FINISHED- Ivory Emerson DC 75046

[Marc Sova]

EDIT- she’s done!!! I’ll maybe post a video or two or make a new post at some point. But wanted to update the pics on this main post with a few completed pictures. Thanks all!!!!!

My first DC Emerson….and it looks like it was ivory (or white?) from the factory.

   This fan (1930) was from the Palmer House hotel in Chicago, a very large historic hotel, as there is a brass property/inventory tag riveted nicely to the back of a strut. So…it’s likely that the hotel special ordered several in this color (that’s just a guess but I could see an ivory color matching the elegant decor more so than black). It also was in the wall mount position…seemingly for a long time .  But…it’s been painted blacK for a LONG time judging from the amount of grease and grime on it. I’m certain the ivory is original just because of some details….primarily the cage and cage badge. 

   I know light linseed oil based paints darken and amber/yellow with age so I’m not yet sure if the exact original  color. One flake/chip that come off the blade, the underside of the chip was  pretty white compared to the rest of the exposed bits that def have an ivory look. So….its yet to be determined what the exact color was. Blade is brass btw. Was painted ivory under the black too. 
  As far as the black goes, it’s pretty well done. Well except for the cage (badge was painted over). But the motor and everything else seems like it was painted black fairly competently. I almost wonder if Emerson authorized repair shops offered repainting?

 

 

Edited September 6, 2024 by Marc Sova
Delete/add pic

[Michael Rathberger]

I'm old enough to have had dinner there, took the wife. She and her Mom would venture from the western suburbs to Chicago every Christmas and have a mother daughter day. She loved it there. Property tag is Uber cool...

[Russ Huber]

Chicago Hotels | Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel (historichotels.org)

The Palmer House Hilton - Wikipedia

[Marc Sova]

20 minutes ago, Russ Huber said:

Chicago Hotels | Palmer House®, A Hilton Hotel (historichotels.org)

The Palmer House Hilton - Wikipedia

Russ….rick Powell mentioned there used to be a post here about the Emerson’s at the Palmer house….any idea where that’s at? I realty have much luck searching. Not sure if that old post got scratched or if it made it over???

[Russ Huber]

34 minutes ago, Marc Sova said:

Russ….rick Powell mentioned there used to be a post here about the Emerson’s at the Palmer house….any idea where that’s at? I realty have much luck searching. Not sure if that old post got scratched or if it made it over???

I don't recall the post. If it is on the new website, the search feature on the website does not hold a candle to the old website. I have not been able to get on to the old website in months. It is still present in cyber space as the post titles appear when I do Google search using key words. If I click on the post links the website will not allow access anymore. 

I have given a number of heads up on recent past posts of the importance of salvaging the old website if possible. The years of information and images compiled on it is priceless. It was my database go to when it was functional to pull fan images, electrical trade images, and information for posts of present. I could pull answers to questions and images within minutes using the old website.  It appears salvaging it could either not be done, the cost to hire someone tech proficient to do it was out of the budget, or too much hassle to do it. 

I am sorry, but I can't help you or others anymore with any posts that date back to the old website unless by some miracle it allows access again.

[Marc Sova]

3 minutes ago, Russ Huber said:

I don't recall the post. If it is on the new website, the search feature on the website does not hold a candle to the old website. I have not been able to get on to the old website in months. It is still present in cyber space as the post titles appear when I do Google search using key words. If I click on the post links the website will not allow access anymore. 

I have given a number of heads up on recent past posts of the importance of salvaging the old website if possible. The years of information and images compiled on it is priceless. It was my database go to when it was functional to pull fan images, electrical trade images, and information for posts of present. I could pull answers to questions and images within minutes using the old website.  It appears salvaging it could either not be done, the cost to hire someone tech proficient to do it was out of the budget, or too much hassle to do it. 

I am sorry, but I can't help you or others anymore with any posts that date back to the old website unless by some miracle it allows access again.

Yeah… that was kind of my fear. Thanks. 

[Russ Huber]

Marc, if you enter key words into the Google search engine such as "Palmer House Hotel interior 1930", or get creative in your wording in another search, you may cough up an older image in the Palmer Hotel with fans. And then again, you may not. 

[Marc Sova]

35 minutes ago, Russ Huber said:

Marc, if you enter key words into the Google search engine such as "Palmer House Hotel interior 1930", or get creative in your wording in another search, you may cough up an older image in the Palmer Hotel with fans. And then again, you may not. 

Yeah I did that for a couple hours the other night lol. Those sconce light figures fooled me for a minute. 

[Stan Adams]

14 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

I don't recall the post. If it is on the new website, the search feature on the website does not hold a candle to the old website. I have not been able to get on to the old website in months. It is still present in cyber space as the post titles appear when I do Google search using key words. If I click on the post links the website will not allow access anymore. 

I have given a number of heads up on recent past posts of the importance of salvaging the old website if possible. The years of information and images compiled on it is priceless. It was my database go to when it was functional to pull fan images, electrical trade images, and information for posts of present. I could pull answers to questions and images within minutes using the old website.  It appears salvaging it could either not be done, the cost to hire someone tech proficient to do it was out of the budget, or too much hassle to do it. 

I am sorry, but I can't help you or others anymore with any posts that date back to the old website unless by some miracle it allows access again.

Good morning, I'm going to chime in on this as there still seems to be a lot of confusion over the old website in spite of my best efforts to be clear. Your board of directors spent a significant amount of your dues money salvaging all of the old forums & relocating them to the new website. This took an incredible amount of effort led by Larry Hancock, Lane Shirey, & Jamie along with our current web host. Converting 1990s technology over to 2024 technology did not come easy & crashed the site numerous times in the process. Thanks to these efforts, all of that info is now protected on the new website. It was a near miracle the info was backed up during one of the very few times it was clear of malware. For quite sometime it was believed we could never get it back. I loved the old website, it was simple & easy to navigate. It also was no longer supported by the web host & had been taken over by malware. It had not had a security update since the Windows XP days. Since it was so full of malware, Jamie & I made a shared decision to shut it down, but the info is here.

[Michael Rathberger]

Thanks Stan. I searched Palmer and came away with a very cool post from the old site.  Nothing came up about the Palmer House except a member reminiscing about his parents being specific collectors of its memorabilia. When searching for the old posts on plugs and adapters, all of the old posts came up. Not debating it, but I've been satisfied with what turns up from the old site. 

[Russ Huber]

4 hours ago, Stan Adams said:

I loved the old website; it was simple & easy to navigate. It also was no longer supported by the web host & had been taken over by malware. It had not had a security update since the Windows XP days. Since it was so full of malware, Jamie & I made a shared decision to shut it down, but the info is here.

Stan, no disrespect intended to you and those who played a part in the efforts to salvage the old website. It appears my choice of words in my previous post here and lack of knowledge of ALL that went down to gain access the old website posts was wrong. You and those involved have my sincere apology. 

I too, like you, enjoyed the easy navigation of the old website, and access to the years of posts through key words on Google, or the old website search engine. I can't do the same now with the new old forum access. That is no fault of those involved that made a diligent effort to salvage the old website. If members are using it to their benefit, then all the efforts and cost were worth it.  If the old website is full of malware and needed to be shut down, it is what it is. 

Edited May 9, 2024 by Russ Huber

[Marc Sova]

20 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

Marc, if you enter key words into the Google search engine such as "Palmer House Hotel interior 1930", or get creative in your wording in another search, you may cough up an older image in the Palmer Hotel with fans. And then again, you may not. 

Yeah I did that for a couple hours the other night lol. Those sconce light figures fooled me for a minute. 

[Marc Sova]

Call me insane but…..ima pick all this black off to preserve what’s left of their final finish. 

[Russ Huber]

FWIW....those DC Emerson fans are basic, but well designed and well-constructed. Emerson used a cast iron field unlike the big boys Westinghouse and GE. Those DC Emersons run virtually silent despite the brushed motor. Your base has significant paint loss and rust. You could strip it down to bare metal and match the finish you cherish. The critical detail to your fan is seen below. You just polish the tag up and put it back where it was on your match finish fan. 🙂

Or, you can tell me to fly a kite and mind my own business. 🙂

[Russ Huber]

Your Commutator is of little wear super healthy. Lots of miles to go on that one. 

[Marc Sova]

6 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

Your Commutator is of little wear super healthy. Lots of miles to go on that one. 

Oh really? Nice (I know little about DC). The brushes look decent oo. Like almost too good/new. And they’re huge!!!! (I’ve only pulled brushes on smaller ac/dc fans like northwind an and westy all brass). Odd because I’m under the impression that this thing has been in storage for a looooooog time. And it was really filthy so it ran a lot. That’s the strange thing…. trying to wrap my head around the fact that the black paint job seems really really old (lead oil) and for it to be so greasy/dirty on top of the black….and being dc from 1930…well, I just can’t square how it couldve gotten that dirty running on dc in the short amount of time that dc was maybe still around in Chicago?. Unless after being at the Palmer house, it moved or was sold to a mechanical room or machine shop or some industrial type location where they had dc power for some mechanical type machines etc.????

[Marc Sova]

6 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

FWIW....those DC Emerson fans are basic, but well designed and well-constructed. Emerson used a cast iron field unlike the big boys Westinghouse and GE. Those DC Emersons run virtually silent despite the brushed motor. Your base has significant paint loss and rust. You could strip it down to bare metal and match the finish you cherish. The critical detail to your fan is seen below. You just polish the tag up and put it back where it was on your match finish fan. 🙂

Or, you can tell me to fly a kite and mind my own business. 🙂

Yeah it may indeed become a pull repaint. But for now I’m hoping to inpaint the missing areas at least on the motor. But end it has some huge swaths of missing ivory. But yeah the base and cage would be a full repaint.  

[Marc Sova]

Decided to go at it with acetone. 

[Marc Sova]

Pondering repainting it in its entirely now. I always had this in the back of my mind that it might come to this..:.it’s just the old stuff is going to constantly be flaking off here and there leaving little lead paint chips everywhere. If I do I’m going with one shot. It’s great paint. It’s been around a long time. And the color is pretty dead to nuts spot on. Yes probably put it in a spray gun….but I MIGHT brush it on. I swear I think the original may have been brushed with some of the imperfections in the paint. I mean…I didn’t see brushstrokes per se, the old lead paint would’ve laid down really well and concealed them. But there’s some tiny textural things that make me ponder if it was brushed. But this fan was oria. Ly part of a large order..:,so maybe they would’ve sprayed it???? Did they have spray guns in 1930? Pretty sure they did. 

[Bill Dunlap]

If you have an oven, you can bake the enamel at 250 degrees for an hour or so to make it rock hard overnight. Then you can cut it back with 400 wet or dry and coat it again, then bake again. Sometimes the baking leaves a haze on the surface which can be buffed out to a high shine. The end result will be tough and durable. I've done several and they last for years and resist chipping and scratching.

[Roger Borg]

I use one shot at work and for small paintings I make. Have never baked it as bill noted, but it sets up super quick if you don't use the reducer / extender. But a great finish if you can do it fast. 

Good luck...

[Lane Shirey]

On 5/8/2024 at 5:47 PM, Russ Huber said:

I don't recall the post. If it is on the new website, the search feature on the website does not hold a candle to the old website. I have not been able to get on to the old website in months. It is still present in cyber space as the post titles appear when I do Google search using key words. If I click on the post links the website will not allow access anymore. 

I have given a number of heads up on recent past posts of the importance of salvaging the old website if possible. The years of information and images compiled on it is priceless. It was my database go to when it was functional to pull fan images, electrical trade images, and information for posts of present. I could pull answers to questions and images within minutes using the old website.  It appears salvaging it could either not be done, the cost to hire someone tech proficient to do it was out of the budget, or too much hassle to do it. 

I am sorry, but I can't help you or others anymore with any posts that date back to the old website unless by some miracle it allows access again.

All of the contents of the old forum have been moved into the new site and is available to members. The old site has been discontinued. There was never an effort to string along the old forum itself as the software is no longer serviceable. This has been mentioned many times over the past few years.  The search mechanism in the new site is what it is. It will get better each time the database is indexed. So it should improve over time.  

Edited June 8, 2024 by Lane Shirey

[Marc Sova]

9 hours ago, Roger Borg said:

I use one shot at work and for small paintings I make. Have never baked it as bill noted, but it sets up super quick if you don't use the reducer / extender. But a great finish if you can do it fast. 

Good luck...

It really is good paint. I use the black to in-paint/touchup on Japan. Let it dry a few days then I polish it with blue magic and it blends in pretty good. When you hit it with a lot of light up close, it’s not as black as the Japan, but I Tony think any paint is. It’s amazing how well it blends in sheen wise and it’s in wise after polishing. I used it in a to undo gun to spray an entire base once and it laid down amazing. This pic is no sanding, no buffing, nothing. Just the laid down one shot lettering black. Base is paint. Motor is Japan. In exceedingly bright light I’m sure you can tell it’s not as black. But under normal conditions it’s perfect. 

[Jim Roadt]

On 6/7/2024 at 4:17 PM, Bill Dunlap said:

If you have an oven, you can bake the enamel at 250 degrees for an hour or so to make it rock hard overnight. Then you can cut it back with 400 wet or dry and coat it again, then bake again. Sometimes the baking leaves a haze on the surface which can be buffed out to a high shine. The end result will be tough and durable. I've done several and they last for years and resist chipping and scratching.

Will a pot metal gearbox handle 250 degrees?

[Bill Dunlap]

Probably, but the result is not likely to be good. Pot metal tends to out-gas, or even weep oil and ruin your paintwork. Sometimes you get lucky as there is a huge variation in composition in pot metal. Some is nearly all zinc, which has adhesion problems, but won't out-gas.