Cheap Shop Fan
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 1
From: Just This Side of Damnation
Cheap Shop Fan I have attached a photo of a shop fan I put together on the cheap. I bought one of those floor fans from Harbor Freight and put it on a pedestal.
The base is a spare tire I got at the junk yard for a couple of bucks.
The first fitting is simply a floor flange for 2.5 inch iron pipe. I put it in the vice and centered the tire on it. Then I welded it to the wheel from the back side.
Then I put in a reducer for a 2 inch pipe. The pipe I got as a remnant at Home Depot for about 2 bucks. I made 'em an offer. The pipe was cut to length, your may be different. The threads in the reducer, along with the threads on the pipe, give me the capability to turn it to suit the need. I just don't turn it six or seven times and let it fall apart. But, by then the cord would have gotten all tangled up, wouldn't it.
The top cross member is a piece of flat 2 inch stock that I cut on an angle that was the same as the fan base angle. A simple weld to the pipe was fine.
I put two bolts through each side of the support and into the fan base. It holds real well.
This fan comes in real handy, especially on brew day!
Hope it's an idea somebody can use.
The base is a spare tire I got at the junk yard for a couple of bucks.
The first fitting is simply a floor flange for 2.5 inch iron pipe. I put it in the vice and centered the tire on it. Then I welded it to the wheel from the back side.
Then I put in a reducer for a 2 inch pipe. The pipe I got as a remnant at Home Depot for about 2 bucks. I made 'em an offer. The pipe was cut to length, your may be different. The threads in the reducer, along with the threads on the pipe, give me the capability to turn it to suit the need. I just don't turn it six or seven times and let it fall apart. But, by then the cord would have gotten all tangled up, wouldn't it.
The top cross member is a piece of flat 2 inch stock that I cut on an angle that was the same as the fan base angle. A simple weld to the pipe was fine.
I put two bolts through each side of the support and into the fan base. It holds real well.
This fan comes in real handy, especially on brew day!
Hope it's an idea somebody can use.
Sweet set-up. 
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,148
Likes: 12
From: Downers Grove, IL
Cool, I like that it can be angled up and down. I usually use blower motors/squirrel cages out of old furnaces. But they just sit on the ground and cannot be angled, but for free who cares.
I have a metal shop, so ....
I welded 2 pieces of angle onto an I-beam about 8' high, drilled holes in the legs, inserted a length of 2" square tubing and welded a legth of angle on the end of the tubing, creating a "T".
I mounted a floor type air circulator on the "T".
I ran power to it through a cheap power strip with an on/off switch.
The fan is up high and out of the way, swivels and tilts.
I can open the hood of a car, point the fan at the engine bay and 20 minutes later, the motor is cooled off significantly.
I welded 2 pieces of angle onto an I-beam about 8' high, drilled holes in the legs, inserted a length of 2" square tubing and welded a legth of angle on the end of the tubing, creating a "T".
I mounted a floor type air circulator on the "T".
I ran power to it through a cheap power strip with an on/off switch.
The fan is up high and out of the way, swivels and tilts.
I can open the hood of a car, point the fan at the engine bay and 20 minutes later, the motor is cooled off significantly.
