If you’re one of the few who needs to separate basil seeds and has access to a 3D printer, you’re in luck! Introducing my 3D-printed basil seed thresher! Say goodbye to separating seeds from chaff by hand like a peasant lol!
This year I found myself with an overabundance of basil and couldn’t stand the thought of letting all those seeds “go to waste”. However, the idea of threshing and separating it all manually broke me… so, I designed and created this handy thresher to streamline the process…. You know… Instead of just accepting that I have more seed than I could plant in a decade.
It works just as you'd imagine: load it up with basil seed pods stripped from the stalks, pop on the lid, and turn the crank. Seeds magically fall out the bottom!
The tolerances are designed so that the full pods are too large to pass under the paddles, meaning they get shredded, while the loose seeds are agitated until they fall through the sieve. The sieve holes are sized to let the seeds through while keeping most of the chaff out. Some chaff does sneak through, but overall, it does a great job of separating them. Once the pods are empty of seeds, they can slide under the paddles without being shredded further.
Possible Future Updates: Added separating tower to incorporate a small PC fan and various “flappy things” to help remove the last of the fine chaff that falls through with the seeds. General re-design to allow for adjustments in mixing paddle height and interchangeable sieves to allow for possible use with other seed sizes and types.
Part list: (One each) Grinding bowl Seed catchment container Lid Central shaft Paddles Pin Hand crank Hand crank handle
Assembly Instructions: Crank ball handle and crank place crank handle on a solid surface and align the split end shaft of the ball handle with the round hole in the crank, then press it in until it pops in place. It should spin freely. Paddle and central shaft Slide the paddle over the shaft taking care to align the hole for the pin between the paddle and shaft. press pin through both parts fixing them in place.
My Print Settings: 0.4 mm tip 0.12-0.2 layer height PLA matte filament.
If you have made it this far. I’m currently working towards an engineering degree, and time for extensive model testing and refinement is a bit scarce. As a result, some aspects of the design might not be fully optimized, and occasional oversights will happen. For that reason, this model is and will remain available as a free download. I will continue to make improvements when possible and any feedback on the model is invaluable and always appreciated.
If you feel the design and print are the best thing since sliced bread, a “buymeacoffee” donation would be an appreciated gesture but not expected. I also accept hardy pats on the back, fist bumps, comments like “this is totally rad” and all other forms of positive affirmation. You can contribute via the link here if you’re so inclined. https://buymeacoffee.com/overton_prints