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Cam-Wheel Crosspiece Churn: Free Cam Wheels Above and Below the Arm Throw the Cream Out and Draw It Back
Emma

Created by

Emma

8. October 2026SE
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Cam-Wheel Crosspiece Churn: Free Cam Wheels Above and Below the Arm Throw the Cream Out and Draw It Back

Alfred Rose of Penn Yan, New York, received US 20,730, dated 29 June 1858, for a churn whose crosspiece, turned by a crank and bevel gears, carries cam wheels at its ends: those below, set the reverse way, help the cream's outward motion, those above carry it toward the centre, so it whirls less. This rung prints the crosspiece, cam wheels and gearing at tabletop scale, on a stock pot.
Advanced
About 5 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

Gearing and the wheels' path

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Free wheels on a turning dasher, before it

Routzahn's wheels spun inside a revolving frame; Rose sets cam wheels above and below a crosspiece, opposite ways.
3

Read US 20,730

"The lower camwheels will greatly facilitate the centrifugal motion of the cream, and the upper camwheels will facilitate the motion of the cream toward the center, thereby diminishing the whirling motion that the cream would have if the camwheels were not used."
4

Print the parts

Print the crosspiece (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-arm-d.stl), four cam wheels (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-cam-wheel.stl), pinion I (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-pinion-i.stl), wheel J (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-wheel-j.stl), the step (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-step.stl), the cover (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-cover.stl), two posts (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-post.stl), the support (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-support-h.stl) and the crank (/uploads/blueprints/cam-wheel-crosspiece-churn-crank.stl). Print in PETG at 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.

Materials for this step:

PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
5

Shaft and crosspiece

Cut a 10 mm square hardwood strip 284 mm long as the shaft and sand it. Slide the crosspiece on, its hub 24 mm above the shaft's foot, and fix it with an M3 screw drilled through the shaft. Put an M4 screw up through each of the four pin holes: two cam wheels go on the outer pins on top, two flipped over on the inner pins below, each held loosely by a lock nut so it spins freely. Set the step in the pot and stand the shaft in it.

Materials for this step:

Stock PotStock Pot1 piece
Hardwood StripHardwood Strip1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
SandpaperSandpaper
Hand DrillHand Drill
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
6

Cover and gearing

Lay the cover on the pot with the shaft through its centre. Fix pinion I on the shaft with an M3 screw drilled through it. Screw the support over the shaft's top and the two posts to the cover from below, M4 screws in all. Push a 10 mm dowel through the posts as the crank shaft, press wheel J tight on its inner end to mesh with I, and fix the crank on its outer end with an M3 screw drilled through the dowel.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
Hand DrillHand Drill
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
7

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build: the pot cut open, the step, the square shaft, the crosspiece with two cam wheels above at its ends and two reversed below, the cover, pinion I and wheel J, the two posts, the arched support and the crank.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
8

Churn

Pour in 1.5 litres of heavy cream at about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer. Turn the crank steadily and time it with the stopwatch. When the butter comes, lift out the cover and shaft, pour off the buttermilk, wash the butter in cold water until it runs clear, work in a pinch of salt and weigh it.

Materials for this step:

Heavy CreamHeavy Cream1.5 l
Coarse Sea SaltCoarse Sea Salt1 piece
WaterWater1 piece

Tools needed:

Leave-In Probe ThermometerLeave-In Probe Thermometer
StopwatchStopwatch
Digital Kitchen ScaleDigital Kitchen Scale
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (Large)Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (Large)
9

Troubleshooting

Cam-wheel churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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History and honest limits

**Alfred Rose** of Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, US 20,730, 29 June 1858. His box was square, of wood or metal; his lid came in halves held by latches; his posts had feet to fit any size of churn. He claimed the cam wheels E, E and F, F and the crosspiece D, arranged as shown. Our pot, cover, sizes, gear counts and the cam wheels' outline are ours. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn.

Materials

9

Tools Required

9

Design Files

1

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