Wall Art: Mechanical Ceiling Fan on the Wall!

Hello there!

Sometimes, the best ideas come from random thoughts. Here is one of them.

I am a student at Vail Academy and High School, and I do design for my robotics club there (FIRST robotics)

This project was an inspired idea when taking a look at the construction of the humble ceiling fan. The project was completely designed by me with Fusion 360, using LightBurn for the laser cut parts and Cura for the 3D printed parts.

I hope you enjoy the journey of creating an art piece with CAD.

Lists of supplies will be listed in categories. Some are optional and will be listed as such.

Section 1: Fan blades and Hub

• 5x Fan arms (3D Printed / FanArm.stl)
• 1x Motor Support Tree (3D Printed / MotorRotatingSupport.stl)
• 15x M3 6mm length bolts
• 10x M3 6mm length bolts OR 8mm long for more satiability (See Section 1)
• 1x Top Hub Disc (Laser Cut / HubPlateFrontDXF.dxf / 2.4mm Bass Plywood / Painted White)
• 1x Top Motor Disc (Laser Cut / TopMotorDiscDXF.dxf / 2.4mm Bass Plywood / Painted White)
• 1x Bottom Motor Disc (Laser Cut / BottomMotorDiscDXF.dxf / 1.5mm Bass)
• 5x Fan Blades (Laser Cut / FanBladeDXF.dxf / 3mm Craft Plywood)

Section 2: Light Fixture Aesthetic

• 1x Light Fixture Stem (3D Printed / LightFixtureStem.stl)
• 1x Light Fixture Shell (3D Printed / LightFixtureShell.stl)
• 1x Light Fixture Nib (3D Printed / LightFixtureNib.stl)
• 1x Rear Light Fixture Plate (Laser Cut / BottomLightFixtureDXF.dxf / 2.4mm Bass Plywood)
• 1x Front Light Fixture Plate (Laser Cut / TopLightFixtureDXF.dxf / 2.4mm Bass Plywood)

Section 3: Hub and electronics

• 1x Hub Rim (3D Printed / HubRim.stl)
• 1x Mounting Ring (3D Printed / MountingRing.stl)
• 1x Rear Hub Plate (Laser Cut / HubPlateRearDXF.dxf / 2.4mm Bass Plywood)
• 4x Mounting Screws with maximum 4mm diameter and at least 26mm long
• 4x Drywall Anchors for screws listed above
• 17PM-K374BN02CN Stepper Motor (Minebea / NEMA 17 With square Shaft)
• Cable for NEMA 17 stepper listed above

Section 4: Optional Electronics for moving! (OPTIONAL)

• Arduino UNO
• L9110S Driver Board (KOOBOOK 2Pcs L9110S 2 Channels DC Stepper Motor Dual Motor Driver Module Controller Board for Arduino - - Amazon.com)
• Wood stain for all of the wooden pieces (stain BEFORE assembly)

The photos will really help you out here. Also, a note that if you want your wood stained, do it BEFORE this step.

In this step you will need to use the materials in Section 1 of the materials list.

Part 1: Motor Plate Assembly.

First is gluing together the top and bottom motor plate. I used some of the screws to align the holes and used super glue to glue them together. It is a good idea to compress the pieces down with heavy books to ensure that this part is flat.

IMPORTANT: Make sure the holes are lined up. ALL of the holes need to be lined up, and the square hole only lines up one way.

Once you have your discs glued together, it is time to add the motor support tree. This piece is to ensure stability on the fan and to prevent the wood hole widening due to gravity. You want to use the stepper motor in this part too (For aligning holes).

Put the support tree on the stepper motor and add some glue. Sliding on the previously mentioned motor disc with the smaller disc facing OUT to join with the tree to complete the part. (See pictures for help)

The part that you should have now should look like the 7th photo.

Part 2: Fan arm attachment.

This will require the M3 6-8mm bolts (10x).

Taking the piece from the last part, Add the Front hub plate to the mix. The plate should go in-between the fan arms and the wider part of the motor disc assembly. See photo 10 for an idea of the completed part.

Adding the screws from the back, connect the fan blades to the motor disc. You want the fan arms on the other side of the motor support tree. You can see the finished part in photos 9 and 10.

This part is simple. The things you need is the 15 of the 6mm bolts.

You want to add the screws from the rear of the fan blade into the holes on the fan blade arm.

For rigidity, consider adding super glue to bond the blades and the arms together.

Hooray! You have completed Section 1!

This part requires the materials listed in section 2.

Part 1: Main cylinder

This is a little tricky to explain in word form, so look at the pictures for help.

First you want to add the bottom light fixture plate to the bottom of the light fixture shell (the bottom of the shell is the side without a castle look) secure with super glue. See photo 4.

Next, you add the top light fixture plate to the top of the shell (the castle side) and secure with super glue. See photo 3.

Finally, you can add the nib to the hole in the top plate and securing with super glue. See photo 3.

Part 2: Final assembly

You will need the part made from previous and the light fixture stem.

Add the stem to the light fixture assembly, lining up the castle side of the stem with the inner gear look of the bottom light fixture plate. Secure with glue. See photo 6.

Hooray! You completed section 2!

This section requires the materials in section 3, along with the completed assemblies from sections 1 & 2.

To start, use the mounting ring as a guide to drill holes for the drywall anchors. With that, put the hub rear plate and the mounting ring on the wall and screw in. Make sure it is tight!

Next, you want to press fit the Hub Ring onto the assembly on the wall. See photo 4 for a reference.

Now, you want to add your stepper motor (make sure the wire is threaded through first!). The hole in the rear plate should be able to keep it in place with friction, but for more stability, add hot glue to be sure it stays. See photos 5 & 6 for an idea of how it should be inserted.

This part requires the parts from section 1 & 2.

This can be difficult, but it will be worth it.

First, you want to connect the shaft of the stepper motor with the fan blade hub, making sure to line up the square shaft with the square hole.

NOTE: Don't push on the hub too far or the next step will be even more difficult!

Next, you want to pressure fit the top hub ring (The thing trapped in-between the motor hub and the fan blades) onto the hub ring. If this part is stubborn and won't go completely on, use a hammer! (Be careful though!)

After that, you can push the motor disc further in. Push it in so much that the fan arms are close to the hub, but nothing collides with anything (for example, the hub ring, and the screws on the rear of the fan blades)

NOTE: In the case of pushing the motor disc it in too far, take out the top hub plate and use a long stick to pull the hub back out to try again!

Finally, take the assembly from section 2. You want to use hot glue to secure the light fixture stem onto the motor shaft and the motor disc. Make sure to align the square hole!

And you are done! Good job!

If you want to make your art piece move, move on to the next step. Otherwise, good job!

Here you will need the stuff listed in section 4 (except the stain of course)

This part is OPTIONAL. If you don't care to have your fan moving and just as a static showpiece, you don't need this step.

First, you need to make all the connections to the different parts of the board to make the circuit. Connections are listed below.

Arduino >> L9110S Driver Chip

PIN 3 >> A-1B

PIN 4 >> A-1A

PIN 5 >> B-1B

PIN 6 >> B-1A

Next, you want to connect the Motor A output to Coil 1 on the motor (On my stepper motor wire, it was the yellow and red wires). The motor B output will go to the other coil, respectively (This was the blue and orange wires for me)

After that, you want to upload the .INO file listed below to the Arduino.

Finally, it's time to hook it all up. the VCC and GND pins on the driver chip need to be hooked up to a 5v power supply, and the Arduino needs a 5v power supply too (either by USB or its own VCC and GND pins).

Once that's done, you should be able to see your fan moving! Good job!

This was in interesting idea indeed. Listed below are some cool ideas for you to try on your own!

• Make a 3D printed enclosure to house the driver chip and Arduino to make a compact and stylish control box!
• Design your own style of fan using the project below to make it your own custom art! (Open file in Fusion 360 to use it)

Thank you for reading my instructible on this interesting idea!