I have a computer fan on my workbench at home that helps draw the fumes away from me when I solder. I’ve been meaning to get some Carbon filters for it (which I just ordered) but I also want one for my desk at work, so I finally got around to building a little stand to get it up to the same height as the helping hands I use for soldering.
I ended up using some piece of Bitbeam to build the frame. I love Bitbeam and should probably use it more often. Jason hasn’t really done much with it in the past few years, but you can still find some info on Thingiverse and Github. (I’m sort of tempted to start designing some compatible pieces, plates, and other bit and bobs.)
You might notice I had to angle two of the pieces. Things didn’t quite line up with the fan mounting holes, so I improvised a bit.
And while I did have a good collection of 6-32 nuts and bolts, most of the bolts I had were either too short or too long. (I ended up using the ones that were too long because the other option didn’t work at all.)
Here’s the fan stand raised up to the proper height to match the helping hands… all ready for soldering! Well, almost ready…
I added a barrel jack to the fan wires. These brushless DC fans (from an old Apple Computer) require you to twist three wires together for the positive, and use one wire for negative. (You have to experiment to determine which are which.)
I also used a 5 volt power supply from an old Zip Drive. What else am I gonna do with a Zip Drive power supply? While the fan expects 12 volts, it just runs a bit slower (and quieter) at 5 volts. If it doesn’t draw enough air I’ll change it to 12 volts.
If your 3D printer is sitting idle, print some Bitbeams to have on hand for a future project. I’ve got a box of various sizes at the ready for the next time I need a simple framing system.