Make a Fan From a Discarded Microwave. Episode 4

This is Episode 4 of my series on taking a discarded microwave and using its parts to make other things. The series is intended to encourage others to repurpose items flagged for the landfill.

In Episode 3, I made a spot welder. I wanted to use the spot welder in this build to see how it performed.

The fan build is super simple. Just fabricate an enclosure around a microwave fan assembly. The tricky part is designing access areas for the spot welder. A spot welder has two electrodes that sandwiches between two sheets of metal. If you don't allow for this, then you can't position the spot welder.

Another issue was ensuring the sheets of metal are pressed firmly together. The weld bead needs to touch both sheets otherwise you get sparks but no joining. So applying firm pressure before hitting the button is important.

Lastly, a tricky part is planning adequate access and order of operation. There were a couple of places where it was impossible to get the spot welder into position. In those instances I cheated and pulled out my MIG welder.

Because I was running out of scrap metal I resorted to 3D printing some parts. Most of this was added for finer detailing.

My next Episode of #saveamicrowave series should be my last. There are still parts left over from the microwave but nothing worthy of a full video.

Mahalo for watching! : )

#saveamicrowave series
Episode 1: Turntable    • Make a Turntable From a Discarded Microwav...  
Episode 2: Tray    • Make a Serving Tray From a Discarded Micro...  
Episode 3: Spot Welder    • Make a Spot Welder From a Discarded Microw...  


P.S. I experimented with my filming. I used a single light source. I'll never do that again. : )