Shaftless Dasher-Wheel Churn: Bevelled Buckets Drive the Cream to the Centre

"The dasher consists of four arms at each end, formed by crossing two pieces of wood purposely shaped for that purpose; and of four buckets, which connect the four arms at each end, extend the length of the box; the arms and the buckets are each made beveling, or slanting on the inside from the forward edge to the hind part of the arms and buckets in such manner as that when the dasher wheel is made to revolve, they shall conduct the cream from the ends and sides of the box toward the center."

Print the dasher wheel standing on one cross (/uploads/blueprints/shaftless-dasher-wheel-churn-wheel.stl), with supports under the upper cross. Its hubs have sockets for the gudgeons, and one has the notch. Print two end pieces (/uploads/blueprints/shaftless-dasher-wheel-churn-end.stl) and the crank arm (/uploads/blueprints/shaftless-dasher-wheel-churn-crank-arm.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 305 mm long, deburr it, and bend it round a 130 mm form into a U: a 65 mm radius half circle with 50 mm straight sides. Seat it in the curved grooves of both end pieces in silicone, and let it cure.

Cut two 30 mm stubs of 12 mm hardwood dowel as gudgeons. Drive a nail across one, near its inner end, to catch the wheel's notch. Set the wheel between the ends and push a gudgeon through each end into its hub, with a leather washer under each so the cream does not leak. Glue the crank arm and a dowel handle on the notched gudgeon.

US 2,343 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. Turn the crank steadily and time until the butter comes; the bevels gather it in the middle. Pour off the buttermilk, add cold water, churn a little and pour off again until it runs clear; work in a pinch of salt and weigh the butter.

**Thomas Pierce** of Hartwick, Otsego County, New York, received US 2,343, dated 10 November 1841. The hole for the winch's axle "is boxed or leathered so that the cream should not leak through"; a pin turned on an inclined recess in a cleat keeps the churn tight at both axes. "The dasher wheel may be made of wood, the axes, boxing, &c., may also be made of wood, bone, or any suitable material; the machine may be operated by any propelling power now in use." He claimed the bevel of the arms in combination with the bevel form of the buckets, to give the centripetal operation upon the cream. **Honest limits.** Stainless sheet and printed parts stand in for his box and wooden wheel. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times and weights are the result.