Heatsink Candlestick

This is almost an accidental instructable - my son was taking apart a computer fan for a different project, my eye fell on the heatsink and I had a lightbulb moment...

This candlestick is made from a retired PC fan, and that's all you really need in the way of materials.

The tools are almost as basic - all I used was my multi-tool. If you haven't got a multi-tool, then you'll need a small screwdriver (probably a cross-head) and a pair of pliers.

This instructable is not so much a make as an unmake - most of the work is in disassembling the PC fan and the frame that holds the fan to the heatsink.

I started by unclipping the fan itself from the frame.

Four small screws released the frame from the heatsink, and then a quick wrench with the pliers removed the plastic widgets that presumably held the fan in place in the PC case.

This left me with a copper bowl, surrounded by aluminium vanes, and all atop four dinky little feet.

Once the heatsink was released from its bonds, it turned out to be full of fluff and dust.

A quick rinse in hot water fixed that, and once it was dry I could call the candlestick finished.

I actually had several identical PC fans, so I made a second candlestick, and I now have a pair, one at each end of the mantelpiece.

If you're not stopping to take photos, this whole project only takes a few minutes, so keep an eye on the tech scrap you collect in your stash - some of it is more decorative than you think!