I’ve been cad-ding for the past days and googling around, with the idea to make a pasta extruder.
While a basic approach for extrusion for say - spaghetti - is dead simple, just hollow out the desired-width holes in a disc, I’m not sure how a shape like fusilli is made.
My assumption is that 1/3 of a twirl (for fusilli with 3 twirls) exists inside the actual die - but that’s impossible - since such a die would be impossible to machine.
So my second guess is that the insides have a different angle (like the ones for elbow macaroni) which extrudes the dough to escape at different speeds.
I’d really appreciate pictures or schematics, but i can’t find anything of use.
tl;dr - why is fusilli twirled and simply not an Y?
Generally, spiraled shapes (like springs), are extruded straight, then given a twist by having the extruded material hit a deflector as it exits the orifice.
Here’s a video of a spring machine in action: MAX FS50 CNC spring forming machine - YouTube
beowulff: i see, but i’m not sure how that would apply to the extrusion head. fusilli always comes out “twirling”, so if there’s a “deflector”, it’s on the inside?
@tom: what makes fusilli pasta twist inside the die, and not simply come out as a long Y? (how is the die designed to impart the twist?)
The shape of the hole (aided by the elasticity of the dough) affects the properties of the extruded section - if you extrude through a curved slot, for example, there is a tendency for the dough to extrude faster at the centre of the arc than the ends - and so it curls into shell shapes.
If you have a slot that’s Y-shaped, but with each of the arms curved in the same way, this imparts a twist.
You can just about see it in this video - from about the 1:30 mark:
I suspect the pasta dough behind the dies is being pushed forward with a twisting motion (it’s in a cylinder that is being rotated on its central axis) and the dough is sticky enough that the twist continues as it’s extruded.
I know the video, but there’s still no info on the insides of the die.
so you’re saying the die is simply cut in the Y shape, and there are no wedges inside (ie, the inside has exactly the same shape as the outside), and this is all done by the shape?
or, I don’t see what you’re referring to.
Do you have kids? Do they have one of these? You could maybe see if you can get a twist with the play-doh, or push some through the die while twisting it yourself to see what the result is. You can always try next with some pasta dough.
I think rotating the dough while pushing through the Y-shape should do it, but I’ve never made pasta.
Let us know what you figure out - this is interesting!
