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Lid-Hung Cutter Churn: Every Moving Part Lifts Out With the Lid
Martin

Created by

Martin

6. October 2026NO
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Lid-Hung Cutter Churn: Every Moving Part Lifts Out With the Lid

Warner found rotary dashers with "a step in the bottom of the churn for the end of the axis" hard to assemble with milk in the churn, easily broken if the axle missed its step, and hard to clean. Chapman Warner of Louisville, Kentucky, received US 6,527, dated 12 June 1849, for a churn whose vertical shaft and rotary dasher are suspended from the movable lid, with no pivot or step at the bottom. A hollow column on the lid carries two bearings; the dasher is a quadrangular frame of wings at the top, thin sharp vertical cutters, and cutting arms at the foot; fixed arms with holes hang from the lid to interrupt the cream's circular motion. This rung works out why the bearings sit far apart, then prints the column, rotor and breaker arms, hangs them from a pot lid, and makes butter.
Intermediate
About 4 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

Why two bearings far apart

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

A stepped rotary dasher and breakers before it

The embedded blueprint steps its dasher on the bottom and fixes breakers to the tub. Warner hangs both dasher and breakers from the lid.
3

Read US 6,527

"Making the moving parts of the churn consisting of a vertical shaft and rotary dasher constructed substantially as above specified, to be suspended and combined with the movable lid B, as above described thereby dispensing with a pivot or step at the lower end of shaft for the purposes set forth so that said moving parts can be readily lifted from the churn and again be replaced."
4

Print the parts

Print the rotor on its side (/uploads/blueprints/lid-hung-cutter-churn-rotor.stl): wings, two sharp vertical cutters and cutting arms in one frame. Print the column (/uploads/blueprints/lid-hung-cutter-churn-column.stl), two breaker arms (/uploads/blueprints/lid-hung-cutter-churn-breaker-arm.stl) and the crank arm (/uploads/blueprints/lid-hung-cutter-churn-crank-arm.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

The lid

Cut a plywood lid to sit on a stock pot about 220 mm across. Drill its centre for the shaft, a hole near the centre for air, and small holes near its edge for air to escape. Screw the column on over the centre, and the two breaker arms underneath, opposite each other, near the rim.

Materials for this step:

Plywood SheetPlywood Sheet1 piece
#8 x 1" Wood Screw#8 x 1" Wood Screw1 piece

Tools needed:

Coping SawCoping Saw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
6

Shaft and crank

Glue the rotor on a 10 mm square hardwood shaft, rounded where it runs in the column, so it reaches to within about 15 mm of the pot's bottom. Pass it up through the lid and column and glue the crank arm and a dowel handle on top.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
SandpaperSandpaper
7

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, not of the patent: the pot cut away to show the rotor frame hanging from the lid on its shaft, clear of the bottom, a breaker arm from the lid, the column with its two bearings, and the crank.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
8

Crank and make butter

Let the heavy cream stand until it reaches about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer. Pour in 1.5 litres. Set the lid on with its rotor and crank steadily, sharp edges leading; time until the butter comes. Lift lid and rotor out together, then 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
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 rotor that wobbles, cutters that strike

Lid-hung cutter churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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10

History and honest limits

**Chapman Warner** of Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, received US 6,527, dated 12 June 1849. His column had an arm for a bevel wheel meshing a pinion on the shaft's top; the cutters were an inch wide, sharp in front and grooved behind; he suggested wires between the shaft and the cutters to spread air through the cream. **Honest limits.** Our crank turns the shaft directly, without his bevel wheel and pinion, and printed parts and a stock pot stand in for his. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times and weights are the result.

Materials

8

Tools Required

11

Design Files

1

CC0 Public Domain

This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.

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