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Three-Roller Pin-Agitator Churn: Cream Is Crushed Between Rollers, Then Beaten by Pins Below
TheChef

Created by

TheChef

8. October 2026DK
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Three-Roller Pin-Agitator Churn: Cream Is Crushed Between Rollers, Then Beaten by Pins Below

Daniel Johnson of New York received US 21,501, dated 14 September 1858, for a churn in two parts: in the upper, three horizontal rollers bearing on one another crush the cream's globules as it is drawn between them; in the lower, a revolving agitator of square pins beats it the little more it needs. This rung prints both boxes, the rollers, the pin agitator and a band drive at tabletop scale.
Advanced
About 4 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

Rollers and agitator

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Churns with turning rollers, before it

Those rollers worked inside the cream; Johnson's lie flat and the cream must pass between them.
3

Read US 21,501

"The rollers are then set in motion, the effect of which is to draw in between and compress the cream, passing it through them gradually and in detail, so that every particle is subjected to an equal action, and the globules before mentioned are instantly crushed…"
4

Print the parts

Print the lower box (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-lower-box.stl), the upper box (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-upper-box.stl), three rollers (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-roller.stl) standing, the agitator (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-agitator.stl), the large (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-pulley-large.stl) and small (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-pulley-small.stl) pulleys and the crank (/uploads/blueprints/three-roller-pin-agitator-churn-crank.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

Agitator and rollers

Cut 10 mm dowels: 178 mm for the agitator, 196 mm for the middle roller and two of 162 mm for the side rollers; sand them. Pass the agitator's dowel through the lower box's end walls and the agitator, fixing it with an M3 screw drilled through. Pass each roller's dowel through the upper box's end walls and its roller, the long one in the middle, so the three rollers touch along their length.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
SandpaperSandpaper
Hand DrillHand Drill
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
6

Band and crank

Set the upper box on the lower. Fix the large pulley on the middle roller's dowel and the small one on the agitator's, both outside the same end, with M3 screws; tie a loop of cotton twine tightly round them as the band. Fix the crank on the middle roller's dowel outside the pulley.

Materials for this step:

Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece
Cotton TwineCotton Twine1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand DrillHand Drill
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
7

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build: the lower box with the pin agitator, the upper box with three touching rollers, the band pulleys and the crank; the near halves of the boxes are left off to show the inside.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
8

Churn

Pour 1 litre of heavy cream at about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer, into the upper box: the touching rollers hold it. Turn the crank steadily and time it with the stopwatch: the rollers draw the cream down between them into the lower box, where the agitator beats it. When the butter comes, lift the upper box off, pour off the buttermilk, wash the butter in cold water until it runs clear, work in a pinch of salt and weigh it.

Materials for this step:

Heavy CreamHeavy Cream1 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)
9

Troubleshooting

Roller churn troubleshooting.

Flow

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10

History and honest limits

**Daniel Johnson** of New York, US 21,501, 14 September 1858. He set the rollers horizontal so the cream passes them once and is not heated by long friction, as it is between upright rollers. The tightness of his rollers could be set by placing the middle one a trifle above or below the others, and they could be geared instead of turned by friction; he allowed more rollers, more than one tier, and more or fewer beaters. He claimed two or more horizontal rollers touching or nearly touching, with a revolving dasher under them in the same box. Our rollers are fixed in place; our boxes, sizes and band are ours. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn.

Materials

7

Tools Required

9

Design Files

1

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