Posted 6 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
#4 of the collection was made by "GRAYBAR ELECTRIC CO. U.S.A.". Probably finished in black enamel originally, it is now mostly under a thick coat (or 3) of white paint. On a shorter (a foot or so long) hanging pipe/bracket, this one still has its original bezel (though it is damaged) to cover the hanger. It also has an original (I suppose...I didn't put it there anyways?) LEVOLIER brand pull-string switch mounted to its topside, with the string actually threaded down thru the fan motor itself to come out the center of its bottom. Like the others I don't know how hold it is for sure, but am guessing this one is tending a little bit more into the 1930's...?
I know for a fact that this one still operates just fine, as it is the only one of the whole bunch which has been actually used again since I dragged them all out of the soon-to-be-crushed house they'd been left in. Not too long after I rescued them, I bought some generic modern fan-blade brackets from the hardware store, made some new wood blades, and hung it up in the rafters of the shop where I work -- it stayed there for several years until having to be taken down because we were otherwise building something 'too tall' underneath it. (the power cord I attached to it is still on it, but I don't know where the 'new' blades disappeared to...?)
One more detail about it I can testify to as a fact...if 'ya look close over the nameplate and Levolier switch (next to where the pullstring goes in/down) you'll see a little sorta 'funnel' cast into its housing. This is where one puts oil into it to keep it lubricated. (and I think is actually identified as such in the casting, but I didn't get a pic of that) Apparently there's some kinda 'reservoir' for said oil hidden inside there beneath it...because if one happens to tip the motor sideways (when, for instance, taking it *back down* from the rafters @ the shop?) one will quite likely find himself (and/or his clothes, ladder steps, etc. etc.) getting a surprise "OIL BATH" leaking back outta the thing... <groan><lol>
In the future, clean out and relubricate old motors before using them. While the reservoir may be oil still (or liquid tar by now), the thinner coating of oil on the parts themselves likely hardened with age and heat. Not much worse than bear metal and crusty oil on moving parts. You should see what it does to clocks. They wear out, things become loose, and suddenly end up like a car-wreck as one piece chews into another in a bad fashion. This is why I lubricate all my used clocks. Less friction = longer life.
Of course SP -- and indeed I did (electrically) check/clean this one before re-hanging it, though not to the point of disassembly because it was already still perfectly free-running when I found it. [and actually most of the rest of 'em still are too...good testament to the quality level of their construction, way back then?!!]