I am very excited about this.
What we have here is a mid-1920s desk fan with brass blades. It runs, but not smoothly. Someone attempted to restore it 13 years ago. By restore, I mean they spray painted about 90% of the components (even the brass ones), and rewired it using an ugly plastic lamp cord.
How do I know?
They left a note inside the base.
My plan is to repack the gearbox with fresh grease, lubricate all of the moving parts, rewire it using a fabric covered cord, and restore as much of the brass as I can.
If I can get it running reliably I will be so pleased.