Hi all just wondering if anyone has had experience with 3d printing parts for use in the garden. I'm thinking about making brackets that can be bolted into the brickwork to slot 90cm mesh into to make a removable barrier for the vege garden (keeping the animals off it). I also want to make a tripod trellis for inserting stakes into and maybe some irrigation parts. Would be great if the plastic didn't leach any nasty stuff too but I'm mostly looking for strength and longevity when exposed to the elements. Thanks!
As far as leaching, the only certified food safe material is porcelain. WSF is a nylon powder, which is considered a food safe material, but the process leaves models porous. Detail parts, are acrylic, which deteriorates in sunlight.
Probably best to first spray the parts with a good plastic primer and then a UV protecting top coat of paint. I have some WSF parts outside that I only primed with a Krylon spray plastic primer and they seem fine except the primer has yellowed slightly in the span of a year or so.
I do have stem caps that I've had for over a year now. I printed in wsf, painted, and coated in clear plastidip spray.