# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  FormFutura HDglass

## Brian_Krassenstein

Dutch 3D printing materials manufacturer FormFutura is introducing its new transparent PET filament HDglass, which will allow 90% of light through it, and only 1% haze or distortion. HDglass is extremely durable, has excellent layer adhesion, and is FDA approved for use with food and drinks. The filament will be available in clear and in four colors including black, blue, red, and green. You can read all about the new 3D printing filament in the full story: http://3dprint.com/57124/formfutura-hdglass-filament/


Below is a look at HDglass:

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## jimc

brian, it looks like your link is bad

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## mcw

Looks interesting! Thanks for the heads-up.

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## soofle616

hmm, bit cheaper than t-glase. Since i haven't actually bought any of the taulman stuff yet other than a few sample strands that are still in the shipping plastic i might have to do a little comparo before i go for a full spool.

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## Sjeltur

FDA approved? I am wondering; the filament is food safe/approved. But what about the print I make? 
My 3d printer is not FDA approved. If I first print with ABS, my print certainly won't be FDA approved.

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## Wolfie

> FDA approved? I am wondering; the filament is food safe/approved. But what about the print I make? 
> My 3d printer is not FDA approved. If I first print with ABS, my print certainly won't be FDA approved.


Pretty easy solution.  Have a head for printing only food safe filaments.  And have another for printing everything elese.  Easy peasy.

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## Sjeltur

> Pretty easy solution.  Have a head for printing only food safe filaments.  And have another for printing everything elese.  Easy peasy.


That would be a little too easy!
How about the tube? How about the plate?
Everything needs a certificate to be 'food proof'. 
Even transporting in a little paperbox; the box will need the approval.

Next step; how about the porous structure of the print?

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## Wolfie

Again.  All easy stuff.  It is doable.  Its not that hard.  And it can be done for a reasonable cost.

Home Depot sells water tubing that is food safe, obviously since its for ice makers and other potable water sources.  

For the build plate, experimentation would be involved but I bet you could attach a kitchen cutting board/sheet to the platform and extrude onto it thus isolating the build plate (non-food safe) from the extruded food safe filament.  

As for transporting it.. go to a restaurant supply or even GFS/Sam's, they sell plenty of food safe containers to store and transport things in as well as storing the filament in a food safe container.

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## Sjeltur

> Again.  All easy stuff.  It is doable.  Its not that hard.  And it can be done for a reasonable cost.
> 
> .......


You do realize that companies are working on this? Using 3d printing to make stuff for the public?
Your solution is an homemade solution - which is not going to work via any law - correct procedure etc.
You really want your kid to drink from such a 3printed cup..... cleaned in a dish washer and drink out of it again?

3d printing is more than an hobby.

I am asking/commenting this - because companies are approaching my company for solutions. 
And then they refer to such a claim of 'food grade filament'.

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## Wolfie

As a business, well thats a different regulatory nightmare.

As for drinking and re-using, yes.  Frankly if the stuff they all tell us would kill us, the human race would be extinct by now.  Dealing with the traffic on the way to work this morning, that didn't happen.  As a kid I camped and ate food off wood of unknown origins and if it fell, we picked it up, dusted it off and ate it anyway. Drank water from springs without filtering it.  Swam in waters without lifeguards.  Never wore a helmet or knee pads when riding my bike.  Climbed trees.  Played with matches.  Had a pocket knife with me always (Boy Scout), even in school.  Went hiking through Florida swamps and woods with little more than a compass and pocket knife to stay alive.  Was never bothered by the sharks (only barracuda) when diving.  Sailed in waves bigger than my boat.  If I skinned my knee, my dad told me to rub dirt on it and go play.  I have gone on plenty of dates through high school and beyond and never wore a "rain coat" if you get my drift.  I have never used hand sanitizer.  I have never had a flu shot.  I rarely need an antibiotic for anything and its been at least a decade since I had a flu.  The last time I took an antibiotic I think was the late 1990's when I had a bad case of strep throat I couldn't shake myself.  By all rights, if the things they say will kill us actually do, I should have been dead long ago.  More than half a century of doing all the "wrong" things, I am still just fine.

I have two granddaughters living with us and I let them play in the rain and run barefoot through puttles.  I don't care if they put their jackets on, they will know when they are cold.  They come inside when they get hungry.  They don't own helmets or knee pads (except for volleyball and soccer).  I let them climb trees.  They run in parks.  I let them fall from untied shoelaces and now they tie them because they understand why now.  They swim in rivers, lakes, ponds and the Gulf of Mexico, sometimes by themselves.  And I take them shooting, but not by themselves.  Their older two sisters are just as healthy after doing all those things for a decade and a half too.  I am sure they all will do girl versions of all the stuff I did.  And I think they will survive it as well.

As for 3D printed items, to be honest, the sponge most people wash their non-3D printed dishware with is far more hazardous.  Reasonable caution and alacrity is fine.  Treating something like you should be handling it in a Hazmat suit when its uncalled for is not.  Would I let the kids lick the bed of a garbage truck?  No.  Would I make them wash their hands after petting the dog?  No.  Do I wash the cutting board after slicing up chicken?  No.  Just kidding there  :Smile:   As I said, reasonable caution.  Yea it gets washed.

Frankly, hand sanitizer and all this  germaphobia is  gong to kill us long before any nuke does.  Ever watch War of the  Worlds (the 1953 version) or listen to it as Orsen told it?  WE will be  the martians without immune systems before too long if we keep this up.  We have an immune system for a  reason.  Like muscles, if you don't exercise it, the damn thing is going  to atrophy into uselessness.

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## Sjeltur

> As a business, well thats a different regulatory nightmare.


I must say - this was a real nice piece to read. And I totally agree with you.
But my main issue is business wise.....
Yep - I have a cup, made out of PLA, and my 3 year old boy is allowed to play with it - however he want.
Same with the PET cup.....I even put water in it and sometimes he just drinks it....
No problem at all.

BUT I do have customers (companies, but also schools) who have no experience with 3d printing and they start asking about using such PET in their business - touching fruit, bread etc...
They show me the advertisement of 'food grade filament'.....
I need to point them out; 'food grade filament is filament which can touch the food while on the reel - once it has been printed......, the food grade is probably not valid anymore'.

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## Wolfie

And that too is an excellent point.  Just because source material is safe for a specific purpose, doesn't mean it always remains so unless the entire process and the product it becomes is also designed properly.  3D printing leaves microscopic (and frequently much larger) pits and spaces.  Injection molding doesn't usually.  Same source material, different manufacturing technique both yield completely different levels of food safety.

As a business, yes, there are whole different risks involved.  From a personal standpoint, not nearly so since we control the situation.  As a business, what the customer dose with what we sell them is beyond our control but the business ends up being responsible anyway.  I give you the paint industry.  Paint is not a food product.  They got sued many times over because people ate paint chips.  The product was used in a way in which it was not designed and they were still blamed.  I give you McDonalds.  They make coffee.  Nobody considers hot coffee a crotch ointment.  It says "HOT" on it.  They still got sued because someone poured coffee in their crotch.  Sue happy BS.  Take responsibility for being stupid people.

And you are correct as well, the filament is food safe in that it imparts no chemicals into it at any time (ie BPA but there are other hazards).  The printed item may not be food safe because it fails the bacteriological aspect because of the way its manufactured, not what it was manufactured from.

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## Rspraggjr

Amen Wolfie. Well said.

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## Bassna

Back onto the clear filament, I ordered a sample of the red and clear. Will prolly be about 2 week's in delivery, but I will come back with pic's and review.

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## curious aardvark

cool - be interested to see how it prints too.

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## ralphzoontjens

Migration of particles depends on the time of contact, surface area and solubility.Hardly any particles will migrate from the 3D printer into your product, with a teflon tube and stainless steel nozzle you will most likely be safe.As said before, use the same nozzle for all your food-grade parts and replace them regularly.If the filament is foodgraded, you can definitely sell products on your business' responsibility.Has anyone seen the FDA approval for HDGlass though? The datasheet has no information on that.

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