Hello Everyone....A friend of mine would like to introduce students to 3D printing by creating

Hello Everyone…A friend of mine would like to introduce students to 3D printing by creating hard candy. Has anyone experimented with this and could give us some suggestions or advice? Types of printers that would work well…or perhaps suggestions for overcoming sticky nozzles, etc.

We are just starting to put this together, so anything would be helpful.

Thanks…

If the candy will be in liquid form to start, a syringe type extruder might work (as is used for other foods). I haven’t seen a method for melting material in a food-safe way yet.

@Carlton_Dodd are there big issues with the hot air selective sugar sintering that the candyfab people aren’t aware of? http://wiki.candyfab.org/FAQ

Thanks. these are all very helpful…g

@Hannes_Lilliefeldt Nope. I just said I hadn’t seen a method. Now I have. Thanks, that looks delicious. :wink:

I think the most accessible and mature inspiration would be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHFlwJQIkE

Where some UPenn guys printed molten sugar (for the purposes of vascular structures by dissolving the sugar leaving a matrix of tubes). It is however essentially a sugar extruder.

The only part that causes any question about food safety with an E3D hotend is the brass nozzle, which contains a very very small amount of alloyed lead. Personally I think that the amount that would actually disperse to the material printed is so absurdly low that it’s basically a spurious fear. I’ve seen brass used in lots of places in food processing equipment too. However I’m no expert in these matters and so am not willing to go out on a limb and declare the hotend “food safe”.