Refurbished Mid-Century Fan Turned Lamp
7 Materials
$85
1 Week
Advanced
Extremely rusty base
The base, even though severely rusted, was not eaten through. The entire fan was dismantled and unnecessary parts were removed. It was then cleaned thoroughly, sanded, and given a few coats of turquoise paint. GORGEOUS!
The base turned out better than I thought.
The motor used to be in here.
Some things that were purchased to make it a lamp were a vintage styled twisted cloth cord, a cluster body with 3 sockets, 3 - 25 watt incandescent Edison bulbs with a candelabra base. We had and are still having trouble finding a reputable supplier of good bulbs. We made this lamp dimmable and one of the bulbs in the first set of 3 blew out too fast. The 2nd set we bought were LED and they don't handle the dimmable option well. They go from very low to very bright with no gradual change at all.
We wanted to keep the round emblem untouched and in original condition if at all possible and this fan’s emblem originally had 3 metal tabs that clamped into the center of the fan blade but, since that’s gone, we drilled small holes along the edge, then fed wire through so we could attach it to the front center of the cage instead.
As I said before, I will document the process much more in depth the next time around because, yes, we will make another, and another, and probably another. Isn’t it fun to think of these old, usually worn down and/or broken fans being made into something so functional and useful?
I'd love for you to visit me over at my blog ambientwares.com and maybe even sign up to receive my new posts so you don't miss a thing! Thanks everyone :)
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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4 of 77 comments
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Love the redo. You did an awesome job. I recently bought an old GE fan for my husband who just retired from GE. I ordered the cluster and the individual sockets you suggested. My question is, are the sockets suppose to screw into the cluster because the sockets are a lot bigger than the holes on the cluster and the sockets are not threaded. Thank you for any help you can offer.
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Please forgive me! In order to attach the sockets to the cluster you'll need threaded hollow pipes; one for each socket. Found here: https://www.grandbrass.com/item/ni0-1%2F2x1%2F8/nipples-nipples_pre_cut_lenghts-18ips_threaded_nipples/ The only thing we'd be unsure of is if you'd need 1/2" or 3/4". However, we're thinking you'd be OK with 1/2". Also, they're definitely something you should be able to find at your local hardware store as opposed to ordering on-line. Really hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions
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This is very cool.
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Thanks, John. We love it
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