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Wedge-Plunger Potato Strainer: Turn a Wedge, the Mash Comes Out the Sides
A plunger pushed straight down a strainer packs the potato and forces it only through the bottom.
René Sebille of Baltimore received US 140,169, dated 24 June 1873, for a potato masher and strainer: a cylindrical strainer perforated all round its side and bottom, "through which the potato-mash can issue as fast as it is produced," and a plunger whose end is a wedge with two bevel faces, turned back and forth by two handles while pressed down, so it can be worked "with the least possible amount of power."
This rung works out where the outlet area is, then prints the strainer and plunger and times a batch.
Beginner
About 1 hour, plus printing
Instructions
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Side and bottom outlets
Side and bottom outlets
Loading Jupyter Notebook...
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A tube and plunger before it
A tube and plunger before it
The embedded blueprint pushes a flat plunger down a tube. Sebille perforates the sides too and turns a wedge instead of pushing.
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Read US 140,169
Read US 140,169
"The plunger is then rotated back and forth by means of the handles D D, at the same time that a certain amount of pressure is exerted downward upon it. By this motion the bevel faces c c of the plunger displace and mash the potatoes, and force them through the openings a of the strainer, the peculiar double-bevel-faced shape of the plunger making it easy to accomplish the desideratum with the smallest amount of power, and yet very expeditiously."
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Print the strainer and plunger
Print the strainer and plunger
Print the perforated strainer with its handles (/uploads/blueprints/wedge-plunger-potato-strainer-strainer.stl) and the plunger with its wedge end and cross handle (/uploads/blueprints/wedge-plunger-potato-strainer-plunger.stl). Print in PETG at 0.2 mm layers, 30 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Materials for this step:
PETG Filament1 pieceTools needed:
FDM 3D Printer5
5
The build in 3D
The build in 3D
FreeCAD model of this build, not of the patent: the 80 mm strainer with 288 side holes and a bottom grid of 4 mm holes and two handles, and the plunger with its double-bevel wedge and cross handle.
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Cook the potatoes
Cook the potatoes
Boil 500 g of potatoes, peeled and quartered, for about 20 minutes until a knife slides in; drain.
Materials for this step:
Potatoes1 piece
Water1 pieceTools needed:
Saucepan
Digital Kitchen Scale7
7
Turn and press
Turn and press
Stand the strainer in a bowl, fill it with hot potato, and turn the plunger to and fro with light pressure. Time the batch; then repeat pushing straight down only.
Tools needed:
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (Large)
Stopwatch8
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A plunger that jams, a strainer that clogs
A plunger that jams, a strainer that clogs
Wedge-plunger potato strainer troubleshooting.
Flow
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History and honest limits
History and honest limits
**René Sebille** of Baltimore filed US 140,169 on 5 May 1873; it is dated 24 June 1873. The strainer can be held by its handles, given legs to stand over a dish, or fastened to a table; the plunger is cylindrical for most of its length to bear on the sides, though the wedge end with a short cylinder may be fixed to a long handle. He claimed the double-bevel plunger with the strainer.
**Honest limits.** A printed strainer stands in for his tin one. FDM prints hold food in their layer lines, so wash well and replace when worn. Your times are the result.
Tools Required
5- Placeholder
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Design Files
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