hummingbird feeder bottom

thingiverse

# This is version 1. Check out version 3 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4544078 This is a replacement part for the Stokes Select Ruby Prism Hummingbird Feeder with Four Feeding Ports, 24 oz Nectar Capacity https://www.amazon.com/Stokes-Select-Hummingbird-Feeding-Capacity/dp/B002M2XVMS . The feeder consists of four parts: a beautiful plastic bottle reservoir for syrup (could easily last 10 years), a metal plate (won't rust, could also last 100 years), a rubber gasket between the metal and the bottom, and a cheap plastic bottom that the reservoir screws into and hold the whole feeder together. The plastic bottom didn't even last seven years in the California sunshine. This is a glowing example of a great concept but piss-poor industrial/manufacturing design. When the plastic bottom fails, there's no replacement to be had and most folks probably throw out the whole thing. What a waste. The right solution, of course, is to manufacture all the parts to the same long life standards. Until that happens, here's a 3D printer design for a replacement bottom. I designed this using OpenSCAD and have included both the STL as well as the SCAD files in case you want to improve on the design. This was my first 3D printer design with internal threads that have to mate to an existing part. I was going to use the same algorithm as in the uploaded .scad file, but a quick search showed me one I liked so I quoted it here and it worked. Version 1 is the version I printed, printed flat on its bottom without supports. That was my mistake: 3D printers don't like rounded profiles unless you use supports. Version 2 uses a chamfered profile so it should print without supports with no problem. You can select between version 1 and version 2 in the customizer. Prose inspired by https://www.thingiverse.com/doumas 's https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2781385