Roller-Fulcrum Dash Churn: A Vibrating Dash That Also Works the Butter

"When the buttermilk is to be worked out of the butter it is put into the churn and pressed up and flattened out by the dash against the wedge pin as the dash recedes the inner end falls down and the edge of the cake of butter is presented to the dash which again squeezes it up against the top as before. This is repeated till the butter is sufficiently worked."

Print two end pieces flat (/uploads/blueprints/roller-fulcrum-dash-churn-end.stl), with a step at the top for the roller. Print the dash (/uploads/blueprints/roller-fulcrum-dash-churn-dash.stl), a four-sided prism with its rib; the roller with its square hole and gudgeons (/uploads/blueprints/roller-fulcrum-dash-churn-roller.stl); and two wedge pieces (/uploads/blueprints/roller-fulcrum-dash-churn-wedge.stl). Print in PETG at 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.

Cut a 0.5 mm stainless sheet 160 mm wide and about 280 mm long, deburr it, and bend it round a 140 mm form into a U with 30 mm straight sides. Seat it in the curved grooves of both end pieces in silicone. Glue a wedge piece along the top of each side, sloping inward.

Pass a 10 mm square hardwood handle through the roller and glue the dash on its foot, the dash just clearing the bottom. Drop the roller's gudgeons into the steps. Cut a plywood cover with a slot over the roller, a little wider than the handle's swing, and hollow its underside toward the roller.

US 2,993 drawing sheet, public domain (expired patent).

Let the heavy cream stand until it reaches about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer. Pour in 500 ml, fit the cover, and swing the handle steadily; time until the butter comes. Pour off the buttermilk, add cold water, and swing again to press the butter against the wedge, as they did, until the water runs clear. Work in a pinch of salt the same way and weigh the butter.

**Noah H. Lindley** of Redding and **William Perry** of Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut, received US 2,993, dated 10 March 1843. Their case stood on four legs; the roller was "about half as long as the churn is wide in the clear," its gudgeons resting "in steps in the sides of the churn"; the cover was flat on top, its underside hollowed with the curve of a circle toward the roller, and buttoned down when in use. They claimed the roller in combination with the dash and staff, and the cover in combination with the case and dash. **Honest limits.** Our roller runs the full length into steps in the end pieces, where theirs was about half as long. Stainless sheet and printed parts stand in for their wooden case. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times and weights are the result.