Beware of the Train

pozorvlak@delirium:~> clisp
  i i i i i i i       ooooo    o        ooooooo   ooooo   ooooo
  I I I I I I I      8     8   8           8     8     o  8    8
  I  \ `+' /  I      8         8           8     8        8    8
   \  `-+-'  /       8         8           8      ooooo   8oooo
    `-__|__-'        8         8           8           8  8
        |            8     o   8           8     o     8  8
  ------+------       ooooo    8oooooo  ooo8ooo   ooooo   8

Copyright (c) Bruno Haible, Michael Stoll 1992, 1993
Copyright (c) Bruno Haible, Marcus Daniels 1994-1997
Copyright (c) Bruno Haible, Pierpaolo Bernardi, Sam Steingold 1998
Copyright (c) Bruno Haible, Sam Steingold 1999-2000
Copyright (c) Sam Steingold, Bruno Haible 2001-2006

[1]> (defun car (x) (cdr x))

** - Continuable Error
DEFUN/DEFMACRO(CAR): # is locked
If you continue (by typing 'continue'): Ignore the lock and proceed
The following restarts are also available:
ABORT          :R1      ABORT
Break 1 [2]> continue
WARNING: DEFUN/DEFMACRO: redefining function CAR in top-level, was defined in
         C
CAR
[3]> (car '(3 4))
(4)
[4]> (defun defun (x) (+ 3 x))
DEFUN
[5]> (defun 7)
10

[Just so we're all on the same page: I'm talking about Japanese folding fans, IMNSFHO the best kind. Following the Wikipedia article I've just linked to, I'm going to call the paper bit that moves the air the "leaves", the things that hold this in place the "spokes", the thing around which the spokes rotate the "axle", and the heavy bits at the end of the leaves the "guards".]

The basic idea is to use thinnish wire for the spokes instead of slats of bamboo. Then the leaves can rotate freely around the spokes, allowing them to open in either direction. I've come up with a solution to the problem of attaching the leaves to the guards, but this still leaves the following problems:

1. Attaching the spokes to the axle. You could maybe beat the ends of the wire flat, then punch a hole through, but if the metal's soft enough to be beaten like that it's probably too soft for use as a spoke. You could maybe attach the spoke to some sort of rotating block, but how? Remember that any such block would have to be less than a millimetre thick.
2. Making the guards. Bamboo's ideal for this, but where do you get it from? And how do you work it? Are there any other good materials you could use?
3. Decorating the fan. I'm thinking Chinese characters, because they look cool. Specifically, I'm thinking of using the kanji for "kanji". Self-reference in the finest tradition of Douglas Hofstadter :-)