So we have 8 chickens and they needed a stand to hold their water bucket. I used this project to teach me a bit more about OnShape and to experiment with different joints (pockets in the bottom ring and interlocking in the top ring).
I probably won’t post this in the Community Garden, since this is pretty custom to my needs.
As I went about creating this, I found myself thinking that someone should make a plugin for OnShape that would break rings into interlocking segments that would allow you to make better use of material in the layout.
The girls are still learning how to use the nipples in the bottom of the bucket; I’ll post a picture of them using it when they figure it out in a day or two.
Still loving my Maslow; all this was cut on the original no-ring sled and original frame. Next project… new frame and switching to the ring!
Haha! I like it!
I knew if I posted it here someone would come up with a use for it!
Maybe I should post in the community garden as a Bucket-O-Beer holder!
The bucket is easy to obtain; it’s just a 3 gallon frosting bucket from the local super market bakery. They normally give them away for free or if they do charge its normally only $1-2.
I used @bar’s process of exporting an OnShape drawing to DXF; then Inkscape to SVG; SVG into MakerCam. Here’s the video Bar made for this.
I did cut the top ring out using gcode generated from the Kiri Moto add-in in Onshape, but that code was really inefficient for such a simple part and it did not add tabs to the inside of the ring (only the outside). I spent a bit of time with that .nc file in bCNC moving blocks around to optimize it for the Maslow.
In the bottom of the bucket there are 4 nipples (like these) they peck at the little stainless steel rod and as it moves/lifts up water drips out and they drink that.
We had about a dozen of the “hog nipple” (sheep didn’t care) in our plastic green house barn for 20+ years, worked great. Need to make sure the Frostex self regulating heat tape shield is grounded or you learn about stray voltage. Used them for the rabbits too. The chickens got the galvanized double insulated nipple free waterers, alas
I’ve seen people hook up a hose to a toilet bowl valve in the bucket. I’ve also seen people collect rain water from the roof of the coop to cisterns to keep the bucket full or pvc pipe with the nipples.
I just uploaded the gcode (.nc files) I used. These were created assuming 23/32 (3/4) inch stock and a 1/4 inch bit. The pockets in the lower ring were over sized for the 23/32 inch stock I used; if anyone wants a tight fit that would need to be corrected in the CAD files.
