Chocolate printer

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David Knaack

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:06:43 PM4/24/12
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Here's a nice project:


This is the same mill that I have sitting here on my desk. $350 for the mill, maybe $300 for electronics, call it, generously, $100 for extruder hardware. Free, open source software. That's under $800 in materials for something they want $3000 for.

Someone who was inclined to spend a few evenings putting together and tuning up such a device could probably easily clear $1000 selling it on ebay, assuming there are people who would pay $2000 for such a thing.

Most of the hard work is done, for example:


It's mostly and assembly and integration task.

DK

Kevin Fusselman

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:12:40 PM4/24/12
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Could you not also save some additional cash by building it on the reprap platform? That'd shave your motion gear costs by around $300...

David Knaack

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:34:47 PM4/24/12
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You could, but you'd have to look at how much it impacted your time.With the Zen Toolworks 7x7 (which is the platform they are showing in the link, though evidently they are going for an actual food-safe version soon) you can go from closed box to running machine in about 2 hours (assuming you have assembled one before and know where everything goes).

I'm not sure how long it takes to put together a reprap from scratch, but if you're printing your own parts to minimize cost, I'd guess total time would be at least 4 hours, not including waiting on printing. 

Instead of saving the $300, you could buy a second 7x7 and assemble two in the time it takes to put together a single reprap, and bring in more profit in the same time (assuming you can find buyers).

patrick

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Apr 25, 2012, 1:44:09 PM4/25/12
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And how much of an investment do i have to put out up front?

David Knaack

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Apr 25, 2012, 2:13:59 PM4/25/12
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Bare minimum I'd estimate around $600 up front. 
$350+s/h for the mill (which includes motors)
$160 for electronics (sanguinololu with pololu steppers)
$90 for various cables and hardware bits, including paste extruder parts.

Travis Smith

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Apr 25, 2012, 2:17:58 PM4/25/12
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Wasn't Herr Dr. Uher working on something like this?  I thought his prototype extruder could be modified for chocolate.
 
I call forth for the inputs of the maddest scientist among us!

Travis

David Knaack

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Apr 25, 2012, 3:16:59 PM4/25/12
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I believe he was shooting for a continuous-feed wax extruder using wax rod.

The paste extruder uses a large syringe to circumvent the need for heating the print medium. In theory this reduces the complexity of the system (though it might still benefit from a fan to help solidify layers a bit faster). This limits the volume of print material to around 10cc, but when you're talking foodstuff, that's a fair volume.

The Universal Paste Extruder I linked is designed with exactly this type of service in mind, seems like a perfect fit.

Sam Flint

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Apr 25, 2012, 3:17:50 PM4/25/12
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just get an attachment for a makerbot
--
Sam Flint
flintfam.org/~swflint

David Knaack

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Apr 25, 2012, 3:20:50 PM4/25/12
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On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 2:17 PM, Sam Flint <harmon...@gmail.com> wrote:
just get an attachment for a makerbot


A Makerbot would be a 70% increase in cost, with slower assembly time and a smaller and enclosed build volume. Also, it's raw wood instead of PVC, so not nearly as easy to wash frosting and such of off.

David Knaack

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Apr 25, 2012, 3:28:33 PM4/25/12
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On the other hand, if the various attachment pieces could be obtained/created relatively easily, a MakerSlide mill would be a great option, since it can be built to an ideal size:

Jason Uher

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Apr 25, 2012, 7:14:15 PM4/25/12
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The 'modified extruder' is just a regular extruder with an extra large hole in the nozzle and a lower pressure feed wheel. The chocolate would have to come in filament form.

On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 1:17 PM, Travis Smith <trav...@gmail.com> wrote:

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