Gas Powered Blender

So you'd like to have a nice blended margarita out in the middle of nowhere? So did I. All you need is gas trimmer and a blender to make blended drinks in remote areas. Of course, I'm still working on how to make ice without electricity.

Step 1: Parts Is Parts

You'll need a gas powered weed wacker type trimmer. If you use an electric trimmer, you've pretty much missed the point of this project. You will also need a blender of course. Mine had a plastic base so it was really easy to cut up with a hacksaw.

Here's what I used to cook up my gas blender. Your mileage may vary.

Ingredients:

1 ea. Gas engine
1 ea. blender
4 ea. 10-24 locknuts
4 ea. 10-24 x 3/4" bolts
8 ea. size 10 washers
6 in of 1" diameter EMT electrical conduit
1 ea. 4mm x 20mm metric screw
1 ea. 1 foot x 3/16" square bar stock


Utensils:

hack saw
hammer
screwdriver with various bits (torx, philips, flathead)
wrench
channel lock pliers
masking tape
aluminum tape
pencil
dremel with cutting disks
drill
drill bits
friend with welder

Step 2: Preping the Engine.

Take off all the unnecessary parts off the trimmer: the shaft and the head. The output shaft of my engine received a square shaft so I bought a foot of 3/16" square barstock from the local hardware store to use as a spindle. The base of my engine is also nice and flat so I didn't have to modify the bottom to keep it standing upright. I think I will add rubber feet to the bottom to protect the engine from scratches when operating.

Step 3: Preping the Blender

Take apart the blender. you'll need the pitcher, the receiver for the pitcher, and the toothed 'gear' that meshes up with the bottom of the pitcher.

Unscrew the base and open 'er up.

Unscrew the toothed 'gear'.

The motor on my blender was screwed to the top half of the base with four screws hidden under little plugs that I had to drill out.

Step 4: Chopping the Base

I needed the base to hold the blender jar in place so I chopped the top off the plastic base. I wrapped tape around the area I was cutting, and used a pencil to mark off where I needed to cut.
Then I used a new blade on my hack saw and cut along the line.
I cleaned up the base with some sandpaper and it looks straight enough.

Step 5: The SHAFT

For the power train, I wanted to keep things a simple as possible.

The output shaft on my motor actually is designed to hold a square cross-sectioned flexible shaft for the trimmer head. I found a piece of steel at the hardware store that fit perfectly.

Next I had to find a screw to fit in the 'gear' that turns the blender blades. I found mine to be a metric screw I had lying around. I got a friend to weld the two together.

I considered grinding down the square shaft to a cylinder at one end and threading it by running it through a die, but I didn't even have a tap and die kit.

I left the shaft long so that I can trim it to fit.

Step 6: Fabricating the Mounting Flange

It took me a while to figure out the best way for me to attach the blender base to the motor.

The engine has a compression fitting that will take a 1 inch-ish diameter tube around the output shaft. I didn't have any titanium tubing long enough, and my carbon fiber supply just ran out so I used electrical conduit.

I used a Dremel to cut four slits in the end of the tube about an inch and a half long, then I bent them outwards with pliers. I hammered them flat and lined it up with the blender base mounting holes. These holes originally held the electric motor in place so they are very sturdy.

The compression mount was a little bit loose, so I wrapped the end in aluminum tape to thicken it up.

Step 7: Final Assembly

I screwed the blender base to the mounting flange and inserted the flange into the motor. I tightened the compression fitting and it was a solid fit. Then I took the shaft with the gear installed and trimmed it to fit.

I fired it up, and it works fine. I recommend safety glasses.

Now I need to mount the throttle and the kill switch and it will be done.