In case you needed another reason to build, borrow, or buy a 3D printer, here’s one way to design and print your own cookie cutters. [Nikolaus Gradwohl] put together a processing app that aims to make the design process a bit easier. So if you’ve never designed a printable object before, but can get your hands on a MakerBot or similar device through a friend or your local hackerspace, this is for you. Check out the video after the break to see the process of making a cutter in the shape of a mushroom, or just download the app and give it a go.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/17729854]
I’m pretty sure the makerbot plastic is not foodsafe
What ever happened simple bent sheet metal…?
Hackius:
I kinda doubt it is so toxic as to get you if you’re just using it to make shapes out of dough…
Hackius:
The makerbot uses high density polyethylene as one of its extrusion materials, which is used frequently in food containers. It may emit BPA, but it unlikely the amount you would ingest from brief contact to cookie dough would be harmful.
love the music, and as far as the sheet metal idea, yes it’s good, but harder to work with and still get the precision on the small scale that this method does. and if your still worried about toxins, spray it with cooking spray, it’ll help the dough release and puts a thin barrier between the plastic and the food.
@hackius
If you don’t think ABS is foodsafe, just use HDPE from recycled milk jug plastic( http://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/recyclebot-digests-milk-jugs-to-feed-makerbot/ )
The music is freaking great.
A tutorial about how to use MakerBot? The title isn’t quite fitting.
You can’t feed a tube of dough through a makerbot?
Would come in especially handy for building things out of gingerbread.
Mmm, self replicating cookie based machinery.
Thanks to the author for not using youtube.
And yeah the music wasn’t too bad for the video
(I used to be OK with youtube but I’m now the target for their ads and I blocked their URL since I can’t stand that crap of ads on videos, let alone ads before being forwarded to it)
for shame… burned the cookies
wouldn’t a makerbot cook the dough as it was printing? what shape are the cookies… they look like smurf houses.
its the fungi from centipede
ABS is frequently used for cutting boards, isn’t it?
I made mine from bent sheets of brass and lead-free solder.
http://www.fromtheshopoftjweaver.com/cutters.html
someone make an X-Y cookie dough writer. make the nozzle fine enough, and you could make any shape, since the dough usually rises a bit in the oven anyway
@jaqen – that is a great idea! Seriously a 3-D cookie printer, lets see a post on that!
a good and cheap material for making cookie cutters are cookie cutters. they are food safe, and already have a blunt and a sharpened edge. you get them for cheap at the thrift store. or if that fails at a craft supply store (with a 40% coupon).
look for big round shapes like circles or ovals. avoid shapes that already have sharp bends.
now the only challenge i still face is designing a shape that has the same circumference as the blank circles (because i don’t want to start spot welding just for this)
As i know the home extruders (makerbot/reprap) use bio-plastic since this has a lower melting point than more accessible plastics. We’re deffinitely not talking normal plastic here.
However whether it is foodsafe or not, i do not know.
I don’t think the plastic could be toxic just by a few seconds of contact with dough. I do wonder if the colored plastics contain any lead though.
the makerbot normally uses abs which is what legos are made from. I only print in pla poly lactic acid.
This plastic is food grade and is even being used for body implants etc. The pla I use is made from corn and smells great when using my makerbot