The fun of LEGOs and the deliciousness of chocolate combine to make this absurdly awesome chocolate 3D printer. via instructables
After the success of my first instructable, a fully functional LEGO 3D printer, I was planning to make some improvements.
At first I was planning to replace the Z-axis threaded rods by cnc lead screws. This should result in a smoother z axis motion. With an improved accuracy of the prints in the height.
A next step would be an improvement in the X-axis. To allow more weight on top of the carrier. I was going to modify the Extruder-carrier from standing to lying. Additionally this also would have made room for a second extruder.
All this, until a colleague pointed me to the Remix Contest. Along with the question whether my printer could print chocolate. This resulted in a second version of the “3D chocolate printer made from LEGO” made by Saul (April 2005). He ends his instructable with: hopefully someone will rebuild this and simplify it.
It’s 2015, and thus the original instructable is over 10 years old, still gets replies, but nobody made such a printer. Since I already made a LEGO 3D printer, all I had to do was build a chocolate extruder 🙂
Unfortunately, printing chocolate isn’t easy.
But it can be done. And basically there are two ways to print chocolate (at home):
Use a worm screw. And press melted chocolate out a nozzle. This requires pre-melted chocolate or a heating system.
Use pre-melted chocolate in a syringe.
Without a heating system, the chocolate will solidify sooner with a worm screw. The chocolate will also be in touch with more LEGO. Also this requires the extruder to be disassembled and cleaned after each print.
That’s why I’ve chosen the second option. This version is also the easiest to make with LEGO. In addition, the chocolate remains edible. And that’s what it’s all about.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
