Summary

This is a jig to turn standard craft sticks (popsicle sticks) or jumbo craft sticks ( tongue depressors) into amusing propellers which you can attach to dowels to make hand-powered helicopters or pinwheels.

Print Settings

Printer:

FolgerTech Prusa 2020 i3

                                            <p class="detail-setting rafts"><strong>Rafts: </strong>                     <div><p>No</p></div></p>                                                                                <p class="detail-setting supports"><strong>Supports: </strong>                     <div><p>No</p></div></p>                                                                                <p class="detail-setting resolution"><strong>Resolution: </strong>                     <div><p>0.4</p></div></p>                                                                                <p class="detail-setting infill"><strong>Infill: </strong>                     <div><p>20%</p></div></p>                                                        <br>                        <p class="detail-setting notes"><strong>Notes: </strong>                    </p><div><p>Printed in natural PLA on glass.  Bed at 75F, extruder at 220F.  This is about a 3.5 hour print using a total of 88 g of plastic.   Because of this print's size, ABS will tend to warp unless you take special precautions (e.g. an enclosure)</p></div>

Post-Printing

Making Propellers

            <div><p>This uses either standard craft sticks ( 113 mm x 9 mm x 1.5mm) or jumbo craft sticks ( 148mm x 17 mm x 1.5 mm) to make propellers.</p><p>Mark the center of your craft stick by putting it in the template slot in the bottom of the jig, then pushing a 6 penny finishing nail ( 2.6 mm x 63.8 mm) point first through the hole in the middle of the jig.</p><p>Boil your craft stick for about 30 minutes, making sure it is completely submerged in the water. </p><p>Put your stick through the slots in the top of the jig and let it dry overnight.</p><p>Nail the stick through your center mark to the top of a 5 mm dowel to make a helicopter.  Drill a 1 mm hole through the center, thread the prop onto a nail and add a bead for a spacer, then nail that to a larger dowel to make a pinwheel.  </p></div>

How I Designed This

Design

            <div><p>Designed with BRL-CAD, an open-source 3D CAD system developed in 1984.  This software is clunky, but powerful and stable.  </p></div>

Craft Stick Propeller Jig