Soda Can Crusher by TheFisherOne

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This actually works. I usually just slightly dent the side of the can before crushing, because it makes it a LOT easier to crush. There is no reason to print the Can, it is just included to help visualize where it goes.
This was sized to almost exactly fit the size of my print bed. I had to print the handle with the gears vertical, and the handle laying down (at an angle) in order to fit it. Some of the teeth didn't print properly, but those teeth were not actually used.
I didn't mark this as configurable yet, as I have only ever tried the one set of settings.
This requires two ball bearings where the handle/gear meets the top piece that slides up and down. You will have to measure the bearings that you are using to make them fit, the dimensions are in the .scad file.
When assembling the unit, insert the handle such that the handle is almost horizontal when on an uncrushed can, you need the leverage. (not the way it shows in the file).
Also make sure to lubricate the top slider using vaseline or grease.
It does not crush the can as flat as some can crushers, it basically gets it down to about 20-25% of the full size.
Each part was taking 15 hours to print, and I got bored with waiting so did not do a lot of experimenting with slightly better designs. Please give it a try, make some modifications/derivatives and insert comments.
I had fun making it, I hope you enjoy it.
Just added 2 new files. I changed the top piece so that it crushes the cans completely now. Basically I made it bigger.
https://youtu.be/dOc2pMA7Y2Q
It seems to be pretty robust, I just added a picture of some of the cans I have crushed with it
I revised the openscad file a little to allow for the handle to be a little shorter so that it would fit on smaller print beds. The lever now has 2 stl files that you can download.