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Post by JW on Apr 14, 2004 20:48:54 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2004 13:55:30 GMT -5
I saw that! I dont recognise it, at least not from that picture, but I asked the seller to email me a better photo, maybe I'll recognise it then. Or maybe I've never seen one before.
What years are they from?
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Post by JW on Apr 15, 2004 16:02:35 GMT -5
I don't know what year they were but I remember seeing them back in the early 80's when I was a kid. The blades are top mounted, but the rest of the motor is stationary. I BELIEVE the capacitor was on top of the motor.
There were 3 styles that I remember, all 4 blade:
* the one he is selling
* the same fan with pointed tips on the blades... definitely looked strange
* the most unusual one - it had "flame"-looking blade holders and weird tips (think the rounded tip of an old Westinghouse with a TINY point in the middle). Also on this model, the blade tapered outward like most fans, instead of inward (like an industrial) like the other two models.
I've seen them in brown/brass and black/chrome.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2004 18:03:41 GMT -5
I don't know what year they were but I remember seeing them back in the early 80's when I was a kid. The blades are top mounted, but the rest of the motor is stationary. I BELIEVE the capacitor was on top of the motor. There were 3 styles that I remember, all 4 blade: * the one he is selling * the same fan with pointed tips on the blades... definitely looked strange * the most unusual one - it had "flame"-looking blade holders and weird tips (think the rounded tip of an old Westinghouse with a TINY point in the middle). Also on this model, the blade tapered outward like most fans, instead of inward (like an industrial) like the other two models. I've seen them in brown/brass and black/chrome. I would love to see some pictures of these, if you have them. They seem like really cool fans. Hopefully the guy on ebay will provide a better picture. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2004 20:21:24 GMT -5
Well I took a chance, and bid on it, and won. When it arrives I'll be sure to get pictures, so we can all see what it looks like. Hopefully it's really cool, if not I'll be selling it  -Dan |
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Post by JW on Apr 24, 2004 17:20:49 GMT -5
Cool, glad you won it. It is definitely a weird fan.
Royalaires used to be like weeds in Waco in the early 80's. Unfortunately I don't have any pics - all the ones I remember seeing are gone to the best of my knowledge. The ones with the pointed blades were in a car dealership which has since been completely remodeled. The ones with the semi-square tips were in the headquarters of an old zoo which has long since been demolished (one was replaced anyway), and the one with the "fancy" blades was in the house of an old neighbor, but we moved away in 1992. There was also a farmer's market in the really bad part of town which had them, but they were turned on so I didn't notice the blades. I believe, however, that they were black and chrome.
I finally saw one a couple of years ago in an old bait shop in Bend, TX (in the Hill Country near the Colorado River). It had the fancy blades on it. Wish I knew exactly what it was called, because it had a BUNCH of random fans in it (the Royalaire, a Lowe's builder fan, an SMC with cane blades I think, and an Emerson 3-blade spinner fan like in Adam's gallery.)
Perhaps I could throw together some "police sketches" later on, since I don't have any pics. Some more facts about the ones I've seen (parts diagram helped me remember some of them, too):
The capacitor cover also rotates with the blades. There is a label on the cover, and you can see it spinning when the fan is on. Also, the knob at the end of the pull chain is bright red-orange!
It looks like the motor and blades came in two separate boxes, per the pic. It would be interesting to find out if they could be purchased separate from each other (maybe this explains the variation in blade styles?)
All in all, Royalaires are perhaps the ugliest fans known to man. Guess that's why they're so intriguing, though :-)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2004 16:33:28 GMT -5
All in all, Royalaires are perhaps the ugliest fans known to man. Then WHY did you encourage me to bid 'pon it? |
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Post by JW on Apr 25, 2004 18:37:38 GMT -5
Just wait 'til you've put the thing together and turned it on.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2004 16:44:03 GMT -5
Just wait 'til you've put the thing together and turned it on. Oh, you've got a surprise waiting for me, eh? Curious now. It hasnt been shipped yet, so I dont know when it will arrive, but when it does I will have to put it together ASAP. |
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Post by JW on May 3, 2004 20:52:12 GMT -5
Well, did it ever come in?
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2004 20:56:48 GMT -5
Well, did it ever come in? Yep, and I was going to post a thread about it after I got finished replying to all the existing threads . . . have patience, my son. But there's already 1 picture of it in the Yahoo Group and I'll provide more to anyone who emails and requests. |
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2004 21:42:48 GMT -5
The thing was made by KDK in Japan. Imported to Waco Texas specifically as "Royalaire". It has a spinner motor with a two piece housing around it, the top piece rotates with the motor, the bottom piece is stationary. The blades mount where the two pieces meet.
It has a cloth cord pullchain and the switch housing is built into the bottom of the motor housing, much the same way as the Lasko spinner/top mount fans. In fact, the motor itself (the top part, because the bottom is open on the Laskos), the capacitor and it's mounting bracket, the downrod and mount, and the switch housing and pullchain switch are identical to said Laskos, leading me to believe that the Japanese-made Laskos were made by KDK as well.
The canopy looks incrediably familiar to me, I believe I've seen it on an industrial fan before.
The mades are fiberglass made to look like wood, the motor housing is plastic. However the whole this is still pretty heavy because the motor itself is steel and pretty beefy. It moves a good amount of air.
I posted one picture in the Dan's Collection Gallery of the Yahoo Group, more available upon request (please email me, dont post your request here).
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Post by JW on May 3, 2004 22:05:31 GMT -5
Wow, sure is an ugly little creature, EXACTLY as I remember. Perfect for that old, smoky barber shop... or perhaps throwing a nice red Chinese lantern light kit on it would be appropriate!!! Is there a date on it? And does it have the red-orange pull knob thingy on the end?
I noticed the same thing when I was looking at the gallery. Namely, it looks like your white/cane Lasko spinner in the gallery. I'm surprised to see that they move a lot of air, the blades look like they have no pitch at all, even curved.
Imported directly to Waco, no wonder I saw so many of them when I lived there :-) Does it say that on the box? It's be interesting to find out if (and WHY!) Waco's the only place they were imported to.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2004 22:12:35 GMT -5
Wow, sure is an ugly little creature, EXACTLY as I remember. Perfect for that old, smoky barber shop... or perhaps throwing a nice red Chinese lantern light kit on it would be appropriate!!! Is there a date on it? And does it have the red-orange pull knob thingy on the end? I can see the lantern. Yes the little orange pull is on the bottom. Tammy said she likes the fan but the orange thing ruins it, or something. You know women! (Shafarah?) I noticed the same thing when I was looking at the gallery. Namely, it looks like your white/cane Lasko spinner in the gallery. I'm surprised to see that they move a lot of air, the blades look like they have no pitch at all, even curved. WEll they clearly work more on RPM than pitch, it sounds like a helecopter on high. But you maybe notice a little bend in the center of the blades-- like many metal industrial fan blades, one part of the blades is pitched and the other is near flat. In this case it's split down the center. Imported directly to Waco, no wonder I saw so many of them when I lived there :-) Does it say that on the box? It's be interesting to find out if (and WHY!) Waco's the only place they were imported to. Because that's where the Royalaire headquarters were. Royalaire then distributed them to where ever they were sold. The box lists the Royalaire Co as an address in Waco. Then, on the fan, on the KDK sticker, it says "made in Japan" |
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Post by JW on May 3, 2004 22:22:43 GMT -5
I also noticed on the parts diagram that they point out the sticker on the capacitor cover (which is how I could tell that part rotated when I saw the fan running many years ago.) Is this the KDK sicker, or what does it say?
I'm going to try to "police sketch" the modedl with the fancy blades based off the pic of this model. Hopefully I'll have it up soon.
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