Personal Fan Using Old Exhaust Fan

I had this exhaust fan lying around for long time so I spruced it up a little and made a portable fan for my mother for her kitchen. The fan is fixed in an angle in a boxy enclosure made out of plywood. Its made in a way such that air flow is directed upwards while fan is kept on the floor.

Material :

• 12 mm Ply board
• Wood Glue
• Self Tapping Screws
• Nut Bolts
• Exhaust Fan
• Speed Regulator
• AC Power Cord
• Spray Can
• Wire Mesh
• Heat Shrink Tube

Tool Used :

• Circular Saw
• Mitre Saw
• Angle Grinder
• Nail Gun
• Drill Machine
• Jigsaw
• File
• Screw Driver
• Hot Air Gun
• Drill Machine
• Sander

I started with cutting 12 mm ply board using circular saw. For straight cuts I used aluminium beam as guide.

The design consists of 7 parts-

• 1 x Base
• 1 x Front Face
• 4 x Side Supports
• 1 x Top

Dimensions of all parts are shown in image above.
I used the fan frame itself to mark the circle for front face and then cut it out using jigsaw and then chamfered on router table.

Fan is fixed on the front face using four nut bolts.

Once all parts were cut I fixed them using wood glue and nails. To add portability I also added a handle on top using self tapping screws.

Smallest nails that I had were 25 mm long and they came out from bottom while joining base to the fan face so I trimmed them using angle grinder.

I spray painted the iron mesh on the front of the fan with gold color before assembling it so that it won't spread on any other part of the fan.
After assembling the fan enclosure I sanded it with 120 grit sandpaper followed by a finer 220 grit for smoother surface.
It was then cleaned with cloth to remove dust and clear PU was applied on it with a cloth. Finishing Wood does the real magic, it came out real nice.

After applied PU dried out, I then did the wiring in the end.
To control fan speed I wired a speed regulator which is connected in series with the fan.
When turned all the way in anti-clock direction, it has a click to turn off the fan so switch is not required. To turn on the fan the knob is rotated in clock wise direction. It has smooth knob rotation and there are no stepped numbers (1 to 5). After connecting the wires I insulated them using heat shrink tube and secured the wire on frame itself with zip -tie.
I couldn't be happier with the end product and my mother loved it.
I hope you guys like it :) Do remember to vote for this project :)