when an attractive appearance is of particular importance.

   It can be the most beautiful work of functional art you'll ever own, but rush us and we'll ship it as she sits on the day we receive your second complaint about the time it takes to produce this level of quality: a friend (a machinist) from New Zealand calls it Practical Perfection.

7. The blade are shipped priority mail and arrive with a gift certificate for a FREE GENERATOR of your choice or your choice of a $25.00 rebate (plus any S/H paid).

   These generators cost $30-$60 on auctions and we charge our blade customers a very low $25.00 ($70.00 without a blade). As the auction describes, these are refurbished gens, as shown at our website; new generators are substantially more.

   We've started with this type of motor, they are well known in the wind generator forums and run by a majority of folks, we've run them for years and while they are simple, they do the job very well, hold up to the elements, require virtually no maintenance, save being safe and changing the brushes before each winter.

8. While waiting, we suggest you review the website for tons of free diagrams on setting up inexpensive no-weld mounts for boats, RVs, campers, cabins, towers and houses. Our circuits are inexpensive and easy to make and have withstood hurricane winds.

Also, while the thick LPU paint we put on the blades help them last for many many years, a light coating allows the blade to spin up faster in gusts. We offer blades with a variety of finishes and in a wide spectrum of types of woods; from Douglas Fir to Teak, Mahogany, Ash and others. We listen to our customers.

For blades with a fine finish we use the most expensive yacht/marine paint available: a two part LPU. This paint is more expensive than automotive paint, more durable, UV resistant and expensive than even epoxy and has a glossy luster to it. Customers who order a shiny smooth blade also receive a clear coat on top of that if requested, but the LPU shine is so good and tough we suggest you avoid potentially yellowing your blade as the clear fades; again, your choice.

Some of my friends, associates, professional painters, auto-body professionals and air-brush artists told me I was crazy to charge so little for this kind of care in the finish. The autobody pros suggested $200-$400 per blade just for the finish. A professional finish painter said at $150 per blade, (just for the paint job!), he wouldn't touch them.

Some customers occassionaly become irrate when their orders took more than a month and I refused to ship until their blade met my standards. Some sailors said 'They put these things 30 feet in the air. Who cares about the finish? If it's balanced and produces power, that's all that matters.'

Personally, I agree and for years, my own blade on my boat simply had a light coating of epoxy spray paint on it, a very rough surface, a very light feel and it lasted for years. But after carving the BONZAI RED blade for auction, she was so gorgeous, the last blade and culmination (sort of like a final exam) of everything I had learned in that batch, I just had to fly it. It DOUBLED my output over a blade I had carved way back when Jerry first started teaching me this stuff, some 3 and a half years ago. I was amazed.

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