This indestructible will show you how to build a fan out of simple components that you may already have or be able to find for cheep. As most of our materials were found used the parts that you find might be slightly different which may cause some trial and error. the biggest thing is that the motor fits in the fitting on the stand if the motor was slightly smaller it might fit directly in the T fitting. another aim of this instruct-able was to reuse parts such as the motor we also found inexpensive PVC. Some things in this could be improved but are how they are to reduce cost and be as basic as possible.

Step 1: Obtain Materials and Tools

6 feet of PVC pipe

rubber plumbing connector

8 PVC T connectors

Small dc motor within the range of 9 - 12V that is about one in in diameter ours is for a small RC car.

Device to use as a motor hub for the propellers we used a gear we found Female spade terminal connectors

One foot of 22 AWG or larger diameter wire 9 volt battery and battery connector

Rigid plastic or poster board to build propellers

Small dowels or bamboo skewers

Hot glue gun Miter box hand saw or PVC cutters

Wire cutters/crimper

Electrical tape

Scissors

Step 2: Build the Base

The first thing you will want to do before anything is draft up the dimensions onto graph paper or another way. This is so you have a concept of what sized PVC cuts you will need to make, and should make measuring easier.

The next thing you should do is measure the PVC pipes and mark each spot you wish to cut. We did this using a 15" ruler.

Cut one long section of pipe as the vertical section; ours was about 3 feet tall

Cut (6) 6 inch sections of PVC

Insert a 6 inch section of pipe into one T fitting insert the other end of each of those to the center of another T fitting.

Insert the remaining (4) 6 inch sections of pipe in to the sides of the fittings

insert final (4) T fittings on the short pipes to finish the base

insert the long section into the center T fitting so it stands vertically

Insert T fitting on the top of long section.

Note our pvc pipe fit snug and did not require glue this left for some adjustment of the base if needed. If you desire for a more sturdy base you could chose to glue PVC and fittings together either with PVC glue hot glue or other adhesive.

Step 3: Build Fan Blades

Use a ruler to measure and draw out fan blades on poster board ours are right angle triangles at about 8 inches long.

Use scissors to cut 4 identical fan blades.

Cut the bamboo skewers an inch shorter than the fan blade

Use the hot glue gun to attach the Skewers/dowels to the straight edge of the fan blade, the blades need to be at a slight angle to push air.

Attach fan blade to the center hub with a moderate amount of hot glue, They should be equally balanced across the center hub, and securely glued in place.

After the glue cools from attaching the blades, use glue to attach center hub to the motor; we used a nickel to provide more surface area to glue our fan hub to the motor gear. (The nickle is not necessary.)

Note your hub may be different then ours depending on what your able to find. another option that could work is if you did use a motor from an RC car. the wheel could act as the center hub of the fan.

Step 4: Wire Up the Motor and Battery Conector

Use wire strippers to cut about 6 inches of 22 AWG or larger wire pairs on both positive and negitive ends

Insert one end of the red and black wire into individual female spade connectors. Then use crimping tool to crimp wire on to connector

Connect the spade terminals to the terminals on the motor the motor should have a indication of +positive or a red dot. Our terminals on the motor has a red dot. connect the red wire to the terminal with the red dot and connect the black to the other terminal. You are now ready to connect a 9V battery for power.

You can also use an AC adapter in place of a battery, but it takes a fairly powerful AC adapter, such as 9 - 12v, 2A, 2000 mA adapter. As shown in the pictures, you use the same technique to attach it to the motor.

Cut the AC adapter at the charger end, then strip the rubber casing off the wire. Then use the female spade connectors to cover the wires, which will connect to the motor.

Note: You may be able to find battery connector from broken toys, or recycled smoke detectors. The AC adapter could be found from just about any appliance or electric technology you no longer use. *Be sure to read the label of the adapter to see the Voltage, and Amperage.

Step 5: Insert Motor With Wiring and Battery Connector

Inset the motor (connector side first) into the top T connector on the base. You want to pull the wires through the backside of the T, allowing you to see and interact with the battery connector.

Once the motor is in all the way and sitting flush, simply tighten the metal fastener with a screw driver until the motor is fit snugly inside the PVC T.

Your new fan is just about ready to go! Everything is built and now ready for power!