It's amazing anyone from this era had all 10 fingers.
My grandparents had a completely open fan from the 60ies (although with plastic blades). You could stuck your fingers into it and it would just stop - it hurt a little, but no damage.
Early electric fans
21–30 of 48 posts
Re: Early electric fans
#22> A sheet brass disk in front of the fan was acted upon by the air from the fan causing the fan to oscillate back and forth Is this an accurate description? Here is such a fan in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm7DFuGaujg It seems to work because the brass disk is blocking the air stream on one side, so the other side of the fan acts as a jet engine to rotate it, which is actually really clever.
The quoted bit seems to take a very neutral stance on exactly how the brass disk is "acted upon". So it's probably correct no matter how things work just due to vagueness.
Re: Early electric fans
#23Oh wow, I have a six blade Emerson that works except for the oscillator[0]. Absolutely quiet in operation and moves a lot of air. Very heavy and based on the wire guard not super safe around many children, well at least not the ones who want to see what it will chop.
In my case I chose it for the blade count and the old ship propeller vibe. There is a shop here in Georgia which does do repair work on fans and I hope to get this one up there one day.[1]
You can find a good number of fans, restored and otherwise, on ebay. As with with any ebay suggestion it is best to build up a history to understand pricing.
[0] https://i.imgur.com/Z1VglDL.jpg
[1] http://electrorestore.com/vintage-antique-fans-repair-servic...
Re: Early electric fans
#24> A sheet brass disk in front of the fan was acted upon by the air from the fan causing the fan to oscillate back and forth Is this an accurate description? Here is such a fan in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm7DFuGaujg It seems to work because the brass disk is blocking the air stream on one side, so the other side of the fan acts as a jet engine to rotate it, which is actually really clever.
Wow, that is more violent than I expected!
I think both effects are at work. Thought experiment/hypothesis: If you detached the plate and merely held it in front of the fan blades, I think the fan would still rotate due to the decreased airflow on one side of the fan, but it would rotate less quickly since the force that moving air is applying to the plate would no longer be acting on the fan.
Re: Early electric fans
#25Here's an antique non-electric fan from the East India Company that still works:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/b41rm...
Re: Early electric fans
#26Last year we rode a local train in rural Kyushu on Hisatsu Line and while not air conditioned, they had these nice mechanical "orbital" fans inside:
Re: Early electric fans
#27I love this: " My interests are with original and unrestored desk fans made prior to 1916. " Since they were invented in 1885 that is basically a 30 year window for a fairly expensive consumer good that probably sold in the neighborhood of a few thousand units. There is something wonderful about diving deeply into a particular kind of thing from a particular time. My Dad has a cap gun collection with a similar narrow…
> Why cap guns? Who knows.
I know, because 11-year-old me owned one, back when selling them was legal. The reason is nostalgia, or a yearning for the brightness of the world we knew then. Artifacts bring the memories back, in a sweet flood.
Experimentation revealed ways in which cap gun tech could be abused. We wanted a louder pop, so how about folding over the tape of caps to double up? Possible, but tends to jam. For a really loud "bang", how about setting a whole roll of caps down on the pavement edgewise, and hitting it with a hammer? Imagine the surprise when the hammer's head came flying back up, faster than it was brought down ...
Re: Early electric fans
#28> A sheet brass disk in front of the fan was acted upon by the air from the fan causing the fan to oscillate back and forth Is this an accurate description? Here is such a fan in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm7DFuGaujg It seems to work because the brass disk is blocking the air stream on one side, so the other side of the fan acts as a jet engine to rotate it, which is actually really clever.
That's some real ingenuity right there!
Re: Early electric fans
#29Based on the scanned catalog page from 1911 and an inflation calculator, it looks like those fans set you back anywhere from the equivalent of $800-1000 in today's money. Is my math correct?
Re: Early electric fans
#30Based on the scanned catalog page from 1911 and an inflation calculator, it looks like those fans set you back anywhere from the equivalent of $800-1000 in today's money. Is my math correct?
Not too surprising. Keep in mind that at the time electricity was a luxury and there were very few home appliances that made use of it. The radio, the first piece of electronics more complex than a simple motor or heater that you might find in the "average" home, wouldn't come into widespread use for another decade.