Cookie cutters are one of the easiest useful things to 3D print. A cutter is just a thin wall around a shape, so it prints flat in 20 to 45 minutes with no supports. Here is the design recipe I use, plus the settings that work.
The design recipe
- Height 14 mm. Tall enough to cut through rolled dough (5 to 6 mm), short enough to print fast.
- Wall 1.2 mm. That is three perimeters on a 0.4 mm nozzle. Thinner cutters flex, thicker ones crush the dough.
- Top flange 3 mm wide, 2 mm tall. A flange gives your palm something to push on, and it stops sore fingers.
- Round every outside corner. Sharp tips on stars and leaves break off. A 0.6 mm radius survives a drawer.
Print settings
- PLA or PETG, 0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layers
- 3 perimeters, 15 percent infill (it is almost all wall)
- Print upright with the flange up. No supports.
Food safety, honestly
PLA is not certified food safe, and layer lines hold moisture. Use cutters for dough, fondant, play dough and clay. Line the cutter with parchment if you want contact with food. Hand wash only, never the dishwasher or oven. If you need real food contact, use a filament sold as food safe and seal it.
Skip the modelling
I made three ready-to-print sets, all tuned with the numbers above:
- Christmas set x5: star, tree, gingerbread man, mitten, bauble ($2.99)
- Christmas Vol 2 x4: candy cane, bell, holly leaf, heart ($2.49)
- Halloween and fall x4: pumpkin, ghost, acorn, leaf ($2.49)
Want to build your own? In any CAD tool, draw the outline, offset it outward by 1.2 mm, subtract the original, extrude 14 mm. Add a second, wider offset ring on top for the flange. That is the whole trick.
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