Frosting Extruder (Q54666)

Thanks for checking out my thing. This thing is a frosting extruder much like the kind you would see a baker using to frost their goodies. I thought of making this for the New Museum Design Challenge after looking at the things I enjoy doing and thinking of ways I could improve it with the power of 3D Printing. Usually when I go to add icing to muffins or frosting to a cake I take a common zip lock bag and put my icing or frosting into it and cut the corner off. sometimes this works and sometimes it's pretty messy. I know frosting bags and tips are fairly easy to come by at kitchen stores but I felt that a truly customizable tool would be what I would want to use to really give my treats a personalized touch. With that in mind I set out to design an easy to use kit that used almost no extra parts beyond what the Thing-O-Matic 3D printer could produce. Alongside the basic kit of parts I've created a wide array of nozzles to be used, Round tips, square, rectangle, slotted, and star tips. I know there are a massive number of tip designs and I hope to be able to update the files here with addition kits of parts as I have time to produce them. Additional to the common place frosting nozzles in the market today the abilities of 3D printing technology can really push the envelope on what's possible in nozzle design. Not being held to the limitations of sheet metal pressing and injection molding users can create a vast array of new shapes to really give that unique look they strive for. 3D printing also allows for less waste, users can print out only the parts they want and save money and maybe the environment. I've included a zip folder with the SolidWorks (boo =( I'm sorry it's not open it's what I had access to) files so that users can add their own nozzle designs. Also included are zip files with STL files, and IGES Files. Since I Don't have a Thing-O-Matic I am not 100% sure that these designs will print flawlessly which is why ive listed it as a work in progress. I did try to minimize extreme overhangs and wall thicknesses. I hope to get some feedback from the community as what needs to be improved to get these to print as well as possible. Thanks for taking a look and enjoy!