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Centrifugal-Dasher Churn: Curved Wings on a Hollow Shaft Throw the Cream at the Wall, a Fixed Disk Turns It Back
Buttercup

Created by

Buttercup

11. November 2026IE
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Centrifugal-Dasher Churn: Curved Wings on a Hollow Shaft Throw the Cream at the Wall, a Fixed Disk Turns It Back

John W. Kellberg of Pittsburgh received US 30,409, dated 16 October 1860, for a churn whose dasher is two plates joined by three curved wings on a hollow shaft. A crank and bevel gearing on the lid spin it fast: the wings throw the cream out against the wall with friction, air is drawn down the hollow shaft through the cream, and a fixed disk above stops the cream and sends what comes over it back to the middle. He wrote that his churn finished in four to six minutes. The patent gives no sizes; every size here is ours.
Intermediate
About 2 days

Instructions

1

How high the dasher throws the cream

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2

Air piped to the middle of the cream, a year before

Rohrer pipes air to the middle of a barrel churn. Kellberg draws it down the dasher's own hollow shaft.
3

Read US 30,409

"When the shaft h is made to revolve quickly the curved wings cause the cream to be thrown from the center to the circumference of the churn with so much force as to create a large amount of friction when it is being pressed between the wing or dasher extensions and the sides of the churn, and at the same time a strong current of air is carried through the body of the cream, and any cream that is forced out over the disk i, flows back into the center to be worked over."
4

Print the step m

The step the dasher turns on: 60 mm across, 10 high, with a 10.6 mm hole 9 deep. It sits loose on the bucket's floor. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
5

Dasher: plates k and k', wings l, ribs o and tube h

Cut two 10 mm HDPE plates 256 mm across. Bore the top plate k 20.2 mm at the centre and six 20 mm openings n on a circle 80 mm across. Press a 10 mm stainless rod 20 mm long into the centre of the bottom plate k' so 10 mm stands below it as the pin m. Cut three stainless sheet wings 1.5 mm thick and 105 mm high, with three 15 mm tabs on each long edge; bend the tabs, curve each wing from 30 mm out at the hub to 122 mm out over 70 degrees and on for 30 degrees more nearly along the edge, and screw the tabs to both plates so the wings stand 105 mm between them. Screw three hardwood ribs 10 x 5 mm on the top of k and three under k', radial. Pass a 20 mm stainless tube 313 mm long down through k until its end is flush with k's underside, and hold it with a shaft collar each side of k. The tube is open at the top: it is the air pipe.

Materials for this step:

HDPE SheetHDPE Sheet1 piece
Stainless Steel SheetStainless Steel Sheet1 piece
Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod1 piece
Stainless Steel TubeStainless Steel Tube1 piece
Shaft CollarShaft Collar2 pieces
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws30 pieces

Tools needed:

CompassCompass
JigsawJigsaw
Spade Bit SetSpade Bit Set
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Tin SnipsTin Snips
Files (Hand File)Files (Hand File)
Bench ViseBench Vise
HacksawHacksaw
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
6

Body g, disk i and lid f

Use a 20-litre food-grade bucket as the body g. Set the step m on its floor and stand the dasher on it. Cut a 6 mm HDPE disk i to fit the bucket 150 mm up (282 mm across for ours), with a 100 mm opening in the middle, slide it down over the tube and press it until it wedges in the bucket's taper, so it cannot turn. Cut a 12 mm HDPE lid f to the bucket's top with a 32 mm hole, fit the printed bush in it, and screw three hardwood cleats under its edge that touch the wall; fix the lid by a screw through the wall into each cleat, above the cream.

Materials for this step:

20-Liter Bucket20-Liter Bucket1 piece
HDPE SheetHDPE Sheet2 pieces
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws9 pieces
PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
CompassCompass
JigsawJigsaw
Spade Bit SetSpade Bit Set
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
Tape MeasureTape Measure
7

Print the lid bush

The bush the tube turns in, fitted in the lid's hole: 32 mm across, 18 high, 20.6 mm bore. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
8

Print the crown wheel a

The driving wheel a on the crank shaft c: a crown wheel of 42 teeth, module 2.5, 16.2 mm bore. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
9

Print the pinion b

The pinion b on the tube h: 14 teeth, module 2.5, 14 mm face, 20.4 mm bore. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
10

Stand e, shaft c, wheel a, pinion b and crank d

Pin the pinion b on the tube with its teeth centred 40 mm above the lid. Cut two hardwood posts 50 x 25 x 118 mm, bore them 16.6 mm across 92 mm up, and screw them to the lid either side of the tube, one 60 to 85 mm in front of it and one 25 to 50 mm behind, as the stand e. Run a 16 mm stainless shaft c 180 mm long through them, pin the crown wheel a on it meshing the pinion, hold it with a shaft collar, and pin on a crank d of mild steel flat bar, 100 mm throw, with a hardwood handle.

Materials for this step:

Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod1 piece
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Shaft CollarShaft Collar1 piece
Split PinSplit Pin3 pieces
Mild Steel Flat BarMild Steel Flat Bar1 piece
Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws4 pieces
PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
Table SawTable Saw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
HacksawHacksaw
Files (Hand File)Files (Hand File)
Bench ViseBench Vise
Bar ClampBar Clamp
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
11

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, the bucket cut open: the step, the dasher with its two plates, curved wings, openings and ribs on the hollow tube, the fixed disk above it, the lid with its bush and cleats, and the stand with the crank, crown wheel and pinion.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
12

Churn

Before fitting the lid, pour about 8 litres of heavy cream at about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer, into the bucket, so it stands just under the disk i. Fit the lid and pin the pinion. Turn the crank briskly, timing it. When the butter comes, unpin the pinion, take off the lid, lift out the disk and the dasher, take out the butter, pour the buttermilk into a bowl, wash the butter in cold water until it runs clear, salt and weigh it.

Materials for this step:

Heavy CreamHeavy Cream8 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

Centrifugal-dasher churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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14

History and honest limits

**John W. Kellberg** of Pittsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, US 30,409, 16 October 1860, "Churn". He claimed "the dasher and disk, made and operating substantially as described", and wrote that a churn on his plan completed a churning "in from four to six minutes"; we have not tested that. His gears were a bevel wheel and pinion on a cast stand; ours are a printed crown wheel and pinion on wooden posts. The patent does not say how the disk i is fastened; ours wedges in the bucket's taper. The patent gives no sizes; every size here is ours.

Materials

15

Tools Required

18

Design Files

5

CC0 Public Domain

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