How to make different types of fans with your own hands. How to make a USB fan from improvised means How to make a fan and make it work
In the heat of the moment, fans are your best friends. That's just in summer season their prices are deliberately inflated (since they are a popular product), and therefore they often have to refuse desired purchase. After all, who would like to overpay? The best option in this situation is to make a tabletop rotating fan with your own hands.
Moreover, its design is so simple in design that anyone can make a homemade “unit”. Desktop option fan - great solution, if you spend a lot of time, for example, computer desk at home or at work. Will be useful homemade fan and in other situations. Let's start assembling.
Materials and main stages of work
To make a homemade table fan you will need following materials: wooden blanks different sizes, a plastic bottle, a small electric motor (RF-500 or others) and a gear motor. You will also need to prepare one plastic gear, plastic stopper, two bolts with nuts and washers, a micro USB connector, two power buttons and two clothespins.
From wooden parts Using hot melt adhesive and a bolt and nut, we assemble the rotating platform, on which the electric motor is then mounted. We use the remaining pieces of wood to make a fan housing, and then install a gear motor that will drive the turntable. We make the base from two planks, between which you need to glue clothespins (for fastening to the table).
Very often, in the sultry heat, there is not enough air flow in the room. To solve this problem, many people buy table fans; they are convenient and compact, some of them work from USB, that is, they can be connected to any charger, power bank or laptop, so that the coolness is always with you. But why buy something that you can make yourself using available materials? For site readers we have prepared two simple instructions who will clearly explain how to do USB fan at home with your own hands. So, all you need to prepare is a sharp knife, good scissors, electrical tape, an unnecessary USB cord and, in fact, executive body homemade products. As for the latter, it is customary to use one of two options: an old cooler from a computer or a motor from a car or other toy.
Idea No. 1 – Use a cooler
It will take no more than 15 minutes to assemble a USB fan from a cooler. First you need to prepare the cooler. Two wires come out of the device - black and red, and sometimes yellow, even less often - blue. Yellow and blue are of no use to us. We strip the insulation by 10 mm and put the prepared element aside.
Next you need to prepare the USB cable. We cut off one half of it and clean off the insulation at the cut point with a sharp knife; a stationery knife works perfectly. Under it you will see four wires, of which two are necessary: red and black. We also clean them, but it is better to cut off the other two (usually green and white) and insulate them. 
Now, as you understand, you need to connect the prepared contacts in pairs, according to: red to red, black to black using twisting. After this, you need to carefully insulate the cable connections using electrical tape or heat shrink and make a stand. As for the stand, it’s up to your imagination. Some people successfully use wire, while others cut out a nest in a cardboard box in a very interesting way.
In the end, a homemade mini fan is connected to a computer or charging unit, and you can enjoy the operation of your own electrical appliance.
Cooler idea
Idea No. 2 – Use a motor
In order to make a USB fan from a motor and a CD, it will take a little more time, but you can still easily make such an electrical device with your own hands in an hour. A motor for such a homemade product should be chosen with an operating voltage of approximately 5 Volts, maybe a little more. If you take the motor for more low voltage, then too much current will flow through the circuit and the motor will quickly fail. 
First, we prepare all the elements of the device. In this case, you will need to make an impeller (blades). 
To do this, we recommend using an ordinary CD. We draw it into 8 equal parts and carefully cut it with good scissors, almost reaching the center. Next, we heat the disk (it’s convenient to do this with a lighter), and when the plastic becomes more elastic, we bend the blades at an equal angle (as shown in the photo).
If the impeller is not bent enough, then during rotation of the disk air flow will not be created. However, if you overdo it, the homemade product will also work poorly and unstable.
When the blades are ready, move on to creating the main mechanism. Inside the disk you need to insert an ordinary one, cut to the right size, a champagne cork that needs to be placed on the motor shaft. Next, we move on to creating a USB fan stand for a laptop. 
Here, as in the previous version, everything depends on your imagination. Of all the available means, the option with wire is the most suitable. When the homemade USB fan is ready, we connect the motor wires to the wires of the USB cord, as in the previous version, carefully isolate the twist and proceed to testing.
Hot. If I may say so, even too much. That is why you can think about how to make a fan. You will say that it can be purchased at the store. But, firstly, their cost increases significantly. Secondly, they are quickly sold out and it is not always possible to find what you need on store shelves. Therefore, several practical advice about how to assemble a fan. After all, it is quite possible to arrange it even at home from available materials. Here are a couple of options.
How to make a fan based on an old cooler. If you have an old one, you can take it from there. You can also borrow a switch there. In order to make a homemade fan, you will also need some kind of battery holder. There are many of these, you can take it from some broken toy or something else in the same spirit. Of course, you will also need several batteries themselves. All that remains is to connect all these components together, and a simple fan will be ready. If you don’t want to bother with the holder, you can use a regular USB port to supply power. The stand can be made from anything. It all depends specifically on your own imagination and what you have at hand.
You can, for example, make a stand from ordinary rigid wire attached to something. It is not so important what materials will be used, but how stable the entire structure will be.
Another option on how to make a fan may be useful for enthusiasts. Computer disks are an excellent tool for making. What else is needed? A motor from a simple toy, a cork left over from champagne, some kind of handy switch and several batteries. We take the disk, and then make as many cuts as we need for the blades. It is necessary to leave about a centimeter to the inner edge. Then turn each blade slightly at an angle. It bends much better if the disk is heated, for example, over gas. Then you will need to insert a champagne cork into its center. If you make a small puncture in its center, for example, with an awl, you can easily attach the entire structure to some kind of pin. You will need to make a leg - absolutely any cylinder-shaped object that can accommodate batteries and wires can play its role.
You will also need to design a base for the entire unit - it can also be anything, the main thing is that it is stable and can support the structure. All that remains is to add a few additional tips- when cutting out the blades, you need to make sure that each of them is approximately 45 degrees - you will end up with about 8 pieces. The plug inserted into the center of the disk will need to be secured with glue. In any case, the process should not cause you any difficulties.
If you've been thinking about how to make a fan, you now probably understand that it's very simple. Each of the proposed models is extremely easy to manufacture, and you will not need much time to create it. You don’t need any special things, the above is quite enough. These fans are very convenient and compact. You can put it on your desktop. Or, if there is such a desire, take it with you to the garage or country house, where these devices will serve as cooling means. It’s hard to argue with the fact that they have tangible dignity - after all, these, by and large, very useful things are collected from various rubbish.
As you can see, it is quite possible to make a fan yourself, from scrap materials, without bothering with going to the store and looking for a unit that suits you at an affordable price. Everything is much simpler.
You are sitting at the computer, it’s summer outside, there is no air conditioning. My hand is already tired of endlessly fanning myself with newspaper, and sweat from my forehead is dripping onto the keyboard. Is this a familiar situation? If you don’t have extra money, a homemade fan will help. To make it, you don't need to run to the store for parts. Everything you need for a leaf blower is in the house. Don't know how to make a free fan at home? Follow the text!
What does an air cooler consist of:
- engine
- fan blades
- stand
- power supply
The last point can be omitted if you make a USB fan with your own hands. The computer has a voltage of 5 volts. You will need a printer cable, an old mouse, or any unnecessary device with a USB cable.
If you are a fan of DIY projects, you probably have some useful junk in your house. Otherwise, you have no need to know how to make a fan yourself.
Can't find an electric motor in a box of unwanted parts? You can make a fan from a motor from an old disk drive or a broken toy. Let's look at a few examples of how to make a mini fan from scrap materials.
Glue, cardboard, toy motor
To make a small propeller you will need a piece of corrugated cardboard 30x30 cm.
We glue the support in 2-3 layers, the area is at least two palms. We make the rack for the engine in the form of a prism 10–15 cm high. For cutting, we use a stationery knife. We bend the structure along a ruler.
How to make a mini fan durable and stable? Let's take advantage glue gun. No other glue will allow the connection to be made as reliably.
We connect with hot glue, and as thickly as possible: the structure should turn out to be monolithic. The blades can be made from thinner cardboard. The packaging for a mobile phone accessory is suitable.
This is the most critical element: the blades must be absolutely identical in shape and weight. Otherwise, your propeller will vibrate during operation and will quickly fall apart.
Glue the blades (carefully) onto cardboard sleeve, respecting aerodynamics. The planes should be rotated 30–45 degrees in opposite directions. To simplify the design, we assemble a USB fan with two blades with our own hands. They are easier to balance, and such a propeller can cope with cooling no worse than a three-bladed one.
Test run and balancing
We make a hole in the very center of the bushing (using an awl), place it on the motor axis, and carry out a test run. Of course, before assembly it is necessary to coordinate the angle of attack of the blades with the direction of rotation of the motor. Otherwise the fan will blow reverse side. If there is vibration, the propeller can be easily balanced by simply lifting the blades. After making sure that the propeller rotates smoothly and blows where required, we glue the motor onto the stand. Don't spare glue!
We connect the USB cable to the power wires of the engine. Of course, it is better to do this with a soldering iron, but given the meager power, you can get by with simple twisting. The main thing is not to forget to insulate the connection using electrical tape or tape.
How to determine the power pins of a USB cable
Any USB connector consists of 4 pins. We are not interested in averages, these are information wires. The 5 volt power supply is on the outermost contacts. Wiring in the illustration:
If you reverse the polarity, nothing bad will happen. The motor will just spin in the wrong direction. How to determine the motor supply voltage? There is no need to look for markings. If the toy (where it was installed) is powered by three batteries (1.5 volts each), then the motor is 5 volts. If it runs on two batteries, it will not be suitable for USB power.
CD
Don't know how to make an efficient CD fan? It's easier than it seems. We divide the disk into 8 sectors. An even number of blades is easier to balance if axial runout occurs.
We cut out the blades with ordinary scissors. You can do this work using a construction knife, or melt the sectors with a soldering iron - big difference No. If you accidentally break a CD, get a new one.
The extra segments are broken out, the rest are given the aerodynamic shape of a propeller. To do this, just heat the workpiece over a candle or using construction hair dryer. If you make a mistake with the geometry, you can always correct the situation by reheating. This is the advantage of crafts made from a CD.
In the center of the structure we glue a thickening: any piece of plastic 5–10 mm. We drill a hole in it for mounting on the electric motor shaft.
Where to get an electric motor
This design uses a drive from a floppy drive. Power supply is 5 volts, speed is moderate. Most likely, you do not have a separate disk drive collecting dust on a shelf; it can be found in the system unit. Nobody uses floppy disks anyway, you can safely disassemble it for spare parts.
The convenient flat motor housing allows you to assemble the fan on a flexible leg. To do this, twist a piece of copper solid wire in a pigtail, and wrap it to the power cable using electrical tape.
The motor with the propeller is glued to the flexible stand either with hot glue or wrapped with the same electrical tape. Unless you're entering a fan design competition, you don't have to worry about aesthetics.
After spending 2–3 hours, you get a convenient, portable “device” that can be installed anywhere without leaving your computer.
Aesthetics from a plastic bottle
If you want not only fresh air, and to make the product pleasing to the eye, we use other materials. The basic components remain the same: a motor from a children's toy and an old USB cord. By the way, you can connect such a fan to a 220 volt outlet using a smartphone charger (with the same USB port).
The highlight of the design is the body. The propeller is made from plastic bottle. The twisted plug will serve as an axial bushing. The stand can be made from a bunch of cocktail straws.
We assemble the elegant base from a second PET bottle and a CD glued to the bottom. If you have free components, you can install a connector and a switch.
Despite the “lightness” of the design, the fan turned out to be quite stable. If necessary, you can put some weight in the body.
Use of factory parts
Let's return to the presence of conditionally unnecessary computer components in the home workshop. For example, a cooler from a power supply or system unit.
The electrical part of the work is reduced to a minimum. If the power is 5 volts, we work according to the scheme: USB cable. To supply 12 volts you will have to look for a power supply or a phone charger. In addition, there are “turbines” that are connected to a 220 volt network.
Actually, to make a fan from a computer cooler, you just need to fix it on some kind of stand. And if you use batteries instead of a USB cord, the flow of fresh air can be organized anywhere.
Video on the topic
It is very hot in the southern regions; nothing will prevent you from acquiring such a “super-powerful” portable fan.
You can take an 18-volt electric drill motor, an RC airplane propeller, and a laptop battery. 4 volts is best option, besides, it is not too noisy during operation. At 12 volts, the device will be super powerful, loud, and will "rattle" (via vibration) on the table.
Required components
The motor and batteries are the most expensive parts. You can buy a cheap used drill with a bad battery and just use the motor. Used laptop batteries usually have 6 cells and will not work if one cell is dead. You can buy these batteries for next to nothing and take the working cells to make a powerful battery (http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-lithium-Ion-Battery-Pack).
Required parts:
- electric motor DC electric drills;
- laptop battery;
- plastic fan blades;
- 1/8" plywood;
- plywood and 2x1" blocks for engine mounting;
- switch (in our case, 2P2T switch for 2 speeds); - electrical cable.
Checking the engine and batteries
Secure the motor and fan to something solid.
You can try applying different voltages to it to adjust the desired wind strength. In our case, for a 4-volt battery, the ideal current was 1.5A. An 8-volt battery for good power corresponds to a current of 3A.
Use 4 batteries, 4 parallel 4V and 2 sets of 2 parallel 8V batteries. So on low power They will last about 5 hours, and on high power for about 1.5 hours.
Connect the 2P2T wires with a switch to switch between series and parallel circuits.
Creating an air duct and mounting the engine
First, glue the 2x1” pieces together to form a T. Measure the pieces to give the propeller about a half inch of clearance on each side.
After gluing the bars, round their edges to make them streamlined.
To mount the engine, cut 2 triangles out of wood. Soak a piece of 1/8" plywood in water, then bend it and let it dry. You can cut 3 3.5" strips of wood grain perpendicular to the piece to make it easier to bend. Use timbers held together in a T as a base and cover it with 3 pieces of plywood, overlapping the joints and leaving one joint. Then glue the 3 ends of the T to the duct plywood. It is also important to try on the engine mount to make sure there is enough clearance.
Then cut two pieces of 1/4" plywood about 4.5 x 1.5 to form the duct support at the top. Glue these supports to the duct and to the "T".
Glue a piece of wood to the "T" to stop the motor from sliding backwards as the motor pushes the air forward and the motor then pushes back.
To secure the motor from below, you can use 2 zip ties.
Battery layout
Use a 6-cell laptop battery to power the fan. For a bicycle fan in motion, you need a 12V fan. As a desk fan, 4V or 8V is more than enough.
Wires to the motor
Solder two 14 gauge wires to the motor. Insulate with electrical tape. To prevent wires from getting caught in the blades, secure them to the fan support.
Testing
Power the motor in parallel with 2 sets of 3 combined cells. The voltage should be about 11.8 V. Even the multimeter should show 3.38 A. The multimeter has some resistance, so the current is actually about 4A. More than 47 W. This is already a very powerful little fan. At 16 V, this fan can already push a bike decently.
Installation of protection
The propeller rotates too quickly, so protection will need to be installed.
Using wire cutters, cut a circle from the large fan guard so that its radius is about half an inch larger than the duct. Loop the wire around the duct. Then hot glue the protection to the front and back.
Switch installation
Install the switch. The fan can now be turned on and off easily. You can use a 2T2P switch and get two rotation speeds.