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Thread: Desk Fan

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Fishers, Indiana
    Posts
    554

    Desk Fan

    A little tired of working on big projects, so decided to just make something for fun. My sone had a DC motor laying around that I had been thinking of making into a small desk fan and decided to finally do it. As things progressed, I think I got a little carried away for a desk fan, but it was fun to make.

    I wanted to make something with a kind of retro aviation look to it.

    The body is just a piece of schedule 40 pipe. I made the end plates, knurled knobs, and propeller hub from mild steel plate that I had laying around. I flame blued the steel parts except the body which I just didn't have enough heat to blue.

    The base, uprights and blades are red oak. The uprights were laminated to produce the curve.

    I designed a little PWM speed controller that mounts inside the steal tube along with the motor. The PWM controller gives me continuous speed adjustment from ~30RPM to maximum (I don't know quite what max RPM is, but it moves pretty good air). So why would anyone want to run a fan at 30 RPM? Well it doesn't move any air to speak of at that speed, but it looks pretty cool. The power supply is just a 12V wall wart that plugs into a connector on the back plate.

    As you can see, there is no blade guard, which adds a little to the excitement of using it, but at 12W max power, it doesn't do to much damage even if I am careless.
    100_2673.jpg100_2675.jpg100_2672.jpg100_2656.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    22,513
    Blog Entries
    1
    How fun! Very cool.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    South Coastal Massachusetts
    Posts
    6,824
    Okay - let me be the first to offer you "props".

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    In the foothills of the NM Sandia Mountains
    Posts
    16,647
    That is really slick.
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
    Andy Rooney



  5. #5
    Have you had it hit your hand yet? Is it lethal? I love how it looks! I mayhave to make one of these!

    Chris
    "I have worked myself up from nothing to extreme poverty." Groucho Marx
    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheChrisPineWorkshop

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Central NJ
    Posts
    835
    That's neat. Did you design the propeller to any particular specifications?

    Doug

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