14 DAY TRIAL // Consumer 3D printers mostly use FDM technology, fused deposition modeling, to 3D print items from superheated plastic filament (ABS or PLA). Some can make food though, and a certain company has decided to build on that.
Called RepRapBCN, the startup has revealed the BCN3D+ 3D printer, which uses the Paste Extruder to create items from chocolate, mashed potatoes, and even jelly.
Foodstuffs aren't the only thing it can be used for though. Since it's a Paste Extruder, it can be used with any, well, paste, like clay and plaster. In fact, even concrete was included on the list.
Considering how hard it is to do anything with jelly other than pour it inside a mold and wait for it to cool down, this makes the extruder quite impressive indeed.
Now, admittedly, the Paste Extruder only works with RepRapBCN's own BCN3D+ 3D printer, but the company's Rafael Angles Lopez assures everyone that it can be easily modified to work for any other FDM printer out there.
All it would take is a small tweak to the firmware, as well as including something to attach the extruder to the proper parts of whatever FDM 3D printers you own.
You will have to figure out for yourself what pastes make the best prints though. The extruder works with all of them and uses a gear system that is both strong and has a very low friction value.
However, some pastes just don't work as well as others, and some will need you to add more or less water lest they lose their shapes prematurely. 3D print jobs go on for hours after all, and it would not do for the paste to become too hard or mold mid-process. Conversely, making it too fluid will lead to a huge mess.
Pre-orders for the Paste Extruder will need you to fork up $148 / €110, but you will have to wait until October 15, 2014 to get it. At least that means that you can use it to make cool-looking cookies and cakes for Christmas.
Of course, whether or not you trust your 3D printer to be clean / disinfected enough to make the food you and your guests will eat is up to you. Obviously, just because you could add the extruder to a printer and start making food instead of the plastic stuff of before doesn't mean you should. Especially if it's an open-air model and you've been keeping it in your dusty, greasy garage workshop.
