A pedal powered blender for making smoothies at festivals and events had always seemed like a great idea. It brings in a number of concepts: firstly there is the ‘we don’t need electricity for everything’ idea, secondly it helps to demonstrate the concept of power in a interesting and practical way, thirdly it helps to promote cycling and lastly it helps to get people to eat more fresh fruit.

There are a number of pedal powered blender designs available:

An amazing book for human powered devices, which includes a pedal powered blender plan, is ‘The Human Powered Home’ by Tamara Dean and published by NSP.
http://www.thehumanpoweredhome.com/.

A nice Instructables plan is available here. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-create-a-human-powered-bike-blender-for-les/

A nice, commercial but slightly pricey ($250 for the most basic model) pedal powered blender is available from Fender Blenders
http://www.bikeblender.com/

I had seen these but being the kind of person I am, I decided to build my own. Here are construction details for building my pedal powered blender:

You will need:
Bike ‘Turbo’ Trainer – I used a stand manufactured by ‘Elite’. Search eBay for ‘Turbo Trainer’ and you can pick them up used from around £30 (if lucky) and new from £80.
Flexible drill drive – I got this from Screwfix (code: 31843) for £14.95.
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/31843/Drill-Bits/Drill-Accessories/Flexible-Drive-Shaft-915mm. I did buy this part new.
An old blender or smoothie maker – I was lucky to find a unit with a damaged motor for free. If possible find a unit which has a broken motor, check car boot sales, ask friends etc.
An ‘Optics’ type clamp – This is the screw clamp which holds ‘Optics’ drinks dispensers to a shelf. These are usually available at car boot sales. Otherwise a woodworking G-clamp could be used.
Approx 50mmx50mm angle aluminum – a piece around 20cm long
Various nuts and blots – whatever you have available

****THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS - Please return later****