Design Of The Week: Propane Cap

This week’s selection is the essential Propane Cap by Thingiverse contributor Mike Winkler. 

The cap was designed for the ubiquitous one-pound throw-away/disposable propane gas tanks that have a 1″ X 20tpi thread. When applied, the cap keeps partially used tanks from slowly leaking gas when the valve sticks open. You’ll need to supply a rubber gasket to use with each cap. 

The cap was designed using Fusion 360, an easy-to-use 3D modeling tool that even beginners could quickly learn. 

An avid ice fisher in our area made a propane bottle carrier from a laser cut piece of maple wood and a handle made of maple wood. This was custom made to carry 3 tanks of propane, and shows how you can combine 3D printing with other making processes to produce something quite useful. Propane is essential when ice fishing, and so you want to ensure there are no unexpected leaks. 

When you have to carry multiple propane tanks in a sled behind you, to find a good fishing spot you only bring what you need. This process may take a very long time and walking through snow and ice. The gas is enough to heat up his “big buddy” heater and a burner to warm up his lunch.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever been ice fishing, but it typically involves dragging a sled behind you while searching for a good fishing spot. Thus you should bring only what you need to limit the cargo weight. Sometimes the search can take a long time walking through deep snow and ice, and you can get quite cold. 

That’s when you want to make sure the few propane bottles you brought with you are actually still holding gas. You’ll need one to light up the heater, and another to warm up lunch. If there was a leak because you didn’t 3D print a cap, then there’s no lunch. 

Via Thingiverse