Easy Orange Peeler

I decided to make what I call an Easy Orange Peeler. I thought about many different issues within the kitchen but thought this one was unique compared to the rest. Many people like to eat oranges and I figured why not have a special tool to help with the peeling process instead of getting the small Clementine Oranges from the store. This tool is simple yet effective with its job. The tool is able to hide the blade when not being used and has a nice curvature to the top of the tool to ride along the skin of the orange. I wanted this to be able to fit snug into the hand while still being comfortable and easy to control. While using the tool I suggest putting your Index and Middle finger into the holes and putting your Thumb on top of the tool to help guide the blade while cutting through the orange. The tool is easy to come apart and easy to replace the blade within it. I used a simple peg system to connect each side of the tool and a basic sliding mechanism for the blade to slide in and out of the tool.

I only used two different materials within my project, 3d Printer filament, and a #11 Xacto blade. I wanted to have a small blade to fit within the tool and the #11 blade seemed like the right size and shape for the job. When I was starting to create the tool I wanted it to easily fit within the hand. This led me to a creating the tool about 4in x 1.5in x 0.6in, this makes it easy to fit in the hand without being to small or girthy.

When I first began making the tool I thought it should look fun, interesting and intricate. As I went on though I thought about where you are going to store the tool and making it easy to grab and put away. Which led to me creating a sleek yet simple design that would ride along the skin of the orange while it peels and fits within the hand of the person peeling it.

I then came up with the idea to hide the blade while the peeler is not in use to make the tool safer to grab. It also helps to prevent any cuts while picking up the tool. I wanted it to be a simple sliding mechanism like a utility knife has. I didn't think it would need any type of locking mechanism though if I just kept the parts snug to each other. This would make the friction of the parts the resistance to the blade being pushed and pulled out of the tool.

I wanted to make sure the blade was long enough to cut through all sorts of citrus skins, while trying to avoid cutting the fruit itself. I did a little research and found out that most oranges and citrus fruit have a skin that is

I wanted the tool to be able to come apart so if need be, you could replace the xacto blade within the tool if it gets dull. I thought about a bunch of different ideas to put the tool together but some of them didn't fit for the size of the tool or seemed like they might break after a few uses. This led me to keep it simple once again and use a basic pin system. One pin connecting the top of the tool. One right behind the sliding mechanism of the tool. Finally One on the the bottom of the tool underneath the finger slots.

Holding the blade was a big need to make sure the blade doesn't move or slip from the sliding parts. With the xacto blade, it helped that it already had a hole for a slot to go through. All I needed to do was make sure the slot was big enough to keep the blade from sliding side to side, yet small enough to give the blade a little wiggle room.

Finally, when I printed the first protype I realized it was very blocky and had shaper edges than I thought. I knew that this would be a simple fix by rounding the edges of the tool and making sure it still has clean connections between the pieces. Once I rounded down the edges of the tool, I was happy with the feel within the hand the the connection between the two pieces.