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I have seen lots of printers that print chocolate using a syringe with molten chocolate. But, even cooler, would it be possible to print chocolate using some kind of feed system for continuous chocolate printing, so large objects and for a prolonged time, not only lasting the content of one syringe with molten chocolate ?

Things to consider are IMO:

  • How to keep the chocolate long enough in a molten, viscous state enough to print ?
  • Chocolate needs a tempering temperature, which means it needs to be around 32-37 degrees celsius, else it doesn't shine but gets a dull look (or turns white after a while).
  • Chocolate is food, so you need foodsave equipment in the whole chain that is in contact with the chocolate.

Maybe a peristaltic pump that keeps pumping the molten chocolate to the extruder, which might be a valve that can be open/closed from G-code ?

Dimitri Modderman
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2 Answers2

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Update: I found a nice article about chocolate printing: https://all3dp.com/2/chocolate-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know/

You are searching for chocolate extruder. I did not find one, which would fulfill all your requirements. You have to adapt each solution.

Zmorph3d Liquid paste extruder

According video on the page you insert chocolate in liquid form. That could be solved with heated chocolate container.

Syringe based extruders

You can use a 2 liters syringe. And if this is not enough then you can refill during print.

Convert pellet extruder

Printing from chocolate pellets is simpler then printing from plastic pellets. Therefore if you use foodsave parts to build such a extruder then this is useable for you.

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amra
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I would look into what Hershey did for this chocolate printer in junction with 3ds. Behold state of the art Chocolate 3d printing.. The CocoJett

That said there is little said about their tank system.

Far as the actual question it self. There is nothing to facilitate a large pool of continuous chocolate. It would be easy enough to build something that stirred the chocolate and a pump that feeds it in. At that point we are talking about a fair amount of new engineering. One could figure out how to map the E extrusion to a pump that would refill what was spent.

This section is just a bit of speculation.. I wonder. It seems to me that the way to go for XL coco printing would be powder. Bind it with an edible adhesive (hot sugar water maybe?). Have the printer refrigerated. Or just have a simple system that can change out the syringes of coco. Last you could just pause it while you change syringes.

JJJ
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