Looking for someone to print a dual chamber bottle

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posted in Community by marghumb

Hello,
We are looking to 3d print a shampoo bottle 12 oz with a partition inside it such that two different kinds of liquids can go in either chamber. I have two questions:
1) Are 3d printed bottles water-tight? In other words if I fill it with a liquid will it hold it without a leak?
2) I want a smooth finish on the outer surface of the bottle. What kind of printer and plastic would you recommend?

P.S. I was thinking of having the bottle modeled by a freelancer.

10 years, 2 months ago

lindleyeng - It depends on a few things, firstly how well the machine is set up that does the printing, the resolution of the print might affect its water tightness and the material. I have printed a few things for a low pressure water sprayer and it was water tight amd I have printed a few couplings for a gas mask which was airtight. Although the guy who had the gas mask coupling did treat the parts before he sold them, but the inital fit seems quite airtight for normal atmospherical pressure. I hope this helps :)

10 years, 2 months ago

nyl0cke - If you are wanting a smooth finish, go with .1mm layer height or lower, or get it printed in ABS and see if the printer will do the acetone vapor treatment on it, that would smooth it out nicely.

10 years, 2 months ago

nyl0cke - Either way I would treat it with some sort of sealant though, especially if it needs to be food grade, ABS isn't food safe on its own...

10 years, 2 months ago

anthony_mareno - I could model and print this for you. I would print it with ABS and try acetone vapor smoothing the outside to get as smooth a surface as possible. It's also possible to sand the outside and paint over the outter surface to get a smooth surface. In either case, it would definitely hold water, but I won't recommend actually using the bottle (wouldn't be foodsafe straight out of the printer) but would work as a functional prototype. Send me a message if you'd like to talk further. Regards, Anthony

10 years, 2 months ago

bmmal - I can print this on a Stratasys Dimension. I have done vapor treating before. After vapor treating, the vapor treated surfaces should definitely be watertight. I can certainly do the modeling in Solidworks as well. Send me a message if you are interested.

10 years, 2 months ago

show 4 more comments

rapidtechnician - ABS is not a good choice hear. I can print in 8 micron layers and give you the best surface finish available in the 3D printing industry. The material is water tight and even have a clear material if you need to see the liquid inside. No vapor treating no second opp process, this technology comes smooth right out of the machine.....Please contact me...I used 3D systems projet technology

10 years, 2 months ago

makerbeck - You did not say whether the bottle needs to be flexible or not? Are you looking for something that will behave like a plastic shampoo bottle or like a glass bottle. Contact me if you would like to discuss.

10 years, 2 months ago

printedsolid - My 2 cents on this for whoever is taking it on. I think the ideal material is probably going to be a copolyester for most FDM printers. It will be quite a bit tougher and more flexible than ABS and can then be vapor polished to ensure it is water tight. You'll also have a nice translucent material. I've vapor polished both colorFabb XT and Taulman t-glase with good success. PET is pretty commonly used in dispensers. Maybe even run it at a single shell with a nice fat 0.8mm nozzle if there's not much x/y resolution needed.

10 years, 2 months ago