Travel Pocket Fan

If you decide to follow through with this Instructable you will create a small portable fan that you can take almost anywhere. This fan is made out of recycled computer part and a few store bought pieces. This idea came to me one day when I was piecing out an old computer for usable parts. About three tries later I finally came up with the version that you are looking at now.  

for1 this project you will need the following items: A small project box, a on and off button, A soldering gun and solder. shrink tubing, A computer fan, a 9 volt battery and battery clip, a few small drill bits and a drill . Optional is a hot glue gun and lighter. .  

The first step is really to hot glue the 9 volt battery clip on the inside of the project box but if you decided not to use hot glue or you didn't have a hot glue gun your first step is to drill the holes. For this part you will need to drill ether two or three hole. In the photos you can see I decided to drill three hole. For the wires I found a small drill bit that was about the diameter of the wires. Next I found a spade bit that was about the size of the washer that cam with my button. The first two holes are to run the fan wires into the project box. The next hole is to set the button into place. After placing the button you can lock it into place using the provided washer. I would recommend a on and off button because they are easy to wire and because they stay on unlike momentary buttons. 

The second step in the project is to prep the wire for soldering. The first part in this step is to pull the wires from the fan into the project box. From here you need to cut three small portions of shrink tubing, one for the negative wire and one for each contact on the button. For help in soldering you may want to twist the two negative wires together and twist the two positive wire onto the contacts.  

The third step in this project is to solder together the wire and to shrink the shrink tubing. Because I am not personally the best at soldering this step took me a few tries. After soldering the wires you need to shrink the shrink the shrink tubing. Make sure that your solder connections will hold. This step can can take place in one of two ways. First you could shrink the tubing with the soldering iron or you could shrink the tubing with a lighter. Because I believe that the lighter way is easier I would recommend it.  

The fourth step in this project is to assemble the project box. I would start out with inserting the battery. I do this first so that when you insert the battery you will not tangle up the battery in the wires. From here you will need to cram the wire into the project box so that you can screw in the screws.  

The last step from here is to attach the project box to side of the fan. I personally did this earlier in the assembly and you can to, but thinking about it later I released it would probably be easier to attach it at the end. I used hot glue, which I would recommend, to attach my project box to my fan, but you can use other things to like zip ties or velcro. From here you take this almost any were with you. I like to use mine after a long work out or after a bike ride through the hot, humid air. Remain cautious for it will hurt if your finger gets sucked into the fan.