One option is 3D printing a mold to fill with silicone sealant. If this is a part that fails regularly, the mold may be worth it. You then have a pretty broad array of food safe sealants you could use and don’t have to worry about your 3d printed part harboring bacteria.
Comment on I need a cheap part to fix a bread machine that's under warranty. "We can send you a new machine."
Cort@lemmy.world 2 months agoMaybe food safe tpu printed gasket?
franzfurdinand@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Chocrates@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Not sure about TPU, but can any FDM printed material be food safe? I thought the layers (even with sanding) harboured bacteria.
Ajen@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Based on this research paper, washing with soap and warm water is enough to remove harmful bacteria.
researchgate.net/…/373174194_Sanitation_Effective…
bluesheep@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Been an while since I looked it up, but I thought it was depended on the material. PLA IIRC is somewhat porous and will harbor bacteria, for example.
Cort@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think tpu does come in food safe formulations. For a gasket that isn’t coming into contact with food, and wouldn’t regularly be washed anyway, I wouldn’t really have concerns. Especially if you can design the gasket thin enough to reduce the number of layer lines.
I’d have more concerns if the printed part came into direct contact with the food. Anything you’d want to put into a dishwasher is completely out of the question; thermoplastics don’t handle the high temps gracefully