Mechanical Water Tap, articulated (Kids’ Play Kitchen)

This is a mechanical tap for children's kitchens. When the handle is pulled up, a foldable water jet automatically extends from the tap.

The object consists of several parts, some of which have been halved for better printing and assembly.

Printing:

Most objects only need to be printed once. Only Axle.stl and Pin.stl are needed twice.

We printed our test parts using FDM printing (PLA). Most of them have been printed at 0.2mm or 0.1mm layer height. A few hints that may help you when printing this yourself:

Gear_A/Gear_B: Try printing these without brim, as leftover brim material can cause the gears to jam.

WaterTab_A/WaterTab_B: These are the main parts. We printed them in original position, using support only for the “neck section” (only touching buildplate). Make sure not to add support to the inner tube of part WaterTab_B, as it will be nearly impossible to remove and the thread going through this part of the object would probably get caught in the remaining support bits.

Water.stl: This is the complete articulated jet module. It consists of several parts which need to be printed in place. We printed these quite slow and at rather low temperature in order to prevent the sections from fusing.

Assembly:

Once all the parts have been printed, assembly doesn't take long:

The handle:

In order to create the handle, you need to combine Handle.stl and Gear_B.stl. Gear_B will click right into the handle. Depending on the print quality some glue or sand paper might be helpful. ;-)

The water Tap:

To connect the gears to the water, you will need a thin, tear-resistant thread approximately 35 cm long with a smooth surface (e.g. sewing thread).

Proceed as follows during assembly:

1.) Feed the thread from above through the innermost segment of Water.stl.

2.) Tie the thread tightly to the tab of WaterPlug.stl.

3.) Pull WaterPlug.stl by the thread into the innermost segment of WaterPlug.stl.

4.) Feed the thread through the guide inside the neck of WaterTab_B.stl. A wire, toothpick and tweezers may be helpful for this.

5.) Tie the thread to Gear_A.stl at the designated attachment point.

Once, Gear and Water are connected, insert the gear into the bottom cavity using Axle.stl. Rotate the gear to the left (counter clockwise) until Water.stl is completely collapsed and hidden inside WaterTab_B.stl.

Final assembly:

Use the second Axle.stl in order to attach the Handle/upper Gear. Add the two Pins which help to secure the second half of the WaterTab. You can use Lock_big.stl and Lock_small.stl in order to secure/lock the assembly. If things work fine, you can screw everything to a board using two screws.

How, everything should be ready. Have fun!

Troubleshooting:

If something isn't working as expected, these tips might be helpful:

The handle jams/can't be moved:
- Check the gears for defects. Little blobs of material can block the mechanism.

The handle moves, but the water isn't showing:
- The thread might be too thick or getting caught by sharp edges. Try using a lighter thread and smooth out edges in the thread's path. (The mechanism uses gravity to pull down the water. Thread-friction should me minimized in order for this to work. )

The thread tears:
- Look for sharp edges along the thread's path and try to smooth them out.
- Try using a stronger thread.

The Water sections are fused / can't be moved:
Try printing slower and with lower temperature.

The water isn't moving down but seems to be pulled upwards:
When assembling the Tap, be sure to rotate the lower gear counter-clockwise. Rotating it clockwise will jam the mechanism.

How this was made:

All objects were created in Blender and FreeCAD. Images were created using Blender, Gimp and Inkscape.
Tested by FlatterBjoerni.