retro fan shaped multicolor desktop note

Rust was busted from the hardware with otc white vinegar since it won't aggressively eat away at the bare metal (unless you leave it for day, which I do not recommend). I quickly found this to be too expensive for my purposes but will keep an eye out for a deal in the future. The old grease was removed from the oscillator housing with the original intention to replace the missing hardware. Once I was satisfied, I sprayed the grill with sealant to minimize corrosion. I did try my Dremel with a brass wire wheel but I preferred a hand sand since that was a bit too aggressive. I used left over bits of 220 and 500 grit sand paper to get all the nooks and crannies. If only I had a sanding (or a vanishing) cabinet. The real pain was getting the cage clean/rust busted and took the longest amount of time. The quicker you go from strip/sand to prime is for the best.

NOTE: You really don't want to let the bare metal be exposed for too long as rust is your enemy. After a quick sanding with 220 grit sand paper, I geared up to spray a coat of primer. The old paint was no match and fell away with ease. I promptly put the stripper on the base, the little cap in the middle of the blades.the nose? whatever it is called, and the motor housing and let it do it's work. Luckily the test was negative (not pink). I didn't want to take a chance on the paint and picked up a lead paint test kit. The rotor had some rust and wouldn't initially pull away from the housing but as you can see from the pic, slight sanding corrected the issue. The 'hardest' part of this restoration was, in my opinion, getting the cage away (and reinstalling) from the blades.

I just worked my way through to get each individual piece separated. Getting the fan disassembled was the easy part. I highly recommend it (especially for the different fasteners). This came in handy too often to count since it served as a road map I could come back to if I got turned around on the rebuild. Next, I began the tear down and for my own benefit I filmed it.

On the other hand, the throw away culture is mind boggling to me.Either way, do the easiest fix first (it is usually the power supply)! RANT: On the one hand, I got this super awesome retro fan for $5 because the owner had enough, so yay for me. The issue: The switch's contact were not connecting properly and after a quick sanding & bending it back into position, it worked like a charm. Sure enough, it ran when it 'felt like it.' Initially, I figured that the plug was worn or corroded.

Retro fan shaped multicolor desktop note