Larry Buskirk Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 While not quite an "Old Woodworking Machine", I d like to introduce you to my fan club. Not to bad for a FREEBIE!!!! HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courtland Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Oh Jeez, just when I thought I heard it all from ya Larry! Nice fan by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 1 hour ago, Courtland said: Oh Jeez, just when I thought I it all from ya Larry! Nice fan by the way. What.....?..................................................... ...................Thanks. It's going to need a little work though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Believe it or not, I'm beginning to think this thing might end up as a working machine. I'll have to post photos later, but my "FREEBIE" fan cleaned up rather well with some Dawn Dish Soap and water. Under all the "all dressed in grime" camouflage lurked a rather decent brass bladed, brass finger guarded Emerson fan from the late 1920s or 1930's. I managed to get all of the screws loose so I can dismantle the base from the fan motor, with a good soaking of PB Blaster. I also got the motor freed up after filling the oil reservoir with some good old 3 in 1 Motor Oil. Even the oscillating mechanism works. I'll have to treat the lower stand to a bath in the electrolysis tank, but the rest I'll just touch up. Now where did I put that can of Brasso? HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courtland Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 2 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said: Believe it or not, I'm beginning to think this thing might end up as a working machine It's a great machine Larry, I thinks it has a ton of class. When I was a boy left to my own accord most of the time, single family mom, and I had the run of the neighborhood after school as she was always at work, I got to go dumpster diving with the neighbor kids, it was fun, we'd jump in while the other would hold our feet as we pushed through the trash, and came out with some cool stuff! I know, sounds gross, and probably more information than anyone wants to hear, I wasn't the most stable kid in the world mind you. But I remember often one of the most popular items that was thrown away were fans, and I remember seeing many like this one, old and ornate, if I only knew then what I know now! Great find, can't wait to see it fully restored! By the way, I found a nice flute one time while dumpster diving, I even cleaned it up and played it and learnt it pretty good! Also got some bike parts from the dumpsters, had enough to make a franken bike, me and my buddies scrapped together old Schwinn parts, some rattle can flat black for the frame, a ton of WD-40 and in no time we had a bike we ran off jumps over ramps made of 2x12's over cinder blocks, in the alley. Man, the kids these days just don't know what they're missing. Larry Buskirk, HARO50 and p_toad 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Thanks John, Dumpster Diving is still one of my favorite past times. You just never know what you might find. If your looking for old Schwinn bicycle parts, I knows where to find them. This fan was found being used to hold open a barn door at an old farm estate/auction sale. I rode with a friend of mine basically just for something to do on the last day of the sale. I spotted this old fan just sitting there being used as a door stop. There was no price tag, or auction number on it. I asked how much on the old fan, to which I was replied "That?", I replied "Yes that". to which I was replied............. "Sold,.....Take It." I've since found a few similar fans on ebay, I can't believe the prices they're listed for/or bid up to. p_toad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 It appears I was a bit off with my guesstimation of this fans age. I did a little research last night and this may actually be from around 1910-1918 or thereabouts. This is similar restored fan done by Vintage Fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Well, I found a date. The fan I have is a type 12646. Which translates to. Series 12, 60 Cycles, 4 Blades, 12 Inch Diameter Blades manufactured from 1910-11. I doubt I'll look as good if I'm ever pushing 105 years old! HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 Well it appears this fan was under water at some time in it's long journey to find me. I found water inside the oscillating mechanism. So, that just makes things a bit more interesting. I still believe I'll get it back to running though, it will just take a bit more work. Well now, it wouldn't be one of my projects if it was going to be easy. p_toad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morris Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 56 minutes ago, Larry Buskirk said: Well it appears this fan was under water at some time in it's long journey to find me Well Larry, it was used as a doorstop! what'd you expect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 Larry, Frank and Mike of Antique Archaeology found a guy who was a real "FAN"atic. He'd been collecting for years and had over 1000 different fans. IIRC he had an Emerson very much like yours. I seem to remember that that fan (fully restored and working) was valued at $1500. I believe the episode was called "SuperFan" and aired on 10/28/15 You may have all the enjoyment of the resto PLUS a pretty valuable antique when you are done. John Moody and Larry Buskirk 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 On 12/10/2015 at 0:05 PM, Gene Howe said: Larry, Frank and Mike of Antique Archaeology found a guy who was a real "FAN"atic. He'd been collecting for years and had over 1000 different fans. IIRC he had an Emerson very much like yours. I seem to remember that that fan (fully restored and working) was valued at $1500. I believe the episode was called "SuperFan" and aired on 10/28/15 You may have all the enjoyment of the resto PLUS a pretty valuable antique when you are done. Gene, I'll try to find it. On 12/10/2015 at 6:56 AM, John Morris said: Well Larry, it was used as a doorstop! what'd you expect! John, It will be far from being a doorstop when I'm done. Courtland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 Well now, it's time for a progress report. So get your popcorn, or coffee sit down and have a looks see at what's happening! I've been informed that this is one of the rarer, (Sought after) fans by collectors of early Emerson fans. (How cool is that? ) It appears that this post might also serve another purpose. (Other than me getting a cool old fan. ) This fans motor is of the split phase variety which was also used in some of our old machinery, so I figured I"ll give a tour of the insides of this split phase motor. First off I had to get the blades off of the motors armature shaft. The blades hub is a left hand thread onto the armature. Since this motor had been submerged at some point in its past it will require a total cleaning/restoration to get things working again. Split phase motors use a centrifugal switch which controls the motors start winding. The switch cuts the start winding out when the motor reaches speed. The switches contacts can be seen in this view. Well that's about it for now, I've got some more cleaning to do. I'll post some more photos later. HARO50 and p_toad 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted December 12, 2015 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 looks like fun, Larry. I tried to find the American Pickers segment. I think I found it, but just a listing. No video. Here it is. Super Fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 3 hours ago, Gene Howe said: looks like fun, Larry. I tried to find the American Pickers segment. I think I found it, but just a listing. No video. Here it is. Super Fan Gene, I am having fun with this old fan. That's what I found when I searched for the episode. Anyway, a bit more progress, I tried removing the switch contacts, and stator winding from the motor case, but without luck. So I figured I'll try cleaning them in place, in the case. Since the motor got filled with stuff having been submerged at one point, I simply filled the sink and cleaned it with Dawn dish soap. It's drying next to the wood burner now. After it is dry, I'll run a resistance test on the windings. I also got the armature cleaned up. I still have to rebuild the centrifugal switch. Here's an "after" photo of the fans base. p_toad and HARO50 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted December 12, 2015 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 Progress abounds. I'm envious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2015 3 hours ago, Gene Howe said: Progress abounds. I'm envious. Thanks Gene, Due to some rather decent weather I've been able to play with this "project". A few posts back I posted that I couldn't get the centrifugal switch, and stator winding loose from the main motor casting and had decided to simply wash the entire assembly. After all, that mud and whatever got inside when the fan was submerged in whatever. So I used the kitchen sink, and washed the entire assembly using Dawn dish soap and an old toothbrush. (Don't tell my wife.) Well here's a couple of photos showing the assembly before washing, and after washing. I also did an ohm reading test on the start, and run windings of the stator windings with the following results. Run Winding= 38-39 ohms. Start Winding= 23-24 ohms. This is in the normal range for these fan motors. Which means,........................... This fan will run again!! Cool!!! I'm in the process of repairing the original finish on the main motor housing. I cleaned the front cover in the electrolysis tank. This process leaves you with a bare casting. Then I went to paint, OOps , Grabbed the wrong can of paint, I was sure that was the primer. Oh BTW, I did find the Brasso! Cool!!! HARO50 and p_toad 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 Well, "Here We Go Again" Today I cleaned up the old Centrifugal Switch, and Armature Assembly. Here's the "Before" restoration photo, Here's the parts cleaned up a bit, The grungy pieces in the upper right corner are whats left of a cup shaped insulator. The thing in the lower right is what I came up with to replace the insulator. It's made from a piece of brown paper bag that I wet formed to the brass housing next to it. After it was totally dried I sprayed it with several coats of clear enamel to seal it. Here it is trimmed and fit to the brass housing. The spacers go between the armature, and the brass housing. The Centrifugal Switch contacts get secured through the brass housing and spacers with a sandwich of five fiber washers per bolt. If you notice I'm one short of the small fiber washers, I had to replace one that crumbled. I needed to turn one down from a larger outside diameter washer. I added some thin brass washers between the bolt heads, and fiber washers to better support the fiber washers. Here is the armature assembly installed into the motor. BTW, the way the motor is running in the above photo. .............................................................................................................. Yes, I did say running! All is not quite well though, the start winding is a bit weak, I need to give the motor a little kick start to get it going. ( If I make it to 105, I bet I'll need more than a kick start. ) I had the motor running for about 45 minutes, just to make sure it wouldn't overheat. It gets warm, but not so warm you can't hold onto it. Let's check out in the paint department to see how things are coming. Ha, Ha, FOOLED YOU!!! There was no OOps!!! I'll be trimming out the lettering, and borders on the front cover in brass paint. Here's a view of the fan partially assembled. Hmmm, The color is a bit off. It looks more like the maroon in the front cover shot. I'm still working on the paint repairs on the main motor housing. HARO50 and p_toad 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted December 15, 2015 Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 Looking good. Do you trust the old power cord? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Buskirk Posted December 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 1 hour ago, Gene Howe said: Looking good. Do you trust the old power cord? Gene, The only part of the cord that was left was the short piece going from the switch to the motor. I'm only using it for test purposes. I'll be looking into replacing the cords with the same type of twisted wire cord. There is a place on ebay that sells new "old style" cord for about $1.30 per foot. They have several colors to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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