Vintage Lasko Box Fan Restoration

[thatwasherguy]

Hi everyone! Hope you’re all well. A few months ago, we were helping some family friends get their cabin in the woods ready for the season. The property also has an abandoned farm house that was built in 1900. I recalled from some past visits that the farmhouse house had been abandoned with some of the appliances still in place, so since it wasn’t too rotten to be able to safely enter (with caution), I (with the owner’s permission), carefully ventured inside to document these machines. There were four in total, a circa 1954 Westinghouse FG range (I’m hoping they’ll agree to sell that to me once I clear out some space and get all my other projects done), a probably 1980’s era CRT TV, and two vintage box fans, a early 80’s Superlectric 2083, and a probably mid-60’s Lasko (model unknown). I inquired about purchasing the fans, and they were very kindly donated to my collection. Both appear to be fairly uncommon models (the Lasko being by far the harder to find of the two), but these were pretty far gone. The Superlectric was laying face down in the kitchen under a sheet of plywood, with a healthily sized mouse nest constructed inside of it. The Lasko was in a partially completed bathroom addition, next to a hole in the wall, and halfway fallen through a hole in the floor, with one corner resting on the floor, and the other resting on the dirt below the house. As such, they both have rust issues, but the Lasko was by far the worst condition wise, to the point that I was heavily considering scrapping it and saving the motor. But after seeing how hard they were to find online (as in not a single one matched mine exactly), I reconsidered, and instead decided to restore it. I got these fans back in the late summer, but I only started working on it about a week ago. At the moment, I’d say that I’m probably about 65% of the way done. Most of the heavy lifting is out of the way, but I’m stalled waiting on some spray paint to come in and for Evapo-Rust to do its thing. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of the journey so far. Also, if anyone knows more about these fans, please let me know.

Thatwasherguy.

 

[thatwasherguy]

First, a benchmark.

Well, I had to start somewhere, so I gave the sketchy cord the visual once over, and plugged it in. It didn’t immediately burst into flames, so I took it a step further by turning it on. To my amazement it fired up, albeit a bit grumpily at first. The farmhouse hasn’t had the electricity on since at least the early 2000’s, so it hadn't run in well over 20 years. The Superlectric needed some persuasion in the form of a can of penetrating oil, but it too was awoken from its long slumber.

 

[cfz2882]

nice fans-that Superlectric probably one of the last as they quit about 1982. I don't really collect fans,but somehow have around 50 household type fans from around 1910-87 and a bunch of industrial/commercial fans too. One house type that is set up on display is i think a Gilbert : 4 dark brown rubber blades,no guard,1951,runs very nice.

 

[thatwasherguy]

nice fans-that Superlectric probably one of the last as they quit about 1982. I don't really collect fans,but somehow have around 50 household type fans from around 1910-87 and a bunch of industrial/commercial fans too. One house type that is set up on display is i think a Gilbert : 4 dark brown rubber blades,no guard,1951,runs very nice.

Thanks! That’s cool that the Superlectric was likely made so late in the game. The signs of a declining company are present in this one, most notable plastic motor housing instead of steel like most of the 2083’s I see online. The blades are also strange. They appear to be a slightly different color than the ones online, and the louvres in the center of the blade on this one aren’t punched out, unlike all of the others I saw online. As soon as I get done with the Lasko, this will be my next priority. I plan on getting a local paint store to color match it so that I can POR-15 the rust without having to completely repaint it. I don’t really collect fans either, but these were just too cool to pass up. That Gilbert sounds absolutely awesome! How much air does it move compared to a standard metal bladed fan of the day?

Thatwasherguy.

 

[thatwasherguy]

With the testing out of the way, I began disassembly. I think someone took it apart many years ago and didn’t put it back together right, as there was a newspaper dated 1976 jammed in the front grille to keep it from rubbing the blades, along with what I can only guess was wire insulation tied around the grille and handle, holding it up against the newspaper. The only part that was really a fight was getting the blade off. The set screw was rusted in place, and the blade was rusted to the shaft. However, this wasn’t anything my trusty can of Liquid Wrench couldn’t handle.

 

[thatwasherguy]

After a good scrubbing with the wire wheel, it was time for it to take a bath (insert Bobby Darin here).

 

[thatwasherguy]

With the loose rust knocked off of everything, the grilles could be soaked in the Evapo rust. Even with the pre wash in the tub, it still completely used up my evapo rust. In all fairness, though, I used that same Evapo rust on my 1978 Maytag washer, so it had already been degraded somewhat. On top of that, it almost removed all of the rust from the grille that was bathed in it for the last week. With a fresh batch of Evapo rust, I imagine that the rest of the rust will be gone in a day or two, and I can then soak the other grille, and paint the de-rusted one. I was also now ready to spray the Rust Reformer onto the frame.

 

[thatwasherguy]

At the same time, I was also working on the motor, which I believe to have been built by RMR.

 

[thatwasherguy]

Then, there’s the most challenging part of the repair, dealing with the rust holes. If you look closely at the last photo of disassembly, you can see the concrete floor of the garage through the frame in several places. These only opened up more with sanding, and many new pinholes showed up in the bottom. After breaking off the weakest places around the rust holes, I used some Bondo to patch them. This was my first time using body filler, so I’ll warn you that it’s pretty bad, especially on the inside. However, given what this fan was like before, I think it’s still better off than it was. Besides, I wanted to experiment with using the stuff on something that wouldn’t really matter if it was pretty. It got marginally better with sanding (particularly on the outside), but on the inside, it’s just going to look like what it is, which is what I expected.

 

[thatwasherguy]

With that out of the way, painting could begin on the frame. I used the same can of spray paint that I used on the control panel trim of my 1978 Maytags back in 2022. This is the current hold up, as that particular color is, annoyingly, no longer carried by my local Lowe’s (the only place locally that sells Krylon that I know of), so I ordered a couple of cans online, and they should get here next week.

 

[thatwasherguy]

In the meantime, I plan on cleaning up the blades, and doing whatever I can with the grilles, so that I’ll be ready to rock and roll when the paint comes in.

Thatwasherguy.

 

[phillymatt53]

Fix 'em up good there, mister washerguy!

Ya gotta love those old fans!
With care, those things will last a century!

I got a few restored oldies but goodies too and they've been running perfectly for the last 40 years.