# Resin Printers



## KenB259 (Apr 4, 2021)

Am I the only one that had never heard of these ?  If you know anything about them, do they have a use in pen making?


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## magpens (Apr 4, 2021)

You're not the only one .......

Are we talking about a 3D Printer ..... the kind that IAP member Wmcullen uses to print his jigs ?


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## jalbert (Apr 4, 2021)

Sure they have use. I considered dabbling with them for printing parts in a castable resin which I would then cast in silver or bronze. I would have to up my CAD game though, so I have abstained from buying one:


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## KenB259 (Apr 4, 2021)

magpens said:


> You're not the only one .......


Lol that’s good to know.


magpens said:


> You're not the only one .......
> 
> Are we talking about a 3D Printer ..... the kind that IAP member Wmcullen uses to print his jigs ?


I think it’s similar but that’s the extent of my knowledge. I was hoping someone here had some experience with one.


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## jalbert (Apr 4, 2021)

KenB259 said:


> Lol that’s good to know.
> 
> I think it’s similar but that’s the extent of my knowledge. I was hoping someone here had some experience with one.


It uses controlled bursts of uv light to create the layers of the print, in a tray full of liquid resin. There’s a platform that rests in the tray that the first layer of the print adheres to. The platform moves up out of the tray incrementally with each layer that’s printed, until the print is completed


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## KenB259 (Apr 4, 2021)

jalbert said:


> It uses controlled bursts of uv light to create the layers of the print, in a tray full of liquid resin. There’s a platform that rests in the tray that the first layer of the print adheres to. The platform moves up out of the tray incrementally with each layer that’s printed, until the print is completed


Thanks for that explanation. So it probably could be used to create molds for casting. Is the resin it uses turnable?


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## FGarbrecht (Apr 4, 2021)

KenB259 said:


> Am I the only one that had never heard of these ?  If you know anything about them, do they have a use in pen making?


They may be useful for prototyping but the process is expensive, slow (unless you have thousands of $$$ to spend on an industrial unit) and the UV resins are toxic and smelly.  I haven't tried to put one on the lathe, but the hardened material I have experience with is not as hard as an epoxy or urethane resin.  I've tried prototyping fountain pen parts, and the wear characteristics, especially of threaded parts, are not favorable. Some of the translucent resins are attractive, but for the most part they are fairly ugly (nondescript gray).  Resins are quite expensive also.  Forget about using them for blank making - it would take at least 12-24 hours to print a single pen sized blank for most affordable resin printers, during which time obviously you could cast many conventional epoxy or urethane blanks for far less expense.

So, bottom line, if you have a few hundred dollars to spare and you love to tinker around with things that ultimately won't be particularly useful, go for it.  I've made some cool little things on my resin printer, but nothing that is stunning or practical.  I have gotten far more use out of my FDM printers, and for lathe work Alumilite casting is way easier, more durable and cheaper.


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## KenB259 (Apr 4, 2021)

FGarbrecht said:


> They may be useful for prototyping but the process is expensive, slow (unless you have thousands of $$$ to spend on an industrial unit) and the UV resins are toxic and smelly.  I haven't tried to put one on the lathe, but the hardened material I have experience with is not as hard as an epoxy or urethane resin.  I've tried prototyping fountain pen parts, and the wear characteristics, especially of threaded parts, are not favorable. Some of the translucent resins are attractive, but for the most part they are fairly ugly (nondescript gray).  Resins are quite expensive also.  Forget about using them for blank making - it would take at least 12-24 hours to print a single pen sized blank for most affordable resin printers, during which time obviously you could cast many conventional epoxy or urethane blanks for far less expense.
> 
> So, bottom line, if you have a few hundred dollars to spare and you love to tinker around with things that ultimately won't be particularly useful, go for it.  I've made some cool little things on my resin printer, but nothing that is stunning or practical.  I have gotten far more use out of my FDM printers, and for lathe work Alumilite casting is way easier, more durable and cheaper.


Thanks much for your post. You shed a lot light on this topic. I wasn’t really thinking of getting one. It was just something I just heard about. It did have me wondering though.


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## WarEagle90 (Apr 4, 2021)

Ken, I have both a resin printer and an FDM (filament printer).  I use both on a regular basis.  As far as pen making is concerned, I use the FDM printer make jigs, boxes to organize bushings, dust collector fittings, various hoods for the dust collector, etc.  I've not used the resin printer for pen making but no reason I can't if the need arises.  Resin printers are generally used for smaller parts where detail is important and FDM is used for larger items.  Its very rare that both of my printers are not running.  The FDM is printing as I write this post.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to help.  I also do all my own 3D design using Fusion 360 so I can help with that also.


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## KenB259 (Apr 4, 2021)

WarEagle90 said:


> Ken, I have both a resin printer and an FDM (filament printer).  I use both on a regular basis.  As far as pen making is concerned, I use the FDM printer make jigs, boxes to organize bushings, dust collector fittings, various hoods for the dust collector, etc.  I've not used the resin printer for pen making but no reason I can't if the need arises.  Resin printers are generally used for smaller parts where detail is important and FDM is used for larger items.  Its very rare that both of my printers are not running.  The FDM is printing as I write this post.
> 
> If you have any questions, I'm happy to help.  I also do all my own 3D design using Fusion 360 so I can help with that also.


Thanks Dan, I doubt I’ll go down that path though. I’m happy just segmenting.  Truth is it would feel too much like my day job which is programming 6000 watt lasers.


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## Carl Fisher (Apr 4, 2021)

Check out Additive Pens. They are created with this process.


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## FGarbrecht (May 25, 2021)

Just an update on resin printing: more engineering resins are becoming available on the market and some are almost affordable to hobbyists.  Some have mechanical properties that look promising and some even stand up to tap and die threading (according to the marketing materials).  I've got a couple on order to try.  Here's a pic of a couple of ugly prototype pens.  The translucent resin (despite the marketing hype) does not have durable thread properties (they turn chalky are wear quickly).  The grey holds up better, and the section was able to be internally threaded using a tap for a Bock nib housing.  One of the problems I'm trying to deal with is variable shrink rates during UV curing which makes tightly mated thread parts difficult to size and fit properly.  On these pens the cap and body threads were designed into the print file and printed; the caps won't thread onto the body.  I've readjusted the design files and experiments continue.....


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