Another -but different and geometrically proportionate- spaghetti measuring tool

thingiverse

Perhaps my clumsiness is the culprit, but I find standard designs based on round openings difficult to use. Either I end up with a fistful of spaghetti loosely dangling in the hole, rendering the measurement pointless, or individually squeezing -sometimes breaking- the last ones. I've also discovered that many "standard" published measures are simply not proportionate. For instance, the area of the hole for two, three, or four servings is substantially different (sometimes up to 22%) from two, three, or four times that of a single serving. Interestingly, servings for two tend to be the smallest compared to twice a single one. Perhaps this is an attempt to avoid criticism from weight-conscious partners. Check for yourselves if you don't believe me. The math is straightforward: Area = π (3.1416) times the square of the radius -in Excel, +PI()*R^2-. The "standard" individual serving also varies substantially, ranging from diameters of 17mm (0.67") to 23mm (0.91"). It may not seem like a lot (35%), but when you square the radius, the difference in area amounts to 83%! Of course, traditional "index & thumb" rules will also be widely different - a "Boban Marjanović serving" will surely be ample for anyone - but that's not the goal. I've settled on a rough average of the most widespread "standards," equivalent to a 21mm (0.83") diameter for a single portion. And yes, the area for two, three, or four servings is exactly two, three, or four times larger. If you find it too scarce or too generous, simply scale it up or down, but be aware that any linear in-/decrease will yield a square in-/decrement. For example, a 10% linear upsize represents a 21% increase of the resulting portions (1.1x1.1=1.21), a 20% (1.2x1.2=1.44) 44%, and so on. Still, large or small, the servings will remain proportionate. Regarding the design, I found Engineer89's proposal (www.thingiverse.com/thing:961715) inspiring. Not only are his servings exactly proportionate (as one would expect from an engineer, @ 350 mm2 each), but it also allows you to simply drop the spaghetti on top and remove the excess. However, it is a bit bulky to fit in our already packed kitchen drawers. So, I decided to "open up" the traditional circles and use instead appropriately resized semicircles. It's not as stable, but it does stand sideways reasonably well. All edges are rounded for added safety. Concerning printing, I used PET-G to make it "dishwasher-safe," but almost any material will do. 30% infill seems strong enough, unless you want to print a wafer-thin version, in which case flexibility will be key (avoid PLA). Food compatibility should not be a concern because contact will be minimal and brief. I've created two versions: one with roman numerals (+Braille on the top side) and a more symbolic -and easier to print with some materials- one. Besides STL, SKP, DXF, and 3DM (Rhino 5) formats are also included, to facilitate remixing/personalization. Happy printing -and cooking-! Note: Upon use, I found that if the kitchen desktop is very smooth, dropped spaghetti tend to slide away. Place a non-slippery mat underneath it, or put an adequate barrier (e.g., the spaghetti box/bag) aside to prevent it. Print Settings: Printer: Flashforge Creator Pro Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: 0.2mm Infill: 30%