Electric jerky gun?

[Wax Munky]

Do you have a Kitchen Aid mixer?
I love to make Jerky. Used a Jerky gun.... What a waste of time that turned out to be.
I think it had a necessary accident and trashed. Admit nothing!

Not sure if this will work for your purpose. It certainly worked much better for my use. Amazon was having a sale on K-A-Attachments.I picked up the Sausage Stuffer kit. It worked out very well. The meat grinder well, for my use. Used once. Went up a notch to a LEM meat grinder/sausage maker. Nobody was complaining. People did ask to borrow it.

 

[AliOop]

I think it had a necessary accident and trashed. Admit nothing!

 

[Soaper2024]

Came across what's called an Electric Mortar Grout Gun. It holds 2-3 LITERS (yes, as in 50% more than a 2 Liter bottle worth of product) and has a very quick refill ability. The downside I see is it may be difficult to mod for shapes, and the initial cost is a small chunk.

Quickpoint electric mortar grout gun

 

[Cindy D.]

I'd be concerned that anything using an auger to move the dough would introduce air bubbles or make a weak extrusion. All the clay extruders I've looked at use compression to push the whole piece of material through the hole.

 

[Soaper2024]

Since air bubbles create an inferior looking output, they are designed to push out air as the auger pulls the product through. You can hear air being forced out in the device as you use it with big bubbles in the tube.

 

[Vicki C]

Interesting! I agree it looks hard to modify for different shapes.
This mechanism also uses an auger. Kind of pricy but I have a KitchenAid. I’m going to investigate further. https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-K...text&ref_=fplfs&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&gQT=1&th=1

 

[Soaper2024]

Oooooh! That looks very much more interesting and modifiable.

 

[Soaper2024]

Turns out (after reading up on it on other forums), the thicker the material the more important it is to keep bubbles out with the auger type. Good call.

 

[Vicki C]

If I was any good with drawing 3d objects I'd make a new cover for the jerky maker with threads and threaded rod to go through it(or buy a piece of threaded rod) add a couple locking nuts or one with a cap so a drill can be used to turn the rod and push a disk. I probably didn't explain it very good, but basically make the pushing end like the small extruder.

I just caught on to what you mean - basically, fashion a bigger version of the Makin style 18 mm extruder. You can definitely buy stainless threaded rod - I really like this idea. It would require less hand strength than the squeeze mechanism. Hmmmm…

 

[Cindy D.]

@Vicki C yes exactly!

 

[Cindy D.]

Well, today I experimented. I don't have a 3D printer here, so I improvised. I mean if it's in the recycle bin or laying around not being used, it was fare game.
First experiment was making a smaller tube to go inside the larger jerky tube and making a plunger the correct size... To see if it made pushing the soap dough easier to push, IT DID. I told my husband I give up, and did something else for awhile then went back and tried to fix a plunger the correct size that was strong enough to take the pressure.
so this is the contraption I used for the inside tube, just the shampoo bottle part held the dough.
This is the plunger part with several sizes of washers and a plastic piece that was intended to go to a bed (I think).

I couldn't push the dough through the big tube, but I could the shampoo bottle contraption.
After I was done with my project I pulled out an old pasta machine(with an auger) to see how it would do. I already had a bowl full of soapy things to clean anyway, a few more wouldn't matter.

It worked ok, it was much easier to turn, but the pieces are not as smooth as using a plunger/pressure type extruder.
This is what I used.

 

[Cindy D.]

When I get a chance I will definitely be making a3D printed tube to fit inside the jerky tube and fill the whole jerky tube. The dough kept squeezing out around the shampoo bottle, even though I had it wedged in there with a microfiber cloth.

 

[Cindy D.]

@Vicki C things have been rolling around in my head since I read your post on the electric jerky maker.
I finally figured out how to make 2 threaded parts that fit together on the 3d printer. I made a big plastic nut and a piece to go through the top cover of my jerky maker with an embedded metal nut inside it. I purchased a12"eye bolt marine quality. I thought maybe it could have been shorter, but after putting everything together it definitely needed to be 12"long.
DBMIMPORTERS Full Thread 1/2" x... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D44VW7RX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

In the photos above the pieces are in the order of how they go together.
It turns beautifully and I can spin the cap from one end to the other. The eye bolt is really heavy @ 1/2" diameter.
My husband and I stood in a hardware store talking about what to use for the rod, only to realize if it was a plain rod threaded from one end to the other the nut on the top would need to be welded in place or it would just unscrew. We looked at all the carriage bolts with hex heads but nothing was long enough and had threads the whole length.
I think a smaller diameter eye bolt would work also as long as it was going through a metal hex nut. The hex nut is embed in the tall piece with plastic threads on the outside and a canning jar rubber laying on it. When the big plastic nut is tightened down on the threads it helps stabilize the area around the metal nut. above is the cap put together with the new pieces I made and below are the old pieces minus the cap.
I made an insert to make the amount of dough I had to push smaller so not as much pressure would be needed. The plunger part has a space to push a capped hex nut into it, so it can be tightened down, the other black disk laying at the end of the lower end of the eye bolt rests and spins on the capped hex nut. While the piece with the capped hex nut spins as you turn the eye bolt the end disk does not.
The 2 nuts on the rod near the eye can be adjusted and locked in place to prevent damaging your extuder disks.
The only thing I haven't figured out is how to make something that a drill can turn going through the eye of the bolt.
My extruder had stopped working. The last time I used it I was pushing with my belly while holding the trigger and that wasn't very comfortable!
As it is, it weighs just over 2 &1/2 pounds.

 

[Vicki C]

@Vicki C things have been rolling around in my head since I read your post on the electric jerky maker.
I finally figured out how to make 2 threaded parts that fit together on the 3d printer. I made a big plastic nut and a piece to go through the top cover of my jerky maker with an embedded metal nut inside it. View attachment 81091View attachment 81092I purchased a12"eye bolt marine quality. I thought maybe it could have been shorter, but after putting everything together it definitely needed to be 12"long.
DBMIMPORTERS Full Thread 1/2" x... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D44VW7RX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

In the photos above the pieces are in the order of how they go together.
It turns beautifully and I can spin the cap from one end to the other. The eye bolt is really heavy @ 1/2" diameter.
My husband and I stood in a hardware store talking about what to use for the rod, only to realize if it was a plain rod threaded from one end to the other the nut on the top would need to be welded in place or it would just unscrew. We looked at all the carriage bolts with hex heads but nothing was long enough and had threads the whole length.
I think a smaller diameter eye bolt would work also as long as it was going through a metal hex nut. The hex nut is embed in the tall piece with plastic threads on the outside and a canning jar rubber laying on it. When the big plastic nut is tightened down on the threads it helps stabilize the area around the metal nut. View attachment 81093above is the cap put together with the new pieces I made and below are the old pieces minus the cap.View attachment 81094View attachment 81095
I made an insert to make the amount of dough I had to push smaller so not as much pressure would be needed. The plunger part has a space to push a capped hex nut into it, so it can be tightened down, the other black disk laying at the end of the lower end of the eye bolt rests and spins on the capped hex nut. View attachment 81097While the piece with the capped hex nut spins as you turn the eye bolt the end disk does not. View attachment 81096
The 2 nuts on the rod near the eye can be adjusted and locked in place to prevent damaging your extuder disks.
The only thing I haven't figured out is how to make something that a drill can turn going through the eye of the bolt.
My extruder had stopped working. The last time I used it I was pushing with my belly while holding the trigger and that want very comfortable!
As is it weighs just over 2 &1/2 pounds.

I’m so impressed! I need to look at this when I am rested as my brain is not making the proper synapses to let me understand this. But, supper cool @Cindy D. !
Heading south to Massachusetts tomorrow to pick up an order at Catania Oils. I’ll wave in your direction.

 

[Cindy D.]

@Vicki C, lovely... safe travels! I'll be waving back

 

[Cindy D.]

@Vicki C today I used a drill to extruder a couple embeds, it worked great!There is a 1/4 inch socket adapter and 12mm 6 point socket kobalt(Lowe's) on the end of the contraption I made to spin the eye bolt.This is what the pieces look like, they screw together and I put another piece of silicone\rubber in between to help hold the pieces in place. There is a 12mm hex on the end to put the #12 socket onto.
It has a little bit of a wobble but I adjusted a couple things and it was much better. The cap nut unscrews as you back up, so I'm looking into a nut with nylon to help hold it on the threaded rod better... Or lock tite(but if rather not use it).
Using the drill definitely compacts the soap dough, the second time I pushed the dough through I got a better embed on both pieces.

The plastic pieces are all made out of petg, it seems to glide better for threads. We probably went right past you yesterday as we made our way north on 125 and then 16, stopping in Epping.
If you are interested in trying to do this to your jerky gun let me know and we'll see what is the same or different. I'm definitely getting better at drawing the pieces at this point.

 

[Cindy D.]

they are 16"long, it was so fast!