Shallow grooves in cylinder

[cfrazeur52]

I am attempting to draw a drinking glass  and would like to place some shallow grooves horizonaly to help with griping the glass.  I am designing this for a friend who has artheritis in her fingers. I would like to print it out on a 3D printer using a food grade type of plastic.  Can someone recommend a clear acrylic type of plastic for this application?

[LeonardoBN · Accepted solution]

Hi @cfrazeur52.

Are you going to use a FDM printer?

Although there are some food grade polymers (like PET), there will be small imperfections in the final part. Even a thorough cleaning may not reach all the imperfections. You could look for a food grade resin, which will provide a smooth layer to your glass. I'm not sure how those resins behave with cleaning processes.

Another option would be printing only a sleeve for an existing drinking glass. You fit the drinking glass in the sleeve and remove later for washing.

[laughingcreek · Accepted solution]

most of the FDM filaments (such as PET) that are also "food safe" are going to be sensitive to heat.  so no dish washer, or soaking in hot water.   There are SLA resins that would satisfy the need.  formlabs makes a clear dental resin for making appliances that are worn in the mouth, so I would assume it would meet the "food safe" requirement.

If you don't have access to a SLA printer, there are many outfits out there doing commercial printing.  I'm currently using this company-

https://www.zelta3d.com/

which has provided me with a few hundred nice prints at a good price.  They don't have a clear "food safe" resin listed, but they are very responsive via email (use the contact page), and I know they have materials that aren't listed on the website, so it would be worth asking.  You can also get a quote online to give you an idea of price without having to talk to someone.

[cfrazeur52 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for the response and suggestions.