Dark Matter Chocolates
Figure 1A
Through MIT’s externship program, I worked for Dark Matter Chocolates my senior year. My job was to help design and manufacture molds for producing science fiction themed chocolate pieces - specifically steampunk gears. I decided to create some individual gears that could fit together if the customer chose to buy several as well as a larger piece that included several small interlocking gears on top of a larger gear.
Figure 1B
After sketching out several ideas (Figure 1 A-B) , I created CAD designs of what I wanted to produce (Figure 2 A-C). To create the molds, I 3D printed the gears using a Dremel 3D40 and MakerBot to be used as positive molds (Figure 3) . Since the designs I wanted had some small and detailed features, I decided to first test these prints with a simple cornstarch and construction silicone solution I created at home (Figure 4) . Though this was far from an ideal mold for mass production, it provided a quick way to confirm this shape would work for future iterations, so I decided to stick with this design. While working with Dark Matter Chocolates on this project, I only created the CAD designs and the printed positive molds for the company to use in future production runs. However, excited by the idea of making chocolates, I decided to continue the project on my own.
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Figure 4
Though I planned to use on campus resources to work on this project, campus soon closed due to COVID-19, forcing me to come up with other ways to carry out this project. My original plan was to use acrylic and laser cut a container that could make a large mold for multiple chocolates since the acrylic would be an appropriate material to cure the mold in and could be taken apart once the mold cured to easily release it. Since I no longer had access to a laser cutter however, I decided to fashion a similar box out of wood sheets I could cut at home with an x-acto knife. Before putting the wood pieces together, I wrapped each in plastic wrap to keep the mold food safe, and then attached the pieces using push pins and duct tape (Figure 5A-B). This allowed the box to hold together well to produce the mold, but also be easily taken apart afterwards.
The mold was made from a mixture I ordered from Smooth-On, which produced a silicone mold. Before creating the mold for multiple chocolates, I decided to create a miniature one using just one of the 3D printed gears to ensure whether or not I needed any sealant or release agent to make the mold easy to use (Figure 6 A-C). After testing, it worked perfectly! So, I went ahead to create the larger mold (Figure 7).
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Figure 8
After waiting for the mold to cure and removing the 3D printed gear positive molds (Figure 8) , I was ready to make a full batch of chocolates! (Figure 9) I was able to create the several individual gears I had planned as well as a larger piece on top of which smaller gears could sit and spin with each other (Figure 10).
Figure 9
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Figure 10B
After being able to produce some fun chocolate pieces and sharing them with my friends and family, I started getting questions about all the different shapes I could produce. While I haven’t truly started exploring any other shapes yet, I let them know that we really could make any shapes we wanted once I acquired more materials! Hopefully between the many ideas I’ve received and the excitement I’ve seen from others, I will be able to create more once I have access to 3D printers and materials again!