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!
If you need to do marketably food-safe items, you’re best off using your printed part to create a mold for pouring food-safe epoxy. Or at least that’s quicker than having to test every print to make sure they haven’t acquired contaminants inside the printer, like lead from a Chinese-made brass nozzle.
If you’re not intending to sell the printed parts or any food created using them, the main thing you have to account for is the porosity of printed surfaces. There are mutiple ways of dealing with this issue: coat the printed objects, line them with something food-safe, or vapour-smoothe them.
There are filaments available that are certified as food-safe provided the printer is—here’s one—but any good quality PLA (and I would expect also PVB and HIPS, since those plastics are used in food packaging—maybe others as well) shouldn’t shed anything particularly dangerous. I’ve never heard of food-safe resin, but that doesn’t guarantee that it isn’t out there somewhere—I’ve never owned a resin printer.
The metal-impregnated PLA filaments are mostly “for the looks”, but there are some that can probably be detected by various sensors ( here’s one that’s magnetic )—just be aware that they may not be any stronger than the binding plastic. You might be able to get actual metal parts out of an industrial laser sintering printer (a technology that uses a laser to melt powder), but those are priced way out of the range of a home hobbyist, so I don’t know if anyone here has direct experience with them.
Omg thank you! The PLA filament looks very good.
Unfortunately the magnetic was made to rust lol, very undesirable.
But seriously thank you. Do you have recommendations on actual printers to use the PLA filament attached?
While I’ve never bought their food-safe PLA specifically, I’ve had good luck with other products I’ve purchased from filaments.ca, for what it’s worth.
There are filaments with stainless steel or other metal powders that shouldn’t rust (brass/bronze/copper are also common). The one I linked was just the first one DuckDuckGo spat back at me this time. Depending on what kind of sensors you need this to show up on, there are electrically conductive filaments that might also be useful to you.
As mentioned by another poster, Prusa is a pretty decent company known to produce reliable printers, if you’re looking to start with a smaller unit under $1000USD.
Honestly thank you for the links to filaments and Prusa. I’ll definitely be looking at other metal like options.
I’ve made an account with Prusa and I’ll be reaching out to them tomorrow!
For main application (prototyping, tools, parts, etc) you should be fine with any hoby printer. Safe bet is prusa, but it realy depends on your budget and expectations.
I dont know what exactly you want to do with your printer, I stopped being the guy saying printing is not food safe, but since you mentioned manufacturing I think you need a warning.
For food safe manufacturing, if you are doing it to make money, you will have a hard time. Its not enough to get “food safe” filament if one even exists. You need certification for whole process, at least in EU. All parts around the filament should be food safe, and you need loads of paperwork to prove its safe. There is much more, but not worth to go deep into that since FFF printing is anti food safe technology. Like others said, uneven surface, tiny gaps everywhere and thermal properties are recipe for bacteria and other unhealthy crap. Coating will not fix that. Even if its a one time use product, you could still end up with small bits of filament in food etc. Stringing and imperfections are quite normal for FFF and I dont think resin is any better for this.
If you want to play safe, get cheap printer for prototypes then order injection moulded or machined parts for production.
If you plan to use it just for yourself, I dont think its dangerous, but I still dont recommend. PLA/PETG are probably best choice since they are easiest to work with if you dont need to use it at temps above 50-60C.
There are also some extruders for chocolate and simmilar food materials, check that out.
If you find filament with metal reinforcements, abrasion will probably eat your nozzles super quick. If you need magnetic plastic, its probably better to model your parts to fit metal or magnet peace inside. Its quite common to see people stopping printer midprint, inserting magnets and then continue printing.
Also If you are worried about rust on magnets, you can paint them, dip into epoxy or maybe even powder coat.
Edit: I saw people recommending some food-safe solutions. I never tried any of these, I have no experience in food production. Im working in production company that gave up on food-safe products (stainless steel) because it was too expensive and complex (not impossible tho) to follow all required rules and law. 3D printing is just my hobby and I used to have an idea of food-safe 3D printing long time ago. Gave up on that obviously. If you still decide to continue with your idea, Im interested, keep us updated. Good luck
Check out Formlabs resin printers. They have special resins that may do what you need. They also have sales people on staff to walk you through everything.
They’re pretty pricey for a hobbyist (at least for this hobbyist) but a business may be ok with it.
I have printed some food safe prints for a friend couple of times now. Nozzle is stainless steel, Filament is natural HIPS. Stainless & HIPS are both food safe materials (if not mixed with color pigments). After the print, you need a clean surface. HIPS can be smoothed in an Acetone-Bath. Simply put it in for 10-15 min and you’ll have a glossy finish.
HIPS is very easy to print in an enclosure and the resulting product is fairly stiff and durable. It’s also temp resistant up to 90-100°C. So it’s dishwasher safe.
Do not inhale acetone vapor, wear respiratory masks that filter out voc like acetone vapor.
As Captain Flintlock said, here’s something I found on Formlabs. https://formlabs.com/blog/guide-to-food-safe-3d-printing/
So you’ve got a few main varieties of printing technology (detailed here). As for your requirements I’m not sure there’s enough metal in the metallic filaments to trigger a metal detector, but this article should be a good starting point for you.
First of all I am not into food or GMP.
What filaments? Propably PP (if you don’t need foodsafe either use PP plates or packaging tape as build plate), ASA, Nylon and if those don’t cut it PEEK. I personal like FormFutura filaments as most of them print well.
To name an “unusual” filament brand: Igus. Not sure if they are food safe but they are plastics with solid lubricants. This could be interesting for moving parts but: Using injection molded skates and roller will have a higher durability compared to FDM 3D-printed. Request free samples or talk to them. Be warned they can be a pain to print.For a business, Prusa probably makes sense. You lose money when things don’t turn out right, so spending a bit more up front is the right choice.
Beware that FDM prints are full of tiny holes which are basically impossible to thoroughly clean, so they can be “food safe” for the first use, but once they’re used they may be dirty forever.
there’s a wide range of solvents that you can use to smooth the surfaces with a “vapor bath” depending on you’re material
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What’s an option without tiny holes? I’ve heard of resin and laser printing which is higher resolutolion, do you know anything like that?
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.
For food processing, the entire part has to be food safe - in case it breaks and winds up in a bag of Cheetos or something
That makes sense, thank you for pointing it out! I can’t see plastic 3D printed parts complying with that.
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
That size puts you in the “quite large” category, hah. One example that I know of (because I own one) is the Ender 5 Plus which comes in at 35x35x40cm build volume.
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.
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
There are metal-detectable filaments you can use, which may help (although I’m not sure if they’re food safe; presumably the suppliers will respond to business inquiries though!)
Determine how big the parts need to be. Print volume will dictate a lot and eliminate a ton of printers. I liked the Raise3D printer I had. Large volume. Fully enclosed. The nozzle will be important for food grade stuff. I’ve never really needed to worry about food grade, so I can’t help you there, but never trust any cheapo Chinesium nozzle.
what 3D Printer from Raise3D do you recommend?
When we bought ours, it was many years ago - I think ti was E2 Plus or something like that. I know they have newer printers out now. Whichever one fits your size requirements and budget.