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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
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    Caboolture QLD AU
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    781

    Default Cake decorating turntable

    Around 9 mouths ago a Forum member ericks2 kindly sent me a Gear reduction stepper motor and a Stepper Drive module to help with testing some ideas when I started to test designs for what would become an Automated Router table.

    My wife asked if I could design a motorised lazy susan with the though that it would help with her daughters love of cake decorating. I realised that the readily available motorised lazy susan, which I would describe as a revolving display stand, would be useless for revolving a heavy cake while using a spachular to smooth sticky icing. To accomplish that task correctly would require a speed control that could run down to almost stationary with lots of torque at the slowest speed, so I designed a cake decorating turntable using the components from Erick, the result was a Christmas present for my step daughter and our combined efforts were, in her own words, "the best present ever", it cuts down cake decorating time by up to 75% in some cases.

    I came up with a rough design and my wife carried out the wood turning for the prototype on the lathe. The idea was to make an easily removable wooden platter that looked like a lazy susan, but with a fixed base. The cake could be placed on this platter before placing the platter onto the drive turntable, and to be removed the same way when finished. The second function was to allow the platter to break free from the drive turntable if too much resistance was applied, in other words stop the sound of splitting timber..

    This was basically designed as I went along, in reality it's the prototype but it worked so well that it ended up as the finished present. The main difficulty was finding a way to assemble everything in the smallest case that would allow the cake plater to overhang the box corners, and getting a heavy duty rotating metal plate sandwiched inside a small box, along with connecting a motor to timber in a way that would take a lot of shear force to the point of stalling the powerful geared down torque of the stepper motor.

    The unit has a direction switch, power switch and a speed control, it runs from a 20 volt 5A plug pack and has a foot switch to start / stop the turntable for hands free control as you decorate the cake.

    The Stepper Driver module and a variable pulse generator for speed control. The heavy duty metal rotating plate for the wooden cradle that will locate the base of the larger cake platter.
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    Revolving base with recess will locate the base of the cake platter.
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    Stepper motor: I designed a mount to allow the motor to move, this stops any twisting of the coupling at the timber drive base.
    The motor projects through the base and cooling air flows over the motor and out a vent on the rear top of the cabinet.
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    The case is made to fit over the base, the corner blocks accept the bottom feet screws and transfer the weight of the cabinet, drive and cake directly to the feet removing all stress from the thin base. Once assembled, the base of the platter slips into the revolving timber base recess.
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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
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    Caboolture QLD AU
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