From: TheBackShed.com
The Mini Mill is a fun little weekend project, and can be used to light a LED, small light bulb, or even charge a couple of NiCad batteries.
It is not necessary to build your own complex and expensive alternator for a small DIY wind turbine - small stepper motors can be perfect for the job. Found in old computer printers (dot matrix, daisy wheel, and some laser), stepper motors are cheaply (if not freely) available and generate AC power at low rates of rotation (far lower than similarly sized DC motors for example). Therefore small wind turbine blades can be mounted directly onto the motor shaft rather than through a noisy and complicated gearing mechanism. Small stepper motors (i.e. under 1 inch diameter) are only really useful for powering a couple of LEDs, larger motors can be used to recharge batteries and much more. Detail...
