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Rotating-Receiver Stationary-Break Churn: The Whole Cream Vessel Turns, a Narrow Fixed Break Churns It
Mortimer S. Harsha · Public domain
Buttercup

Created by

Buttercup

11. November 2026IE
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Rotating-Receiver Stationary-Break Churn: The Whole Cream Vessel Turns, a Narrow Fixed Break Churns It

Mortimer S. Harsha of Sycamore, Illinois, received US 26,459, dated 13 December 1859, for what he called the "Vertical Rotating and Stationary Break Churn". Instead of a dasher, the whole cream vessel turns on an upright shaft with a pointed foot, driven by a gear and crank below it, while one narrow perforated break, fixed to a removable top, stands still near the vessel's side. The turning cream keeps going like a balance wheel, so little effort keeps it churning. The patent gives no sizes; every size here is ours.
Intermediate
About a day, plus printing

Instructions

1

The turning cream against a still break

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2

Fixed brakes in turning cream, three months before

Taylor turned a dasher among fixed brakes. Harsha turns the vessel itself against a single fixed break.
3

Read US 26,459

"This is accomplished by said break presenting only a small resisting surface to the moving cream, while the cream being made to rapidly rotate on said vertical or upright shaft only against said break dash, becomes, along with its receiver, a receptacle of the power applied, similar to that of a balance wheel, and so by its own accumulative force, when power is once applied, puts it in motion"
4

Print the gear wheel G

Crown wheel, 36 teeth on its face, module 2, with a hub bored 12.4 mm and a cross hole for a pin. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
5

Print the pinion

Spur pinion, 12 teeth, module 2, with a long hub bored 16.4 mm and a cross hole for a pin. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
6

Print the socket

A cup 50 mm across and 22 mm tall with a cone recess for the shaft's point. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
7

Print the flange

A disc 200 mm across and 15 mm thick bored 16.6 mm, to carry the receiver. Print with 100 % infill. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
8

Base E, brace H, posts F and top D

Make a hardwood base 600 x 600 mm and screw the socket in its middle. Screw a brace H to it, an upright 30 x 40 mm with an arm reaching over the socket, bored 16.6 mm 25 to 55 mm up as the shaft's journal box. Tenon two posts 30 x 50 mm, 515 mm tall, into the base 490 mm apart, and make a top board 550 x 160 x 20 mm with mortises to drop onto their tenons so it lifts off. Set two chairs 44 x 30 mm, 124 mm tall, for the gear wheel's shaft.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood BoardHardwood Board3 pieces
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws20 pieces
PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
Table SawTable Saw
JigsawJigsaw
Mortise ChiselMortise Chisel
Wooden MalletWooden Mallet
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Bar ClampBar Clamp
Tape MeasureTape Measure
9

Shaft C, receiver A and gearing

File one end of a 16 mm stainless shaft 170 mm long to a point. Pin the pinion and the flange on it, stand its point in the socket through the journal box, and bolt the stockpot's bottom to the flange with stainless screws sealed with silicone. Fit the crown wheel on a 12 mm stainless shaft through the chairs, meshing under the pinion, with a crank and handle on its end.

Materials for this step:

Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod2 pieces
StockpotStockpot1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws4 pieces
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut4 pieces
Flat WasherFlat Washer8 pieces
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece
Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
Files (Hand File)Files (Hand File)
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Adjustable SpannerAdjustable Spanner
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
10

Break dash B

Cut a hardwood break 60 x 15 mm long enough to reach from the top board to 25 mm above the receiver's floor, bore ten 16 mm holes through it, and fix it by a tenon through the top board so it hangs 30 mm in from the receiver's side.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece

Tools needed:

Table SawTable Saw
Spade Bit SetSpade Bit Set
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Mortise ChiselMortise Chisel
Wooden MalletWooden Mallet
SandpaperSandpaper
11

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, the receiver cut through the middle: the base with its socket, brace and posts, the shaft with pinion and flange, the crown wheel and crank, the turning receiver and the fixed perforated break hanging from the top.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
Download Model
12

Churn

Lift the top off, pour about 9 litres of heavy cream at about 15 °C into the receiver, checked with the thermometer, and put the top back. Turn the crank steadily, timing it: once the cream is moving it keeps going with little effort. When the butter comes, lift the top and break out, take out the butter, drain the buttermilk, wash the butter in cold water until it runs clear, salt and weigh it.

Materials for this step:

Heavy CreamHeavy Cream9 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)
13

Troubleshooting

Rotating-receiver churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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14

History and honest limits

**Mortimer S. Harsha** of Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois, assignor to himself, Rufus S. Sanborn and H. B. Jones, US 26,459, 13 December 1859, "Churn". He claimed: "An entirely stationary break dash in combination with a cream receiver, made to rotate on a vertical or upright shaft". His break is made "of such size as the relative size of the machine requires, and of any common form or shape"; the patent gives no sizes, and every size here is ours. His receiver was tin, zinc or wood; ours is a stainless stockpot.

Materials

14

Tools Required

19

Design Files

5

This blueprint makes

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Butter

Free

198
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1
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Buttermilk

Free

72
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