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Hydrothermal Reservoir Dasher Churn: Warm Water in the Dasher to Churn, Cold to Firm the Butter
Karen

Created by

Karen

6. October 2026SE
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Hydrothermal Reservoir Dasher Churn: Warm Water in the Dasher to Churn, Cold to Firm the Butter

Harrison carried the water to temper the cream inside the dasher itself. Robert H. Harrison of Washington, District of Columbia, assignor to R. H. Harrison and Jno. S. Gallaher, Jr., received US 10,690, dated 28 March 1854, for what he termed "the hydrothermal churn": a vertical "concavo-convex rotary reservoir dasher having hollow, deflective, or curved radial chambers" and straight radial wings, turned by a winch through a driving wheel and bevel gear, with "double concave vertically arranged cleats or butter gatherers" of tin round the vessel's inside, which can hold water too. Hot water poured in through a hole in the dasher tempers the cream; once the butter appears, cold water substituted for it firms the butter, and in hot weather cold water or pounded ice goes in. This rung works out how far the dasher's water can move the cream's temperature, then prints the reservoir dasher, gatherers and gears, builds the churn, and makes butter.
Intermediate
About 4 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

Water in the dasher

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Tempering the cream with water before it

The embedded blueprint puts hot or cold water in a chamber under the churn. Harrison puts it inside the dasher and the side gatherers, where it turns through the cream.
3

Read US 10,690

"These particles are not spontaneously accumulated in concrete mass, but by the aid of cold water substituted in lieu of the warm water, which is withdrawn from the dasher by detaching the dasher from the churn vessel, the concave gatherers F, F, F, F, and h, h, h, h augmenting the concretion and forming the mass of butter without requiring much, if any, additional agency."
4

Print the parts

Print the hollow reservoir dasher with its four curved chambers, wings and filling hole (/uploads/blueprints/hydrothermal-reservoir-dasher-churn-reservoir-dasher.stl) standing up with 4 walls so it holds water, three or four hollow gatherers (/uploads/blueprints/hydrothermal-reservoir-dasher-churn-gatherer.stl), the 36-tooth crown wheel (/uploads/blueprints/hydrothermal-reservoir-dasher-churn-crown-wheel.stl), the 12-tooth pinion (/uploads/blueprints/hydrothermal-reservoir-dasher-churn-pinion.stl) and the standard (/uploads/blueprints/hydrothermal-reservoir-dasher-churn-standard.stl). Fill the dasher and gatherers with water and check for leaks before use. 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

Vessel and gatherers

Use a straight-sided round food-grade container about 190 mm across inside and 200 mm deep. Hook the gatherers over its rim, spaced round the side, their double-concave faces inward.

Materials for this step:

Food-Grade Storage ContainerFood-Grade Storage Container1 piece

Tools needed:

SandpaperSandpaper
6

Dasher, gears and winch

Slide the reservoir dasher onto a 10 mm stainless rod and tighten its set screw, its foot standing in a shallow hole in a scrap of the lid laid in the bottom. Fix half the lid over the vessel with a hole for the rod, the pinion on the rod's top, and the standard with the crown wheel meshing it; screw a dowel handle into the wheel's boss. Fit a cork to the filling hole.

Materials for this step:

Mild Steel RodMild Steel Rod1 piece
CorksCorks1 piece
Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
#8 x 1" Wood Screw#8 x 1" Wood Screw1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
7

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, not of the patent: the vessel cut away to show the hollow reservoir dasher with its four curved chambers and wings, the hollow gatherers hooked over the rim, and the crown wheel and pinion on the half lid.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
8

Temper, churn, then firm

Check the cream's temperature. If it is below about 15 °C, fill the dasher with lukewarm water, cork it and stir slowly until the cream reaches about 15 °C; if it is above, use cold water. Pour in 1.5 litres and turn the winch at a moderately rapid rate; time until the butter comes. Lift out the dasher, empty it, refill it with cold water or ice and water, and turn slowly to gather the butter. 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.
Step 8 - Image 1

Materials for this step:

Heavy CreamHeavy Cream1500 ml
Ice CubesIce Cubes1 piece
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

A dasher that leaks, cream that will not warm

Hydrothermal churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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10

History and honest limits

**Robert H. Harrison** of Washington, District of Columbia, assignor to R. H. Harrison and Jno. S. Gallaher, Jr., received US 10,690, dated 28 March 1854. He wrote that turning for "3 to 5 minutes" is all that is required for the separation, that fresh milk can be used, and that the wings act "as coolers or fans" drawing cool air in through a vent round the spindle; these are his claims, not tested here. He claimed the vessel with double concave gatherers or water reservoirs, the reservoir dasher with curved chambers and radial wings combined with them, and the double application of warm and cold water or ice with both; he did not claim the use of hot or cold water alone in butter making, "as the same have been employed separately, or distinctly heretofore." **Honest limits.** A container, printed parts and a crown wheel with a spur pinion stand in for his tin and bevel gearing. PETG softens at about 55–60 °C, so we use lukewarm water rather than hot. The notebook's temperatures are upper bounds with an estimated specific heat. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times and weights are the result.

Materials

11

Tools Required

10

Design Files

1

CC0 Public Domain

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