December 12, 2021
Description
We had some birds visiting on the balcony, looking for a snack. While a plate was ok for those birds, they made a mess all around it, so I designed a feeder.
It's able to be hung from the top but we ended up just placing it on a coffee table. Those little visitors made clear they had a liking for peanuts by throwing sunflower seeds all over the place. There are a bunch of sunflowers sprouting now, thank you birds.
The "refill" of the bottom plate works just fine. You fill it up to the start of the threads, it keeps flowing while your guests feast. Don't overfill it or you'll compress it so much it won't be able to exit the bottom. I did once and it took a massive eurasian jay to clear it.
Printer Brand:
Creality
Printer:
CR-10S
No
Supports:
Yes
0.28
Infill:
20-25%
Notes:
You don't need supports for the base, only for the top. Cleaning up the supports from the threads is a bit cumbersome, at least for those on the inside (the bottom part).
The Infill is a bit higher than needed for the bottom part. You'll need it for the top though as it may be softened by the sun.
Speaking of the sun, you might want to print this in something a bit more heat resistant than PLA. I printed the first one in a darker PLA and after some days the top couldn't be unscrewed anymore. PETG works fine since the second print.
The base has a diameter of 200mm, so it should be printable on a i3 or clone.
Cleanup
You'll find the cleanup of the threads to be much easier with a corner chisel instead of a knife (the threads are at an angle of 45°, making them 90° to each other and easily to be cleaned that way. They are easily printed as well at that angle).
Designing
I did this in Fusion 360 and I'd do it again. It's a great tool for this as it brings everything needed with it, including the threading. I'd prefer a handy open source solution, but I'm not intelligent enough for blender.
If you can bring a usable alternative - I'll be happy :-)
Category: Outdoor & GardenLicense:
Creative Commons — Attribution
Ben
