CNC Kitchen Sink Strainer

Our Young Engineer recently rented a house, now knows why our sinks have CNC-machined strainers, and asked for something better than the disgusting stainless mesh strainer in the kitchen sink.

Being a doting father, I turned out a pair to get a pretty one:

CNC Sink Strainer - overview — CNC Sink Strainer – overview

They’re made from the same scrap smoked acrylic as the ones in our sinks:

They’re definitely upscale from the (not watertight!) 3D printed version I built for a Digital Machinist column to explain OpenSCAD modeling:

This time around, though, I rewrote the subtractive design in GCMC, with helical milling for all the holes to eliminate the need to change tools:

Sink Strainer - tool path simulation - CAMotics — Sink Strainer – tool path simulation – CAMotics

They’re done on the Sherline, because it has real clamps:

CNC Sink Strainer - on Sherline — CNC Sink Strainer – on Sherline

Four tabs eliminated the need to reclamp the stock before cutting the perimeter, but I should have ramped, not plunged, through the final cut between the tabs:

CNC Sink Strainer - tab surface fracture — CNC Sink Strainer – tab surface fracture

The handles come from the same chunk of hex acrylic as before, eyeballed to length, tapped 8-32, and secured with acrylic adhesive.

The GCMC source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Drill & mill sink drain strainer
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU — Digital Machinist 15.2 Spring 2020
	// polycarbonate or acrylic sheet
	// External clamps at corners
	// Origin at center of sheet

	//—–
	// Dimensions

	DiskOD = 80.0mm; // usual kitchen drain = 3-1/4 inch
	DiskRad = DiskOD/2;

	PlateThick = 6.0mm; // stock thickness

	MillOD = 3.170mm; // measured end mill OD

	HoleDia = 4.75mm; // 3/16 inch drain holes
	ScrewOD = 0.18in; // knob screw clearance

	NumRings = 3; // rings of drain holes
	RingSpace = 1.5 * HoleDia; // .. between rings

	MaxZCut = 0.25 * MillOD; // max cut depth

	MillSpeed = 1000mm; // horizontal feedrate

	NumTabs = 4;
	TabTilt = 45deg;
	TabLength = 5.0mm;
	TabThick = 0.5mm;

	SafeZ = 10.0mm; // above all obstructions
	TravelZ = 1.0mm; // within engraving / milling area
	MillZ = -(PlateThick + 0.5mm); // through disk into spoil board

	TwoPi = 2*pi();

	//—–
	// Mill one hole

	function MillHole(ctr,radius,turns) {

	goto([-,-,TravelZ]);
	goto(head(ctr,2) + [radius,-,-]);
	goto([-,-,0]); // kiss surface

	circle_cw(ctr,turns); // helix downward
	circle_cw(head(ctr,2)); // remove last ramp

	goto(ctr); // get elbow room
	goto([-,-,TravelZ]);

	}

	//—–
	// Start cutting!

	goto([-,-,SafeZ]);
	goto([0,0,-]);
	goto([-,-,TravelZ]);

	feedrate(MillSpeed);

	// Mill center screw hole

	comment("– Center hole");

	ctr = [0,0,MillZ];
	MillHole(ctr,(ScrewOD – MillOD) / 2,ceil(abs(ctr.z) / MaxZCut));

	// Mill hole rings

	comment("– Drain hole rings");

	repeat (NumRings; ri) {
	comment("Ring: ",ri);

	rr = DiskRad – ri*RingSpace; // ring radius
	comment(" radius: ",rr);

	nh = to_int(floor(TwoPirr / (2HoleDia))); // number of holes
	comment(" holes: ",nh);

	repeat(nh; h) {
	a = (h – 1) * TwoPi / nh; // angle of hole
	ctr = [rrcos(a),rrsin(a),MillZ]; // center point at ending Z
	MillHole(ctr,(HoleDia – MillOD)/2,ceil(abs(ctr.z) / MaxZCut));
	}
	}

	// Mill perimeter

	comment("– Perimeter");

	r = DiskRad + MillOD/2;

	goto([r,0,-]);
	goto([-,-,0]);

	ctr = [0,0,-(PlateThick – TabThick)];

	circle_ccw(ctr,ceil(abs(ctr.z) / MaxZCut)); // ramp downward
	circle_ccw(ctr,1); // remove last ramp

	goto([-,-,TravelZ]);

	comment("– Tabs");

	ta = 360deg / NumTabs; // between tabs
	tsa = to_rad(TwoPi((TabLength + MillOD) / (TwoPi r))); // subtended tab angle

	repeat (NumTabs; i) {
	comment(" # ",i);

	a = TabTilt + (i – 1)*ta; // tab center angle

	p0 = [rcos(a + tsa/2),rsin(a + tsa/2),MillZ]; // entry on ccw side
	p1 = [rcos(a + ta – tsa/2),rsin(a + ta – tsa/2),MillZ]; // exit at next tab

	if (0) {
	comment(" angle: ",a);
	comment(" entry: ",p0);
	comment(" exit: ",p1);
	}

	goto(head(p0,2)); // to entry point
	move(p0); // plunge through
	arc_ccw(p1,r);
	goto([-,-,TravelZ]);
	}

	goto([-,-,SafeZ]);
	goto([0,0,-]);