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Articulated arm computer fan to speed finish drying - Close up
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Articulated arm computer fan to speed finish drying - Close up

Closer look at the turned recess and fan. Fan requires 0.2 amps, 5v and is fairly quiet. Other fans are certainly available to do the same. I had the dowels, but flat stock may work better for the arm as it would make folding it up for storage easier. Dried the oil in 2 days, maybe 3.
As a painter, lacquerer, I always found air movement, although it does promote drying, very bad for a perfect finish. It moves dust with it and it all gets in the perfect finish.
 
As stated, the intent is for drying finish inside relatively enclosed containers. This is not an area of close inspection and any finishing area should not be one of heavy dust. With the articulated arm, the fan can be focused inwards so as not to stir up dust from the surrounding area. Also, this very small computer fan moves the air rather gently. These are not gale force winds.
If I recall, lacquer is very quick to dry, so unlikely to see any benefit from this. And though I doubt this fan can generate enough force to move wet paint, painting typically involves different colors neighboring each other, so probably not ideal for a fan either. But if you are finishing a piece with an oil based finish and are using that finish inside a relatively enclosed container, I think this is a very useful accessory. (And very inexpensive to make.)
 
I should add that while making this and hearing news reports again and again of the impact of oppressive heat in different areas of the country and world, I have looked into and picked up some larger computer fans. I bought some 4" Corsair fans. They spin at up to 1850 RPM and push up to 59.1 CFM at 28.9 dBA. Rated current is a slim 0.38 amps. Also an article in Fine Homebuilding about a zero energy home that was, I think, 3 floors. To keep a consistent temp across all floors, they used a computer fan in a PVC duct and reported that it worked great and was very quiet and energy efficient.

These fans could easily be powered by modest solar panels, or modest battery packs at night. No expert, but I suspect that the air movement generated by these could provide substantial relief, especially at night when trying to sleep. I'm looking into power supply options and considering turning some housings for them, seeing where I can take this.

I'd certainly welcome any useful input on this from those with the required background. These fans also have variable speed, usually controlled by the computer. But a manual speed control inclusion would be nice as well.
 

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