Collaboration
ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Funnel-Tube Atmospheric Churn: Trailing Funnels on a Fast Cross Draw Air Down Slanting Tubes Into the Cream
L. J. Wicks (USPTO drawing) · Public domain
Buttercup

Created by

Buttercup

9. November 2026IE
0
0
0
0
0

Funnel-Tube Atmospheric Churn: Trailing Funnels on a Fast Cross Draw Air Down Slanting Tubes Into the Cream

Loren J. Wicks of Racine, Wisconsin, received US 23,208, dated 8 March 1859, for an atmospheric churn. A crank turns a wheel cogged on its side, which spins an upright shaft fast. Near its foot the shaft carries a cross with a funnel on each arm, mouth trailing; four slanting tubes run from the funnels up to the shaft near its top. As the funnels draw away from the cream, air is sucked down the tubes and bubbles up through it. The top has gauze-covered openings for air and for watching the cream. This rung builds it in a square food container with printed gears and cross.
Advanced
About 6 hours, plus printing

Instructions

1

Speeds at the tubes' two ends

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Air into the cream, before it

Bump pumped air in with a hollow dasher. Wicks lets turning funnels draw it in with no valve.
3

Read US 23,208

"As the funnels recede from the cream or milk a vacuum is produced in the tubes j, j, j, j, and the external air rushes in immediately at the tops of the tubes and is conveyed through them to the bottom of the churn, where it escapes and rises through the cream to the top of the churn again."
4

Print the cross i

The cross with four slanting tube sockets and the funnels k on the arms' sides. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
5

Print the collar

The collar that holds the tubes' tops round the shaft. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
6

Print the socket

The foot bearing for shaft G. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
7

Print the pinion F

The 12-tooth pinion for the top of shaft G. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
8

Print the wheel E

The 204 mm wheel with 60 teeth on its side. Print it flat, teeth up. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 4 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
9

Body A and the ventilating top

Use a square food-grade container about 300 x 300 x 320 mm. Cut a 12 mm plywood top 320 mm square with a 13 mm hole in the middle and two openings 70 x 80 mm beside it; staple wire mesh over the openings (gauze D) and screw two hardwood cleats underneath so the top sits square on the rim. Screw the socket to the middle of the container's floor with an M4 screw and lock nut.

Materials for this step:

Food-Grade Storage ContainerFood-Grade Storage Container1 piece
Plywood SheetPlywood Sheet1 piece
Wire Mesh / ScreenWire Mesh / Screen1 piece
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws8 pieces
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut1 piece
PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
JigsawJigsaw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Tin SnipsTin Snips
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
Tape MeasureTape Measure
10

Shaft G, cross, tubes and collar

Cut a 12 mm stainless rod 373 mm long for shaft G. Fix the cross on it 20 mm above its foot and the collar 258 mm above its foot, each with an M4 screw across. Cut four 10 mm stainless tubes about 250 mm long, deburr them, and push each into its cross socket and up into the collar. Check that every funnel mouth points the same way round: they must trail as the shaft turns.

Materials for this step:

Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod1 piece
Stainless Steel TubeStainless Steel Tube1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws2 pieces
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut2 pieces

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
Tube CutterTube Cutter
Files (Hand File)Files (Hand File)
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
11

Uprights, wheel E and crank S

Stand shaft G in its socket, put the top on and fix the pinion on G's top. Screw two hardwood uprights C 44 x 30 x 158 mm to the top, either side of the wheel's place, bored 12.5 mm at 128 mm up. Run a 12 mm stainless rod through them and the wheel's hub as shaft B so the wheel's teeth mesh with the pinion, fix the wheel with an M4 screw, and fix a hardwood crank S 132 mm long with a dowel handle on B's end.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws4 pieces
Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws2 pieces
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut2 pieces
Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
HacksawHacksaw
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
12

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, the near quarter of the container and top cut away: the shaft on its socket with the cross, funnels, slanting tubes and collar, the meshed top with its uprights, wheel E and pinion F, and the crank.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
Download Model
13

Churn

Pour in about 10 litres of heavy cream at about 15 °C, checked with the thermometer, and put the top on. Turn the crank fast the way that makes the funnels trail, and time it; watch through the gauze for bubbles rising. When the butter comes it gathers between the tubes at the bottom. Lift out the top and shaft, 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 Cream10 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)
14

Troubleshooting

Atmospheric churn troubleshooting.

Flow

Loading...
15

History and honest limits

**Loren J. Wicks** of Racine, Wisconsin, US 23,208, 8 March 1859, "Churn". He held that the tubes' feet, moving much faster than their tops, upset the balance and draw air in quickly, and that the butter, heavier than the cream, settles between the tubes. He claimed the shaft, slanting tubes, cross pieces and funnels in a square churn with a ventilating top. He gave no sizes or materials, and drew F as a bevel wheel; our pinion is straight-cut, and every size and material is ours.

Materials

15

Tools Required

15

Design Files

6

This blueprint makes

Thumbnail
Placeholder

Butter

Free

197
0
1
Thumbnail
Placeholder

Buttermilk

Free

71
0

Related Blueprints

These blueprints share knowledge with this one — techniques, materials, or principles that connect them in the learning graph.

Ice-Chamber Air Churn: The Hollow Dasher Pumps the Same Air Round Through Ice and Cream

Ice-Chamber Air Churn: The Hollow Dasher Pumps the Same Air Round Through Ice and Cream

by ButtercupIE

FOOD & DRINKS

0
0
0
0
0
0
Segment-Rack Zone Churn: A Lever Rocks the Dasher Shaft, a Toothed Tin Band Gathers the Butter at the Surface

Segment-Rack Zone Churn: A Lever Rocks the Dasher Shaft, a Toothed Tin Band Gathers the Butter at the Surface

by ButtercupIE

FOOD & DRINKS

0
0
0
0
0
0
Churning Butter from Cream — The 5,000-Year-Old Fat Separation

Churning Butter from Cream — The 5,000-Year-Old Fat Separation

by TheChefDK

CRAFT

60
0
0
0
0
0

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.

Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.

Discussion

(0)

Log in to join the discussion

Loading comments...