How many of us have one of these somewhere in their home?
Yeah, I thought so, almost everyone. Am I the only one, or do other people have a hard time remembering which pull is for which? 50-50 chance and I was forever picking the wrong one!
About 5-6 years ago I was visiting a friend and she had one too, with one pull marked with an ornament. I asked whether the marked one was for the light or the fan and she said she forgot! Well, I said to myself, this is ridiculous! So I gave thought to scrolling out something to define the pulls once and for all…
My first thought was just to cut the words “Light” and “Fan” out of a couple pieces of scrap, but how would that help someone illiterate or who spoke a different language?
Anyway, I went to work that night and as luck would have it there was a bulb out in the basement of the restaurant. I went to get a new one to change it, and there…on the side of the box…was a little cartoon of a light bulb! A light bulb went off in my head and I had the answer, at least for the light pull. I thought about a small propeller type thing for the fan but didn’t think it would wear well with constant yanking…
Ultimately, I came up with these:
I could have tied them to the string, but I was too lazy to try to untie the loop, so I just made a couple of quick fishhooks out of a clothes hanger. Life couldn’t be better now…It’s amazing how good it is when the simplest little nuisance problem is resolved, permanently! And everybody that sees them wants some for their own! You guys and gals that work the fairs and such ought to bang out a bag full of these! They cost next to nothing to make, and I would think people would think nothing of giving you a five or ten spot for them…$$$$ :)
-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.






















13 comments so far
GMman
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1358 posts in 591 days
posted 52 days ago
Great idea but do they hit together with the air of the fan at full speed?
-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--
littlecope
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582 posts in 395 days
posted 52 days ago
No, they’re heavy enough not to go flying around but not so heavy that they wear on the switches either…
-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.
Harry Randles
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5 posts in 142 days
posted 52 days ago
One Problem solved another waiting round the corner
Well done Mike
-- Harry Manchester UK
TopamaxSurvivor
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3014 posts in 569 days
posted 52 days ago
Mike, yoiu really didn’t have to go to that much trouble. With the light bulb hung, the other has to be…..................?? :-))
Good idaea & job!!
-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.
DAN
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6438 posts in 876 days
posted 52 days ago
great idea, but my ceiling fan has one chain broken off, luckily it is the light chain, so the fan still works good.
-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever
Karson
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25792 posts in 1294 days
posted 52 days ago
Great looking idea. Nice catch.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
a1Jim
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16695 posts in 470 days
posted 52 days ago
That one turns on some lights.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
scrappy
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1593 posts in 324 days
posted 52 days ago
Great idea. I have turned some pulls but they are just designs. Yours solves the wich switch problem good.
Keep it up.
Scrappy
-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!
patron
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2378 posts in 234 days
posted 52 days ago
and i urbaje , from mongolia ,
can tell difference in dark !
it say i in wrong house !
-- david ,new mexico ,allheart
littlecope
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582 posts in 395 days
posted 52 days ago
Thanks!
Topomax: I thought of that too!! But it didn’t look balanced or finished because I still had to tie a 1/4” nut to the other one to weight it down. The string will tie itself in knots if unweighted…someday I’ll break down and buy a couple chain pulls… if I ever think of it while I’m actually at the hardware store…
Scrappy: It occurred to me to simply paint one “White for Light”...That way, any shape would do…
Patron: My Blind Friend said, “Just take the string off the light switch! What the heck do I need that for…?”
-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.
ellen35
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532 posts in 326 days
posted 52 days ago
Great idea Mike!
Necessity is the mother of invention… and creativity!
Ellen
-- Ellen on Cape Cod
Dick, & Barb Cain
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7034 posts in 1193 days
posted 52 days ago
Great thinking Mike,
But aren’t you afraid of getting a shock by grabbing the brass end of the bulb? <(:O}#
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Innovator
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3125 posts in 307 days
posted 51 days ago
Wonerful idea Mike.
-- Whether You Think You Can or You Think You Can't, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!