Your blades are similar to the blades I made from a 18" lawnmower blade cut in half and shaped with a grinder, and then welded in a cross. My arc isn't swept back as much as yours, but no problems with lumps on the blades so far. The only picture of it I have handy is in 3D Anaglyph format, you can probably make out the blade shape even without the red/cyan glasses. I did not get much mixing action at first, then I welded some spoilers onto the trailing edge of the blades and now the mix moves nicely. Those are not in this picture. I started out thinking I would reduce speed with pulleys and ended up with 1:1 because the higher speed mixes better, and any higher ratio bogs the motor down. It's only 1hp.
How did you cut the saw blades? I don't have a bandsaw but my grinder might do OK with an old saw blade, and that would be lighter than the lawn mower blade and easier to warp for some flow.
Spaceman
Vincent Pawlowski wrote:
Hi, I have been too busy with other things to write lately, but the cardboard and tape thread caught my attention. Cardboard is easy to mix, with the right mixer and blades. An inefficient tow mixer will not work as well. Self-cleaning blades will also take care of the short pieces of tape. Long ones are best removed, although some will be shredded. A few will catch on the shaft, not a problem unless they carry a big chunk of cardboard. That has only happened once to me. It made quite a mess, but caused no damage. Eric Paterson's patent described a powerful electric mixer and self-cleaning blades that I used as a pattern for mine. *http://tinyurl.com/VincecreteMixerBlades * My mixer is driven by a two horsepower electric motor, much more efficient than a tow mixer. It will even shred phone books, envelope windows, and an occasional aluminum can (the sides, but not the top or bottom) - without pre-soaking! If you would like to make your own blades, just follow the pattern of a food processor. I used old circular saw blades. My two tine blade is a blown up photocopy of the blades of the food processor. The three and four tine blades were made free-hand. The four tine blade does not sweep back enough and does catch some plastic. It is now at the top of the stack, where a simple swipe before pouring removes a baseball sized mass of plastic. Thanks, Vince P.S. don't ask me questions about how to implement this on a tow mixer. Most tow mixers are junk, there are much better designs.
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