Centerless Trommel

I designed this rotating trommel as a DIY construction activity for middle school students. The design is made entirely from 3D printed parts and commodity components, making it very inexpensive to reproduce.

Users feed sand into the lower end of the mesh cylinder, and it’s carried upwards by a corkscrew structure. Large debris falls out of the upper end into a collection bucket, while the fine sand is sifted out and falls below the trommel.

I made this project for the Broadening Opportunity through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center at CU Boulder as a pitch for a weeklong summer education camp for middle schoolers in 2018.