ABSTRACT

A manual operated oil bean slicing equipment which would be affordable, simple to operate and easy to maintain by local and/or small scale farmers and proccssors was designed and fabricated with locally available materials. The design was based on the engineering standard and specifications. Factors such as physical and mechanical properties of oil bean seeds, mechanical properties of construction materials, machinability or deformability of construction materials, wear resistance, cost ol materials were considered in the fabrication of the device. The machine was tested with minimal damage of the product. The bill of engineering measurement and evaluation revealed that the machine was fabricated at a total cost of N15,800.00. The device match the need of the oil bean processors and with adequate maintenance and/or management. it would ameliorate the difficulties involved in oil bean processing and, therefore boost the farmers production, with slicing efficiency of 40.45.