Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi everyone!

The other day, I was thinking about how my wife likes to make smoothies in the morning and get the blender and all these dishes dirty.

I think the Magic Bullet you see advertised on TV infomercials is a good idea, but I don't need one more appliance in my kitchen, or spend the $60 it costs.

I was also thinking it would be great to have a camping blender that didn't require a 110v outlet.

Here is what I came up with the other day.

I noticed that Mason jars have the same thread on them as the bottom of the blender.



So there is nothing stopping me from screwing the blender gasket, blade and base into a Mason jar and making my own "Magic Bullet"

Just unscrew when done and drink like a hillbilly.

Don't try this for Margaritas! One of the ice cubes flew at high-speed and put a crack in the glass!

So I started experimenting with other Jars.


Pickles jars are too big, peanut butter was not quite right. Mayo jar worked perfectly. The threads on the plastic mayo jar was just a little different, I think it would work fine with 2 gaskets instead of one.

The Oster brand blender has a nice solid METAL drive shaft with a square cross-section. The hole in the blade base is 8-sided, to make it easier to line up. If you put an adapter into a cordless drill that goes from the standard 6-sided shape that gets chucked in a drill, to a 1/4th inch square, like for driving a 1/4inch socket, it fit perfectly into the base of the blender. The little tiny ball-bearing on the 1/4in socket adapter even holds it in real nice.

I thought this would be great for fancy girly drinks while out camping. A cordless drill is basically just a battery-powered electric motor!

-Ben

...checkout the Boat Blender...both are pretty cool to have around the camp and even the house..........
madjack

Now, this is what I call ingenuity....... very nice.

If'n ya wanna get serious about camp blenders, take a look at this one.

Blender Blaster.com

UPDATE.

Found this at Wal-Mart (they were out of stock at K-Mart) in the blender isle. This is a Magic Bullet-type device designed for the blender you already have.


It comes with a cup, blades and gasket, and sippy cup lid and straw. These are all the replacement parts I would use with my blender anyways, plus the cup.

You put your ingredients in it, screw the blade base on, and put it on the blender
Here it is with the blades in it.


This still uses the 1/4 square drive, and thus works with my drill.

[img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=8525
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I checked and this worked with my mom's 30-year old Oster Blender/Mixer. They haven't changed designs in that time.

I suppose if you found a blender pitcher at a thrift shop, that would be a great way to make your own camping drill blender.

Hamilton Beach also makes a similar product, if you own that brand. They use a plastic multi-tooth connection between blender pitcher and base, so I don't know if you could use the drill trick as easily.

Here are links for both brand to-go-cups.

http://www.oster.com/productdetail.aspx?id=109&cat=9
http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/kitchen_appliances/beverage/blender_accessories/55650.html

I have checked out the boat blender web site. My hats off to that guy. I thought it was great, but wanted to see if there was a simple, inexpensive way to home-build it up.

I have tried looking at stores for any plastic sports bottles with the same thread as my blender base. Haven't found any yet. The closest I got was a mason jar or plastic mayo jar.

If anyone finds a particular brand/size of bottle that will work with this let me know. Then all anyone needs is there drill, blender blade/base and enough plastic drinkning containers to go around.

I also can't tell if the Boat Blender uses any kind of internal gear to change the power or speed of the drill to the blades. My system is direct-drive. I am using a Sears 19.2V cordless, but I think the battery is a bit run down. It crushes ice OK, but not great - a must for margaritas and other blended drinks.

I have also seen a great looking hand-cranked blender at the camping store, but why spend $100 on a new blender when I already have one?
http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop6.cfm/dp/602/ts/4063867

And this one

just seems like over-kill.

Can anyone tell me if that Boat Blender has any advantage over my home version? (Other than larger drink capacity)

I only thought of it now, but I don't think I would ever want a gas-powered blender or other kitchen appliance.

I know how much I spill and get that aweful smell on my hands just when I fill up my lawn mower or weed-wacker.

I wouldn't want that anywhere near anything I would eat or drink.

In case you were wondering, here is the bit I was using.



It is the standard drill 6-sided on the one end and 1/4inch square on the other. This was in my bit set for using 1/4" sockets on a drill.

I am sure a person could get one of these pretty cheap at the local hardware store.

Does anyone know what the boat blender bit looks like?

problem with drill is lack of rpm. don't know how this affects things, but a blender usually turns 10 times as fast... but hey, we're talking about camping anyway, and most stuff will taste good.....

bennelson wrote:So there is nothing stopping me from screwing the blender gasket, blade and base into a Mason jar and making my own "Magic Bullet"

Ben, that's brilliant! I've seen these things and thought to myself, "For crying out loud, it's a friggin' BLENDER!" But the convenience of not having to scoop out whatever it is I blend (and clean the blender afterwards) makes me glad I still have some Mason jars around!

I really can't see myself using a blender in camp, though. A coffee pot and a frying pan are pushing my personal envelope on camp cooking...

Joseph