What is the Whisktributor?

The Whisktributor is a distribution tool meant to bridge the gap between auto and manual WDT by being a manual WDT that doesnt require skill or finicky movements that require high dexterity and focus to use and is also incredibly quick to use on bar... and unlike auto WDT's it doesnt require adjusting when situations (dosing and volume, basket sizes, etc) changes, just pick it up and swirl it like a matcha comb...

What inspired it?

The Whisktributor was inspired one day by a video i watched... i was randomly watching those satisfying ASMR brewing videos.. and happened to watch one about brewing matcha... and i noticed that a matcha whisk is such a clever creation, the genius of the japanese and their philosophy and hidden design genius... such a simple device yet it whisks an entire bowl in one swirling motion... it was my sudden lightbulb moment...

Based on the matcha whisk/comb, i had figured that maybe if i make a WDT that has its whisking area effectively the whole entire basket... it would've been easy to use with just one swirling motion as you lift it upwards... and therefore convienient, and also very fast... due to the efficiency

How do i build one???

Print our parts.... for a PLA print the weight can range from 30 grams all the way to 140 grams even.... just choose your infill and other print settings wisely to get your preferred weight... a completely solid print without infill and plenty of weight feels more "premium" but a lighter one feels more precise and movement accuracy and dexterity is way greater (like a Barista Hustle tamper)

The print requires three M3 screws ranging from 8 to 15mm length and uses only 25 needles... i personally recommend 0.3mm.... just slot the needles from the top... and then fasten the lid on and enjoy... if you want something more sturdy... its completely optional but heat set inserts can be fitted for more durable and solid threads....

The prints are designed that the orientation when imported into your 3D software is correct for printing immediately when imported....

My tips are to invest your time in lower layer heights and atleast minimum 20% infill and set the Z-Seam to "Sharpest Corner" for the greatest visual quality on the sides...

Scaling is quite forgiving in this design.... but try to scale it for your filaments shrinkage rate

How was it designed???

The first prototype was designed by simply making sure the outer needles are 6mm away from the edges of the basket... and the needles are spaced 5mm apart... it had 57 needles radially placed...

The philosophy behind it was... that i noticed that small WDT's like JKIM and SWORKSDESIGN and all their equivalents... they do a good job at whisking and fluffing... but its area of effect is of a small diameter... which means you need to do the sun and moon movement while lifting carefully.. hence it was both slow.. and finicky and impractical....

But if it was scaled up to have an area of whisking effect that is basically equivalent to your basket size... it would only need one swirling motion... to fluff and even out the entire basket in one motion... like a matcha whisk does the entire matcha bowl...

The second prototype was edited from the first.... the first one had a noticeable visual gap between the lid and body... so the lid was thinned out 0.5mm thinner and now the gaps are hardly noticeable as a minor touchup.. but mainly... the needles at areas of high overlap... were removed... leading to better performance and yet cheaper and more economical needles counts at 25 needles instead...

How did i go from first prototype to version 2???

One day whilst listening to music, some coldplay album art.. spoke to me... the one in particular is "A Head Full Of Dreams" and i realize.. that the circles in circles... pattern... is basically how my needles move around when i "whisk" my espresso...

It was a lightbulb moment.... and then after testing and being dissapointed with version 1... due to the fact it was sensitive and pushed coffee around and gouged things around unless you go very slow and careful.. (ultimately defeating the initial purpose of its creation)....

I realized that its because in the middle there was so much overlap.... but as it progressively has lower overlap density the closer you are to the edge of the basket... therefore i realized that the whisking efficiency is high in the middle and progressively reduces the closer you are to the edge... so its radially progressive whisking efficiency reduction.... it would work great if coffee in the middle is more stubborn for movement... than the edges but it isnt...

With that i removed needles where there's high overlap density so its all even... and thats how i equalized it...

In one motion.. the higher overlap areas are whisked more... and the lower overlaps are whisked less... inherent causing inconsistencies/unevenness.... so the equalization made all the difference

First tests of my V2 have returned INSTANTLY vastly greater results... now violent and somewhat haphazard swirling doesnt cause issues... and works amazing... it is now in my personal opinion... properly optimized at its finest...