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How to Make a Fan With a Hand Crank

Fans with hand cranks move air efficiently, and they are popularly used to fan barbecue and camp fires. Using a fan that is cranked by hand negates the need to use a power source such as electricity to make the fan operate. Building a hand-cranked fan is fairly straightforward using an automotive engine cooling fan, wood and a hand crank.

Things You'll Need

Goggles
Gloves
2-by-4-by-24-inch wood
Measuring tape
Hand crank
Power drill
Drill bits
Screwdriver bits
Three-blade automotive engine cooling fan with connection ring or pin
3-inch wood screws
1-inch thick, 2-foot diameter, round, wood tabletop

Instructions

- 1
  Put on goggles and gloves. Drill a hole slightly larger than the diameter of a hand crank's shaft in a 2-by-4-by-24-inch wood plank. Place the hole at least 2 inches from each side of the wood.
- 2
  Test the hole's size by verifying you can rotate the crank with minimal effort when the hand crank's shaft is in the hole. Leave the hand crank's shaft in the hole.
- 3
  Drill one or more holes in the hand crank's shaft for the three-blade automotive engine cooling fan's connecting ring or pin, or its connecting rings or pins. At least one connecting ring or pin went through a shaft and held the automotive engine cooling fan in place in a vehicle. The fan is attached to the connecting ring or pin; keep it attached.
- 4
  Place the connecting ring or pin, or connecting rings or pins, in the hand crank's shaft.
- 5
  Set the wood plank holding the fan and hand crank in the middle of a 1-inch thick, 2-foot diameter, round, wood tabletop. Secure the items together using 3-inch wood screws. The tabletop is the hand-cranked fan's base.

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