Fan

My late grandfather, Ludwig, had a wood-working shop in the basement of his house.  Grandpa and Grandma were the dynamic-duo when it came to crafting.  He would cut the wood piece, and she would paint it.  I have a Christmas ornament, hand made by them, for almost every year of my life!

A young Ludwig, with an even younger Megan and brother Travis

In this wood working shop stood a Montgomery Ward fan.  I spotted it while admiring his dusty little shop a couple of months ago, and asked Grandma if I could have it.  Of course she said yes. I didn't take a before picture (silly) but imagine a little metal fan, covered about 1/4" thick in sawdust, and odd wires sticking out in places that looked too unsafe to be real.

I decided I was going to pull it apart and paint it. I had never thought that I would get it running again. I realized that I had no idea how to get it apart and I needed my brothers help.  As soon as he had it apart he said he could have it running again.  So we ran to town, bought the stuff to re-wire it and some spray paint. And a couple weeks later she's done! It really only took a couple hours. I just had to give the spray time to dry, etc.

Here she is in pieces. The base

The cage

The back cover

Front Cover

Jason snapped a picture of this for me, it's the magnets that sit inside of the fan.

Everything covered in a coat of primer. I did three coats. I used a car metal primer.

The base in a coat of primer.

The base with one coat of Valspar Tropical Oasis Gloss spray paint

The blades with one coat of paint

Brother helping me with the wiring of the fan.

I paid close attention. Maybe I will be able to do it on my own someday.

Soldering the wires together.

The cover and blades are going on.

She's beautiful!

Making vintage new isn't always easy.  The push button we purchased doesn't fit in the cage of the fan. Oh well. She runs!

Here she is, relaxing in my room.

A close up of the Montgomery Ward symbol.

The motor runs hot after only being on for a couple of minutes.  So, I may never actually use it, but I have the option. And she looks great sitting in the room.

-Megs