The Problem
Now that we have our nice new feeders, we need the ability to fill them quickly. The buckets we use for feed have wide mouths.
The simplest solution would be a funnel of course. But why purchase one when you can print one instead?
Creating the Solution
The funnel itself would need to be sturdy and would need to be able to stand up to possible high temperatures in the summer months. They would never be in direct sunlight, but it seemed wise to print them in something like PETG for strength and stability at higher temperatures.
Additionally, the funnel would be against the wall which would necessitate one side being flat to make it easy to install the funnel into the feeder.
Design
I opened Shapr3D and whipped up a quick funnel design (see header image). It had been a long time since I'd made anything in Shapr3D from scratch. So it took some time for me to remember how to work with the software. But this was a good starting design.
I ended up using the Shell operation to hollow out the design which was a fast and easy way to create the walls at a uniform thickness. And then I rounded off any sharp corners with chamfers.
Printing
Printing this design was pretty simple. I added the file into Cura and used my saved settings for PETG on my Ender 3 Pro.
However, my printer had a few issues along the way. One of them being that I still haven't installed a filament runout sensor so I had to recall the steps from CNC Kitchen's post on how to resume a failed print to salvage my work. But it came out perfectly. And I was very pleased with the results.
Installation
The first print was a bit tight in the pipe, but we were able to get it installed easily enough. For the next print I scaled it down slightly and then it slide into the feeder with ease.
Duplication
I have now printed three of these funnels and they are working perfectly. They are permanently installed in the feeders in our chicken coop and they make refilling the feeders simple during our morning routine.
