Cleanup on a 21666

[Patrick Ray]

I've had this 21666 for a while now and decided it was time to bring it back to life. No paint job here! Most of the original Japan was intact and in good shape. Several friends have seen my other preservations of original finishes, so I decided it's time for a thread on my methods of preservation. 

I'm not going to get into how to take apart the fan, how to wire it, blah blah blah. There's a thousand great posts already made on those topics. This is just how to bring that original finish back to life along with a couple other topics thrown in along the way.

This will be an on going post until the fan rejoins it's 6 wing brethren in the living room. But today I'll get into cleaning up the finish. 

Normally I do this with an air buffer, but as it's been cold out, I decided to try out a battery buffer by Ryobi. I like it. It's a bit heavier than an air buffer, with the need for a battery, but works pretty well. And it came with the 3 pads I always use for doing this. I used Meguiar's products on this example, but I've also used Chemical Guy's products with great results. 

After blowing the fan apart, I clean off any hardened grime with acetone. This works on the older, more durable Japan finishes. I avoid it on later fans. 

Starting with a wool pad, I start with the cutting compound. This does a great job at stripping light amounts of leftover grime, oxidation, and light scratches. On older Japan, you can get pretty aggressive with a low chance of damaging the finish. Newer paints you need to be cautious with. You can burn through the paint easily. Use a lighter compound, or just jump to the next step (which I usually do). One nice thing I like about the compound is that it strips rust and will leave you with bare metal. Here's the results of the compound:

Next I'll load a foam correction pad onto the buffer and go to town with a cleaner wax. This is usually the step I'll start with on later painted fans. It gets rid of oxidation and fine scratches (and get rid of marks from the previous compound). It also works good as a cleaner for light grime. I'll also use the cleaner wax on a Dremel to get down in the vent holes. 

Getting there! The cleaner wax does leave a wax protective layer behind and it's totally cool to stop here. But I go one step further for added depth to the gloss. Using a soft foam pad, I apply wax. Here I use Meguiar's Black Wax for dark paints, but any good quality wax is acceptable. Buff that wax in and LET IT HAZE. This means let it dry! Go do something else. Go pick out your wire or look for that shrink tube you know you bought last weekend and now can't find... You'll come back to this:

Now buff that out with a microfiber and you'll end up with a beautiful original finish that is well protected and easy to keep clean!

You can see a spot of paint loss on the side of the housing. Some guys touch this up, I leave it alone. The camera makes it look whiter than it actually is. It's raw cast iron, it's a dark grey. But the main objective here was to bring back a beautiful gloss to totally original paint. You could do all of this by hand, but it'll just take a lot longer. Small parts I typically do by hand. 

Stay tuned to this thread... You'll see me buff the brass and rivet the wings back on the hub. I'll also show using liquid gun bluing on steel fasteners. 

I'm in no way calling all of these methods my own or even the best. They are just what I do to achieve the look I like. I've learned some of these methods from other people, reading former postings, and just trying new stuff out to see what the results yield. I just want to show others that my methods aren't difficult and anyone can do it! 

Edit: Apparently Meguiar's Black Wax has been discontinued. I've got some Chemical Guys Black Light Hybrid Radiant Finish on order as a replacement. 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Patrick Ray
Product info

[Lawrence Smith]

what's your address ,I've got an 11646 that needs that treatment!! Great Job

  

[Patrick Ray]

14 minutes ago, Lawrence Smith said:

what's your address ,I've got an 11646 that needs that treatment!! Great Job

  

Thanks Lawrence! I find these early Emersons typically hold up decently over the years. And they respond well to my method, provided there's a good amount of Japan left. 

I recently came across 2 later Emersons where 95%+ of the paint remained. Jumped right to the cleaner wax and they both turned out like new. 

[Mike Morris]

Thanks for the information. I am almost at that point on a 16666, and do believe I will try your methods. Still dealing with some small chips where rust has formed. I just can't let those go and have to deal with them. Guess that puts me in the "rust needs to be dealt with not left alone" camp. I love original when possible, but given enough time rust will just destroy that originality. That being said, will the wax  be sufficient to keep new rust from forming? I assume it would for a while but would need to be reapplied.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Mike Morris

[Patrick Ray]

Mike, I've found that the wax will keep it from rusting again. I just sold a 19648 that had bare metal showing. I buffed that a few years back. No rust when I sold it a couple weeks back. What also helps is yearly I give the fans a wipe down. I use detail spray which has waxes built in. This cleans the fan, maintains the gloss, and leaves new waxes on the finish. For this I use Chemical Guys quick detailer spray on a microfiber towel. Shown here is an original finish 17666.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Patrick Ray

[Jim Roadt]

Nicely done

[Stephen Chew]

Beautiful clean up Patrick!

 

[Steve Kelly]

Nice job. I am working on the same fan. I do pretty much the same thing with very similar products. Everything I do is by hand. Not by choice just dont have any equipment. Lol. It really is amazing how tough the original finish is on these Emersons. Prefer to bring back the original finish if it's in decent shape than to paint. Thanks for the tips.

[Patrick Ray]

Steve, I see you got the 21666 that has the homemade collar! Jerry Bravi makes a beautiful replacement that is stronger than the original. I keep spares of his collars as that seemed to be the only weak point on these Emersons. But I'm in agreeance with you, if you have enough of the original finish, preserve it. My 21666 was just begging for a polish job. And with some time and elbow grease, this fan will shine just like the 16666 I just completed that has new powder coat. 

[Steve Kelly]

Patrick

I got the correct collar from Chad at AFP. I have it on now. Not sure if its on correctly. Lol. I'm a rookie. I need the oscillator arm for it. I sent Chad a message yesterday to see if he has one. I was cleaning it up in the meantime. I agree. Anytime I can save the original finish thats the way to go. I have no problem painting but if its presentable I'll clean it up first. I have a GE BMY that was very sad looking when I got it. A little elbow grease and time and you would think it was restored.

[Lawrence Smith]

those results are amazing , but looking at the pics of both your fans --finding an original fan with the completeness of the original finish on both fans pictured is extremely rare in my parts. Just about a my bases look like they have been stored in 1" of water, I too really like the look of the original finish with cleaned up blades-- it shows the quality of these work horses & yet even non collectors can tell the fan is old.

[Steve Kelly]

I here you. I was lucky to find a few in good enough condition to save. Trust me most I have found are far worse than these and require painting. Im stripping paint off two fans as we type. lol.

[Patrick Ray]

Steve, great save on the BMY! Beautiful original finish! 

Lawrence, I agree with you that most fans don't have enough of the original finish left for paint resurrection. Bases are the first thing to go. Even this 21666 that I'm working on has plenty of chips on the lip of the base.

Sometimes a newly acquired fan is better than you think. Just gotta look through the grime and grease and oil. Seems that these layers made a protective shell over the original finish. I've run into a few fans that looked real sad. But then I realize that it's just gunk and there's really no rust showing. Potentially a good candidate for paint resurrection. 

I took before and after pics of the lip with some rust. Just a few seconds with the heavy cut compound on the buffer and it stripped the rust. It'll get a little better appearing with the next 2 buffing steps.

[Lawrence Smith]

Patrick , your base is exactly what I’m referring too, it has over 90% original finish, mine usually have a huge rust ring 

[Paul Carmody]

On 3/13/2022 at 8:35 PM, Mike Morris said:

 Still dealing with some small chips where rust has formed. I just can't let those go and have to deal with them. 

On small rust chips I sometimes use a rust converter.I use MarHyde .I buy the spray can.Spray a little in the cap,take a small tip brush and dab the chip.It turns very dark purple to black,the more rust the darker, and it is permantly sealed.It only works right on rust, so only remove loose rust.It must be free of oil,wax.I like using a wax and grease remover because it doesn't harm paint.Or what ever you usually use.(Don't use the Rustoleum rust converter,it is only black primer.Rip off!)

Edited March 15, 2022 by Paul Carmody

[Doug Wendel]

I admire your patience.  I definitely prefer a rust bucket that requires stripping and coating to all of that cleaning and polishing work.

[Patrick Ray]

1 minute ago, Paul Carmody said:

On small rust chips I sometimes use a rust converter.I use MarHyde .I buy the spray can.Spray a little in the cap,take a small tip brush and dap the chip.It turns very dark purple to black,the more rust the darker, and it is permantly sealed.It only works right on rust, so only remove loose rust.It must be free of oil,wax.I like using a wax and grease remover because it doesn't harm paint.But what ever you usually use.(Don't use the Rustoleum rust converter,it is only black primer.Rip off!)

I'll need to try that Paul! I have an industrial rust converter at work that we use on vehicles before applying undercoat. Like your product, it turns the surface rust a very dark purple-black. 

[Patrick Ray]

5 minutes ago, Doug Wendel said:

I admire your patience.  I definitely prefer a rust bucket that requires stripping and coating to all of that cleaning and polishing work.

Thanks Doug. It does take some work. Gotta let the fan talk to you and tell you what it needs to be presentable again. Last fan across my bench was fully stripped and recoated (see my 16666). There was just not enough Japan left to save. This was one of those where I could do a preservation. Next 2 across my bench will need a recoat (17666 & 19666). 

[Lawrence Smith]

Hey Patrick I did find one that will need to follow your methods , it still has the numbers on the base, hoping to get to it this  spring. Emerson 11646

[Patrick Ray]

38 minutes ago, Lawrence Smith said:

Hey Patrick I did find one that will need to follow your methods , it still has the numbers on the base, hoping to get to it this  spring. Emerson 11646

Love the Emerson and the Plymouth hubcap in the background! When working on areas with numbers (and pinstripes like R&M) you can use some tape to protect the numbers (or stripes) while using compound.  Compound will remove them. I've found they are ok when getting to the cleaner wax stage. Just be careful if using a buffer as you can still burn through those details. When using compound on the base, I use the wool pad on edge (and less speed) to get between the ribs. 

 

[Patrick Ray]

Getting back to more cleanup on the 21666. Got all the Japan cleaned up. Now I'm onto the small parts. Took the steel hardware to a wire wheel to cleanup the rust. Not a big fan of polished steel fasteners (I prefer polished brass). But I don't want to paint the fasteners and chip the paint the first time I run them in. I started using liquid gun blue on all the steel. I love how it darkens the steel. It's a subtle contrast against all the black on the fan. Plus it's pretty easy to do. After cleaning the fastener, I dip it in the bluing solution for 10 seconds. Then I pull it out and use a Q-tip soaked in solution to move the solution around on the surface to make sure it's pretty even. Then wipe down with a clean cloth. If you want it darker, go at it again. Usually one round is enough for me. I know it's not what the factory did, but I sure like the looks of it!

 

[Patrick Ray]

Doing some more parts cleanup.  Found this stamped "ARGUTO" "PATENTED". Google search shows it's a company that made oil impregnated wood bearings. Looks like this company was around back in the teens. Original? First time I've ever noticed it. 

 

[Patrick Ray]

Been busy the past couple of weekends, but I've got some time to get back to assembling the 21666. I grabbed a hold of the cage to put it on the buffing wheel, and I noticed the joint for the back ring was all cracked. Looks like someone tried to solder it at one point. This is actually a pretty easy fix! For you guys that build cages or have sweat copper plumbing, this is easy. But for the guys that haven't done it before, I'll show you how I do it. 

First I measured the diameter of the wire with some calipers. I bought an assortment of hollow brass tubing on Amazon. Get the pack with various sizes, trust me, you'll need it one day. Using a tubing cutter for automotive brake lines, I cut off the length I need. 

I have a little butane kitchen torch that I use for annealing rivets (and making cremé brulee 😁) and I heated up the old joint to get rid of any solder holding the joint together. Pulled off the old sleeve (use pliers as this is hot!). I cleaned up the portion going into the new sleeve using a file. This cleans the surface, removes any solder, and creates a little "tooth" for the new solder to grab onto. 

Next I apply some soldering flux to the cage ring ends and slide both ends into the new sleeve, pushing until you feel the ends meet inside the tube. Next, grab your torch and get that joint hot! The flux will turn to liquid. Touch your solder to the joint and let it melt into the joint. Repeat on other end of sleeve. Make sure you have solder going all the way around the joint on both sides. Need more solder? Heat it again and apply more. 

To recreate the look of the original sleeve with the dimpled rings, I take my tubing cutter and just score a groove to give it that look. Some fine sand paper to clean up the solder, and I'm ready to bring it to the buffing wheel!

[Jim Roadt]

Nicely done

I think I could even do that following your instructions

[Patrick Ray]

7 minutes ago, Jim Roadt said:

Nicely done

I think I could even do that following your instructions

Thanks Jim. I first had to do that on an R&M tank cage. Both rings needed new sleeves. Getting the multi pack of brass tubing let me do various cage sizes.

The tubing also comes in handy when you have sloppy oscillator links. Cut off a little piece of tubing to go around the threads of the screw and that becomes a new sleeve to take up the slop.