Introduction: How to Make a 3D Printed Semi-automatic Salad Grinder

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I recently moved from my parent's house to live in residence at my school. During the second semester, I chose Makerspace as an additional course and I was asked to create something original that could help people. I had no idea about what my project would be until I noticed is that every girl that were living with me in residence were trying to eat healthily. All of them ate salad every day... So I told myself: Can I make a device to help them cut their salad faster and more easily? This is how the semi-automatic salad grinder was born. The semi-automatic salad grinder is a 3D printed model of a special grinder that I made by myself, to make it work you need a drill that you will activate after you placed it in a special cavity made for it.

Step 1: Tools, Material and Files.

To make a semi-automatic salad grinder you need:

- A 3D software, I personally used Sketch-up.

- An electric drill with a square bit.

Step 2: Step 1: Making the Component to Hold the Blades.

The first thing you need to do is go on a 3D software and make some kind of really basic spinning top. It can have the form that you want but always remember what size you want your salad grinder to be!

Step 3: Step 2: Decide What Size You Want Your Salad Grinder to Be.

Make a circle that will have your spinning top at its center. This circle will praticaly be the base of your salad grinder therefore, it will determine its size.

Step 4: Step 3: Make the Blades.

All you need to do to make a blade is:

1. Make a right-angle triangle on the spinning top,

2. Draw a line that is perpendicular to the spinning top and attached to the tip of the triangle that is the furthest from the others (the length of this line will be the length of the blade you're doing),

3. Connect the two other angles at the end of the line that you draw.

Choose the number of blades that you want and try to place them as far as each other as possible.

Step 5: Step 4: Build the Container.

I chose to build a square shaped container because it will be easier to place it in room corners when you aren't using it.

To build the container, all you need to do is draw a square that has the circle touching all of its extremities and use the icon with the little square with an arrow inside it to give it volume.

Step 6: Step 5: Finishing the Main Piece.

Draw a circle on the top side of your spinning top and use the icon with the little square with an arrow in it once again to make the circle on your spinning top become a cylinder. Make sure that the cylinder is higher than the container!

Now draw a square on top of this cylinder and using the same icon drag it downwards to create a square hole that is about the size of an electric drill bit.

Step 7: Step 6: Making Sure There Won't Be Salad Everywhere.

Time to make the final piece of your semi-automatic salad grinder. All you need to do is make a cap that is a bit bigger than the size and shape of your grinder, make a hole in the middle that is the size of your cylinder, and finally use the icon with the square and the arrow to drag the extremities that are excedent downwards. You can also build some handles to make it easier to remove the cap from the container.

Step 8: Conclusion.

My main difficulty with this project was putting the blades on the spinning top. I initially used a more round type of spinning top and didn't have the skills to draw nice triangles on it to make my blades. To solve this problem I decided to create a spinning to that would be more like a pyramid, therefore I have chosen to make an octagonal pyramid so I could put 8 blades (four small and four big).

To improve my project I would use a spinning top that would be more round so less energy would be lost and, I would also put a filter at the bottom of my salad grinder to make sure my salad is perfectly ground.