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Roller-and-Float Gathering Churn: Floats That Fold Onto Rollers to Press the Butter
Woody

Created by

Woody

6. October 2026NO
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Roller-and-Float Gathering Churn: Floats That Fold Onto Rollers to Press the Butter

Dutcher wanted the whole process — churning, gathering and working the butter — done "without removing it from the churn." Davis Dutcher of Springfield, New York, received US 8,143, dated 10 June 1851 (antedated 15 February 1851), for a churn with a curved-bottom box and a dasher whose stationary arms carry eight-sided rollers, braced by angular strips, and whose swinging arms carry floats. Churning, the floats stand out against shoulders; reversed, "the floats will fall back, by the resistance of the cream, upon the rollers, presenting a curved surface for directing the particles of butter toward the rollers," which press and roll it against the churn's sides. This rung works out the pressing gap, then prints the arms, rollers and floats, assembles the dasher in a box, and makes and works butter.
Intermediate
About 4 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

The pressing gap

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2

Floats that change with the direction before it

The embedded blueprint closes hinged floats into a curve to gather the butter. Dutcher adds rollers that press it against the churn's sides.
3

Read US 8,143

"This operation is continued until the butter is gathered, when the milk may be drawn off at the bottom of the churn, by a faucet, pin or otherwise, and water may be added, and the butter washed, cleaned of the milk, and pressed, and rolled ready for use, thus performing the whole process of churning, gathering and working the butter without removing it from the churn."
4

Print the parts

Print two stationary arms (/uploads/blueprints/roller-and-float-gathering-churn-arm.stl), two eight-sided rollers (/uploads/blueprints/roller-and-float-gathering-churn-roller.stl), two floats with their shoulders (/uploads/blueprints/roller-and-float-gathering-churn-float.stl) and the crank arm (/uploads/blueprints/roller-and-float-gathering-churn-crank-arm.stl). Print in PLA at 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.

Materials for this step:

PLA FilamentPLA Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
5

Assemble the dasher

Slide the arms onto a 10 mm square hardwood shaft 150 mm apart, set a roller's journals into each pair of end holes, and screw two pine strips edgewise between the arms as his angular braces. Hang each float on a 3 mm stainless rod through the arms' pin holes so it swings out to its shoulder one way and folds onto the roller the other.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Pine BoardPine Board1 piece
Mild Steel RodMild Steel Rod1 piece
#8 x 1" Wood Screw#8 x 1" Wood Screw1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
HacksawHacksaw
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
6

The box

Use a food-safe box about 230 × 190 × 200 mm with a curved liner of 0.5 mm stainless sheet bent to the rollers' circle plus a few millimetres, seated in silicone. Drill the ends on the axis, pass the shaft through with leather washers, glue on the crank arm and handle, and fit a plug low in one end to draw off the milk.

Materials for this step:

Food-Grade Storage ContainerFood-Grade Storage Container1 piece
Stainless Steel Sheet - 304Stainless Steel Sheet - 3041 piece
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece
Leather StripLeather Strip1 piece
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece

Tools needed:

Tin SnipsTin Snips
Deburring ToolDeburring Tool
Rubber MalletRubber Mallet
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
7

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, not of the patent: the box with one side off to show the stationary arms with their eight-sided rollers and the swinging floats, one standing out and one folded, on the shaft.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
8

Churn, then reverse to press and roll

Let the heavy cream stand until it reaches about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer. Pour in 1.5 litres. Crank forward, floats out; time until the butter comes. Reverse the crank so the floats fold onto the rollers and the butter is pressed and rolled against the bottom. Draw off the buttermilk at the plug, add cold water and crank again until it runs clear; work in a pinch of salt the same way 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

Floats that won't fold, butter that won't roll

Roller-and-float gathering churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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10

History and honest limits

**Davis Dutcher** of Springfield, Otsego County, New York, received US 8,143, dated 10 June 1851, antedated 15 February 1851. His crank's spindle fitted a square hole in the dasher's arm and was held by a latch in a groove, so it came out for cleaning; iron rods outside the box gave it strength. He claimed the arms with their rollers and the swinging arms with their floats, kept in place in churning and in gathering by the resistance of the cream. **Honest limits.** A food-safe box with a stainless liner and printed parts stand in for his curved wooden box. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times and weights are the result.

Materials

13

Tools Required

13

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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