Pooter

This is a lid attachment to turn a jar into a pooter, the traditional way to make one involves drilling two holes in the lid of a jar. You then get two straws, cover the bottom of one in mesh and then use blue tac or similar to stick it all together. This is not ideal. It requires some drilling and crafting skills, the exposed metal can cut and should any of your blue tac slip you risk sucking one of those bugs straight into your mouth (as I have sadly learnt). 

I have included the fully assembled model, though I advise printing it in parts. First make sure to print out the test to dial in what % scale fits best. It's designed for 75mm lid diameter. All going well, if you print it in parts you should not need any supports (the brave souls printing the full model, well, good luck). For the less brave; You need to print off one of each of the following files; Lid, MouthTube, BugTube. 

• Print the Lid on its back, with the threads facing upwards. It should not need any supports. Lid2 has a M mark to indicate the mouth side, which may need supports.
• Print the MouthTube on its side, if you need supports have them touching the build plate only, you should probably print this as 99% scale for a good fit.
• Print the BugTube on its side, if you need supports have them touching the build plate only, you should probably print this as 99% scale for a good fit.

Be careful not to mix up the two tubes, the mouth tube has a grate on it preventing bugs from being sucked into your mouth, if you get them the wrong way around the bugs wont be able to get into the jar for observation. 

Tip: To prevent a mix up you can mark the mouth tube by using a different colour filament. 

The pieces should be a friction fit, both holes are the same size so you should just be able to slide them into place. Exactly how well it goes together will depend on the tolerances of your printer. If they are too loose and just won't work, never fear, you can always take up the blue tac! Any suitable adhesive should do the trick to keep them in place, but apply liberally, you want an air tight seal. Glue, silicone, blue tac, insulation tape, etc. 

Tip: the bug and mouth tubes are 1cm in diameter, this lets you catch larger bugs but means that the suction power will be low, any air leaks will further lower this suction, you can use insulation tape around the jar and lid contact points to help cut down on any air loss where the lid attaches to the jar. 

Happy bug catching!