Teabag Crane

My favorite kind of tea comes in bags without a string. To remove them from the hot water, I either have to use a teaspoon—which means more dishes to wash—or hope the teabag floats so I can grab it without burning my fingers. Neither of these options are acceptable to me, so I decided to look for an alternative solution. Instead of going for a purely practical fix, I decided to aim for a fun one :)

In this Instructable, I'll show you how to make a teabag crane. It holds the teabag with a small wooden peg, allowing you to dip it into hot water using a lever. When you're done, you can rotate the crane and dispose of the teabag with zero skin-teabag contact.

I hope you follow along, and if you have any comments, I'll be happy to reply!

1. 6 mm plywood
2. 3 mm plywood
3. Two 5mm inner diameter (ID) / 16mm outer diameter (OD) bearings (I used 687zz from AliExpress)
4. One 8mm ID / 22mm OD bearing (608zz from AliExpress)
5. Three small nails (8-10mm long nails would be ideal, otherwise you could cut longer ones)
6. One small spring with small hooks on both sides (see step 7). Mine was salvaged from an old printer.
7. One small wooden peg (less than 12mm wide)

First, we need to cut the parts for the teabag crane. Some components are designed for 3mm plywood, while others require 6mm plywood. You’ll find two attached files, one for each thickness.

In the provided SVG files, you’ll notice three different colors:

1. Black: Indicates cutting.
2. Red: Indicates engraving.
3. Orange: Includes comments to help you during the process.

I decided to color the crane black and yellow to mimic the appearance of an actual construction crane. The outer faces will be yellow, while the inner support beams and the lever will be painted black.

To paint the parts:

1. Prepare the yellow paint: Dilute mustard-shaded yellow watercolor with some water.
2. Paint the outer faces: Using a sponge or a piece of cloth, apply the yellow paint to both sides of the crane's outer faces (see images 1 and 2).
3. Paint the support beams and lever: Similarly, use black watercolor to paint the support beams and the lever (see image 3).

Once painted, allow all the parts to dry completely.

In this step, we’ll prepare the base of the crane.

1. Glue the base parts:
2. Apply wood glue to one side of the 3mm base piece.
3. Attach it to the bottom of the 6mm base piece, aligning them carefully (images 1 and 2).
4. Attach the bearing:
5. Use a strong adhesive, such as gel superglue, to secure the larger bearing (608zz) in its designated slot (images 3 and 4). Be careful to apply glue only to the external part of the bearing.

The crane will eventually have a lever to lift the teabag. To make this action more satisfying, we’ll add some resistance using a spring mechanism.

1. Prepare the nails:
2. Cut nails to size: You’ll need nails 8–11mm long. If you don’t have nails of this length, you can cut them yourself.
3. Use cutters to create a noticeable dent at the desired length (first image).
4. Hold the nail with two pliers and snap it into two.
5. Attach the nails:
6. Insert the nails into the dedicated holes. One of the crane’s outer faces and the black lever both have small laser-cut holes for this purpose.
7. Ensure the nails are inserted correctly, keeping the final assembly’s orientation in mind (images 1–3).
8. This setup will allow the spring mechanism to function smoothly once the crane is fully assembled.

The teabags will be held by a small wooden peg, and now is the perfect time to attach it.

1. Thread a small nail through the spring of the wooden peg.
2. Press the nail into the front of the black lever (see images).
3. To prevent the plywood from cracking, drill a small guiding hole before inserting the nail.

To enable the lever to move, it needs to be connected to a hinge. I didn't have a metal rod, which could have worked, so I 3D printed an adapter between the lever and two bearings.

1. 3D print the lever holder:
2. Use the attached STL file to print the lever holder. I used a resin printer, but PLA is an even better option for this part.
3. Attach the bearings:
4. The 3D-printed holder has two cylindrical extrusions designed to hold the bearings. Apply a strong adhesive to these extrusions and slide the smaller bearings (687zz) onto them (images 1 and 2).
5. Assemble the hinge:
6. Slide the 3D-printed holder onto the black wooden lever.
7. Glue is optional and only necessary if the fit between the two parts isn’t tight. My parts fit snugly and didn’t require any glue.

It's time to assemble the crane!

1. Insert the black support beams into one of the outer faces of the crane (images 1-2). This should be the one without the nail attached to it.
2. Insert lever with the hinge attached to it. Make sure the nail is facing away from the outer face, because it will be used to hang a spring that will be attache to the second outer face (see image 3)
3. Hang the small spring onto the nail that is attached to the lever (see image 3)
4. Attach the second outer face.
5. Before pressing it all the way, hang the second hook onto the nail attached to it (see image 4).
6. Once the spring is held by the two nails, you can press the outer face all the way through.

In this step, we will add a handle to the lever.

1. 3D print the attached STL file.
2. Glue it onto the back side of the lever (see images).

We're almost done! The crane is fully assembled, but it's not yet connected to the base.

1. Add an adapter between the bearing and the crane:
2. 3D print the attached STL file for the bottom adapter.
3. Slide its cylindrical extrusion into the bearing that's connected to the base (first image).
4. Connect the crane to the adapter. Apply some glue if necessary.

That's all! The crane is all set and ready for use :) It really like playing with the lever and rotating the crane back and forth. To make tea, I pour hot water, hold the teabag with the wooden peg, and dip it in the water a few times. I then leave the teabag in the hot water for a couple of minutes before disposing of the used teabag by pressing the peg.

Thanks for reading!

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