17
Help - 3D Printer for food manufacturing (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi,

I work as a continuous improvement engineer and I've been discussing getting a 3D Printer for our shop here. Main applications would be:

  • Prototyping tools, jigs, parts, etc
  • Small custom parts for use on equipment

The main thing I'm struggling with is there's so much technology and brands now! I decided to reach out for more insight. The main requirements are essentially:

  • Food safe plastic OR Metal Detectable plastic (plastic with metal impregnated)

I would appreciate any help or direction!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

I'm the past there were hot ends (the print head) that may contain lead, so there is also that to consider.

The solution I read about in the past was to coat the part at the end with something food safe, like glazing for ceramics.

Of course you have to be careful about cleaning these plastics, PLA can't handle dishwasher temperatures.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    I've looked at formlabs list of materials and I've noticed there are some graded for those Temps and some not. I guess filaments themselves can always be changed

    Coating is a good post processing solution however. So we'll be sure to look into that as well

    Do you know any actual printers you could suggest? At least 30 cm x 30 cm by 30cm

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    You may want to look at the other reply to my post, they mentioned that a part that breaks should still be food safe. I don't work in the food industry, I'm just a 3D printer nerd, so I wouldn't know about things like that, I just wanted to make stuff for my own use.

    I'm outdated as far as printer options, Prusa makes good printers without going into the really expensive enterprise tier, so that's where I would look.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I've sent a email to Prusa for more information. I really appreciate the insight

    Parts breaking ending up in food is the biggest risk, but we run everything through metal detectors to try and prevent any risks

    I think based on your comments and others we might go for Prusa options

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •