Espresso Tamper

thingiverse

I needed a tamper for my espresso machine, which I acquired last year, so I decided to make one myself using my new 3D printer, the Maker Select from Monoprice. This tamper fits a 2-inch basket and is slightly undersized in case it prints larger than designed; I estimate its diameter to be around 1.98 inches. Print Settings: Printer: Monoprice Maker Select Rafts: Yes Supports: Doesn't Matter Resolution: Normal Infill: 40% Notes: I let Cura add a default skirt, but I think a raft would have made it easier to remove. Excess material had to be shaved off around the edge, and adding text to the bottom was attempted ("Don't Tamper" haha), but I forgot that the depth must be a multiple of the layer thickness, so it doesn't show up. If you want me to update the file and re-upload it since not everyone has access to Solidworks, just let me know. A close-up of the helix shows that it's a bit dribbly after being cleaned up; I'm unsure how to make it come out more nicely, but reducing the print speed might help. The helix was created by extruding a circle along a variable-pitch/diameter curve fudged around the surface of the part, so having less of the circle protrude from the surface would decrease overhang, but creating the helix and fitting it to the surface with points that looked nice was tricky. Not bad for my first try, though. I made the wall thickness three times my print resolution, which is 1.2 mm, up from the normal two times resolution at 0.8 mm. How I Designed This: I started by using the diameter of the espresso basket and making it slightly undersized to create the tamping base. After extruding that half an inch or so, I drew a perpendicular axis to the base and created a spline curve from the top to the edge of a circle on the base. I played with the points on the curve until I liked the shape, then revolved it around the central axis. A helical curve was made in a 3D sketch and swept along a circular profile. The helix took the most time by far; for the record, it made it easier to dimension the points on the spline curve and make note of their locations relative to the top of the base, then input those dimensions into a spreadsheet for the variable pitch/diameter curve, and play around with them and interpolate new points in between, especially where the profile curves sharply.