Chocolate & 3D Printing

I got started with 3D printing in 2013. After nearly ten years, I felt it was about time to apply 3D printing to my favorite food: chocolate.

Yes, there are now specialized 3D printers for chocolate, but this didn't seem like the best approach. Chocolate 3D printers are primarily for decorative applications, such as creating desserts and cake decorations. I felt that producing molds for chocolate bars would be a better approach.

  • Ramos 1892 Chocolates is a document that summarizes my first venture with Chocolate & 3D Printing. Please refer to that document for details that are not included here.
    [Photo of Henry Bertram Sr. House in Dayton, Oregon, taken in 1988]
  • The Henry Bertram Sr. House was built in 1892. It is on a 5.32 acre lot in Dayton, Oregon. My wife's parents purchased the house in September, 1971, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 29, 1988. This is the house that served as the model for my chocolates. Note that the addition on the right was not part of the original house.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • I used Adobe Illustrator to create the artwork for the model. This is the photo that I used as a template. Unfortunately, no photos were available showing the house prior to the addition, and the only photo I had handy did not show the entire side of the house. I therefore created the red guidelines in Illustrator and used this to create the artwork.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • I imported the Illustrator artwork into OpenSCAD, and used this for the basis for my 3D model. OpenSCAD allowed me to experiment with the taper (draft angle) of the model, the width of lines and the depth for engraved and embossesd portions of the model, without making changes to the artwork itself.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • Once I was satisfied with the OpenSCAD model, I exported this to STL. I imported the STL into Cura for slicing, and 3D printed a set of four models on my Ultimaker 3 Extended printer. The four models were suitably spaced so that I could create four molds on a single Cast Sheet using the Mayku Formbox. Since the molds created by the Mayku Formbox curve out slightly, I designed the molds to be deeper than necessary, and I don't completely fill the molds with chocolate.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • After melting and properly tempering the chocolate, I use a melamine spoon to scoop the chocolate into the molds. (The chocolate would harden too quickly when using a metal spoon.) Some chocolate inevitably dripped outside of the molds, but it was easy to break off these drips one the chocolate hardened. I found it most convenient to work with small batches of chocolate – enough to make about eight chocolates.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • Here is the cooled chocolate in the molds, after breaking off the drips. The molds could then be inverted and tapped on a plate. The chocolate was easy to remove from the molds with a few taps.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • Here is a closeup of a single chocolate house, after being removed from the mold.
    [Photo of House used for Model]
  • This photo shows the Mayku Formbox with a set of four model houses on the metal screen. In front of the Formbox, on the left, is a Cast Sheet with molds for four chocolates. In front of the Formbox, on the right, is a plate containing four chocolates fresh out of the mold.
  • Here is the Creating Chocolate Molds with 3D Printing and Vacuum Forming blog post on the 3D Universe website.