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Rubber-Pipe Pump Churn: A Pulley Rolls Milk Through a Tube in a Ring and Jets It Through Gauze
L. J. Wicks (USPTO drawing) · Public domain
Buttercup

Created by

Buttercup

9. November 2026IE
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Rubber-Pipe Pump Churn: A Pulley Rolls Milk Through a Tube in a Ring and Jets It Through Gauze

Loren J. Wicks of Racine, Wisconsin, received US 24,686, dated 5 July 1859, for a churn that is a rolling-tube pump. An india-rubber pipe runs from the bottom of the milk box once round the groove inside a ring and up into a smaller box on top. A pulley on a fast crank rolls round the ring on the pipe and drives the milk up in a stream against two gauze partitions hung under the top box's cap. The broken milk runs back through a screen of fine wooden strips into the box below, the butter staying behind; the stream keeps going until all the butter is out. This rung builds it with silicone tubing, a printed ring and pulley, and pine boxes.
Intermediate
About 1 day, plus printing

Instructions

1

A rolling pulley as a pump

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

A churn that pumps the cream round, before it

McClintock pumped with a vane and valves. Wicks squeezes a rubber pipe and needs no valve at all.
3

Read US 24,686

"Thus it will plainly be seen that in the manner which pipe (B) passes round circular frame (F) the pulley when rolling on it will force the milk up into box (C)."
4

Print the frame F

The ring with the tube's groove round its inside and the hole in its foot. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 50 % infill, 5 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
5

Print the rotor

The hub with the two projections that carry the pulley. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 50 % infill, 5 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
6

Print the pulley H

The pulley that rolls on the tube. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 50 % infill, 5 walls; wash before first use.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
Download Model
7

Stand and boxes

From pine make box A 360 x 240 mm inside and 230 mm deep, and stand it on four 44 mm legs 400 mm tall. Drill a 13 mm hole near the front of its floor. Make box C 360 x 122 mm inside and 180 mm deep, with a floor, and stand it on two cleats across A's back, leaving A open for 100 mm in front of it. Cut C's front out between 18 and 122 mm up and glue hardwood strips 6 mm wide upright in the opening, 4 mm apart, as screen D. Drill C's front 13 mm above the screen for a 8 mm stainless spout.

Materials for this step:

Pine BoardPine Board3 pieces
Softwood Timber 70x70mmSoftwood Timber 70x70mm2 pieces
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws40 pieces
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Stainless Steel TubeStainless Steel Tube1 piece
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand SawHand Saw
JigsawJigsaw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
ClampsClamps
SandpaperSandpaper
Tape MeasureTape Measure
8

Cap I and partitions E

Cut a plywood cap 340 x 100 mm to slide on C's top. Make two frames 240 x 138 mm from 3 mm plywood with a window in each, staple stainless mesh over the windows (for his tin and gauze), and screw them upright under the cap 40 mm apart, across the jet's path.

Materials for this step:

Plywood SheetPlywood Sheet1 piece
Wire Mesh / ScreenWire Mesh / Screen1 piece
Wood ScrewsWood Screws8 pieces

Tools needed:

JigsawJigsaw
Tin SnipsTin Snips
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
9

Frame F, pulley and pipe B

Screw a pine board across the front legs below box A and screw the printed frame F on its front, 220 mm up. Bore the board for a 12 mm stainless shaft G with a hardwood support K behind it, fit the rotor and pulley H on its pin inside the frame and a hardwood crank P outside. Push 12 x 8 mm silicone tubing into A's floor hole, sealed, down through a hole in the board and the hole in F's foot, once round the groove, out through the same hole, round the outside of F and up to C's spout.

Materials for this step:

Pine BoardPine Board1 piece
PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece
Stainless Steel RodStainless Steel Rod2 pieces
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Hardwood DowelsHardwood Dowels1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws3 pieces
Nylon Insert Lock NutNylon Insert Lock Nut3 pieces
Silicone TubingSilicone Tubing1 piece
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
HacksawHacksaw
Utility KnifeUtility Knife
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
10

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, half the boxes cut away: box A on its stand, box C with screen D, the cap and the two mesh partitions, the board with frame F, the rotor and pulley on the shaft, the crank, and the tube's run from A's floor round the ring and up to C. The rotor was checked at six angles.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
Download Model
11

Churn

Pour about 10 litres of cream at about 15 °C into box A, checked with the thermometer. Turn the crank fast and time it: a stream jets into C against the mesh and runs back through the screen. Slide the cap back and forth now and then. When the butter is held in C, stop, lift C off, take the butter out, pour the buttermilk from A, 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)
12

Troubleshooting

Rubber-pipe pump troubleshooting.

Flow

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13

History and honest limits

**Loren J. Wicks** of Racine, Wisconsin, US 24,686, 5 July 1859, "Churn". He did not claim forcing milk in a stream against a substance as such, only boxes A and C with pipe B, and box C with screen D and the hanging partitions E. His pipe was india rubber and his partitions tin and gauze; our silicone tubing, mesh frames, printed ring and pulley and every size are ours.

Materials

18

Tools Required

16

Design Files

4

This blueprint makes

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Butter

Free

198
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1
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Buttermilk

Free

72
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