David Kilnapp Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 (edited) Happy New Year, friends! You may recall that I recently acquired an Emerson 1500 from Chad Baker. It was in good shape and ran well, if not slowly and noisily - a perfect candidate for restoration. It came apart easily until I got to the removal of the stator, which would not budge even a little bit. I used all my tricks: oil, heating the case to expand it, freezing it in hopes that the stator would shrink. As a last resort I tried the PVC pipe method after moving the center rod and centrifugal start electrified copper thing to the side. I tried tap tap tapping and no movement whatsoever, so I tapped harder and this was the result. I should say that even with the back blown out, the stator still refused to budge so I broke the case open. I was ready to toss it and chalk this up to stupidity when Ben Guegain contacted me and suggested that he could put the pieces together for me. Well, Ben was being very generous and insisted that he could do it so I sent it along. After some time, he sent me these pictures. I was astounded but didn't want to get my hopes up since any deviation of the center rod from perfectly dead center would mean that the fan would not run quietly if at all. Dan O'Toole did some sanding on the welded joints and returned it to Ben who sent it on to Rick Powell who sent me this picture. Pretty amazing but not quite as good as it turned out. Rick went to work on it and before long, I received these pictures: The finished rear case arrived today and I promised myself that I would patiently work to re assemble it. It took a couple of hours of careful sanding to get the stator back into the case without forcing it unnecessarily. Finally, after some tweaking it was back together and running smoothly. AMAZING thanks to the talents of Ben Guegain, Rick Powell, Dan O'Toole with a nod to Ron Bethoney for the wonderful brass work. Here's a video of it running: Edited December 31, 2021 by David Kilnapp 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave McManaman Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Part of me thinks, “well, it’s an Emerson” but, seriously folks, that is very impressive! Great job!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Lagarde Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Holy smokes, that is an amazing restoration. A Phoenix rising. Beautiful fan and recognition of the many wonderful people in this Forum. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kilnapp Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 Some really terrific people are in this club for sure! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butler Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 From trash to treasure! Amazing job and congratulations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Nyman Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 That is amazing, not only for the talent that it took but for the kindness of all involved. Pretty special group this is...keep well all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Ray Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Truly an amazing save on a beautiful fan! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Guegain Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Never say never! Beautiful fan! With the japanne you can’t notice the imperfections on the back of housing at least from here! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Dunaway Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Kudos to all that helped keep this fan outta the scrap yard and to David for not giving up 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel OToole Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Your most welcome glad you now have $1000.00+ fan Looks Amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Powell Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 21 hours ago, Ben Guegain said: Never say never! Beautiful fan! With the japanne you can’t notice the imperfections on the back of housing at least from here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Powell Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Ben when I received the casting and carefully examined it I was in awe on how you pieced it back together and in particular got the bearing centered, great job. You mentioned it was a challenge you wanted to see if you could master, I did the same. The case while together and fit needed more dremmel work, filing, and sanding than I have ever done. With the Japanne process there aren’t fillers that withstand to stoving process, it was necessary to smooth all welds. Japanne can be used a a filler to a point before the thickness wrinkles, I applied 7 coats wet sanding in between, the most I ever have.done. Each coat takes approximately 4 hours. End result a happy Dave Kilnapp and one saved from the trash, plus two guys that appreciate challenges and helping other fan nuts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kilnapp Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 It's wonderful to have such marvelously talented friends! Thank you all and best wishes for a safe and prosperous 2022! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Powell Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 What goes around comes around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chew Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Wow in the fan world it seems anything is possible. Great work guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Keeping that bearing shaft straight putting the jigsaw puzzle back together deserves a big pat on the back. Not a lot of clearance between the outside of the rotor and the stator laminations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Deats Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Beautiful !!! Museum quality at it's finest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Gaines Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Turned out great, Lots of hours but worth it. Another very nice job David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Behrend Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Great fan with a great story behind it. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marce Clark Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 THAT IS AN OUTSTANDING JOB ON THAT, IT LOOKS AWESOME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Sturgeon Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Yes, That is awesome...people working together to save another treasure!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Daugird Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 That picture was heartbreaking...miraculous save! Great job by all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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