Tip: make sure you uncheck the "Optimize” checkbox from the Interpolation rollout, in the Editable Spline, and check the "Grid” checkbox in the "Extrude” modifier for smoother results in the twist action. I then created chamfer cylinders for the blade mechanism (Fig.22).


 For the back "hanger” of the fan, I started with a simple spline (Fig.23), then used chamfer on the two vertexes, as seen in Fig.24, and used fillet to round the corner of the splines.




Next, under Spline Sub Object, I used outline to determine the thickness and applied the "Extrude” modifier (Fig.25).


I converted it to editable poly and booleaned cylinders to make the holes (Fig.26). I created a tube primitive and a renderable spline for the outer ring and the handle (Fig.27).