Sarlacc Fruit Fly Trap

September 3, 2021

Fruit flies are annoying enough that I felt a 1000 year digesting period for them was fitting. So I came up with this variation on the standard fruit fly trap. The concept allows for endless fun/niche designs, leverages off existing jars, and the modularity allows top/trap changes as needed.

Invention idea #01142.1 pulled from my notebooks to share.

Build it for fun & profit.

Explore the interactive blueprint.

Click/Touch & drag to pan, Scroll wheel/pinch to zoom.

Interactive Blueprint

Some products purchased through links may earn me a small commission to help fund further inventing to share with you. Thank you for your support.

Overview of the concept:

I thought this head would be nice on a fly trap for those LOTR / GOT people [Ref1]:

Additional Head Design Notes:

If you absolutely must build a Sarlacc version and don't fear a vicious M.M. attack, here's some reference pictures to get you started.
If you go the route of buying/modding an existing model there are many 3D model markets out there, and some free options such as Thingiverse and GRABCAD but do check licensing on them before proceeding.
If you prefer hiring you might try Fiverr. I've hired people there successfully.
The plate the head sits on should be thick enough for the screws. Perhaps 5-7mm or so.
For modding STL files I like to use either Meshmixer, OpenSCAD, or both.

I built a simple OpenSCAD file (attached below) to show the proof of concept and how I hack together STL's to pre-visualize a concept in this tool:

Hippo & Lid Models: [Ref2, Ref3]

I usually start with OpenSCAD if I want to rough something together. Often, I run around Thingiverse or GRABCAD to find the bits I need and mod them to fit my concept. From there, if I plan to go from concept to prototype I either stay in OpenSCAD if the geometry is simple and the target is 3D printing, or use Fusion 360 to create a solid model so I have the option to go with mold injection in the future.

Additional Notes on Recipe Book:

I said "book" in the audio commentary, but really I should have said "notecard". You probably only need bate recipes for the typical four flying pests: fruit flies, mosquitos, flies, wasps. Slipping in an additional page or card of some sort with DIY bate instructions would be a nice touch with the cone trap sets.

Additional Cone Trap Notes:

The cone lip should be thin, 1.5mm or less.
The screws should reside inside the jar. That is, they should clear the inside jar edge.
I prefer heat inserts and machine screws, but this complicates production. Thread cutting screws are a good bet if you want to avoid said complication. I'd probably start with an M2.5.