# 3D Printed Pen



## mike51 (Jan 8, 2014)

Hi everyone, just wanted to get some feedback on a project I've been working on...

I've been designing an everyday pen using 3D printing, just wanted to see how effective it is for kit less pen creation. While I don't see 3D printing as an alternative for the skill of pen turning, I do think it offers some pretty interesting potential when combined with traditional turning.

The project is a twist pen using a cross ball pen refill (ok, so i used a couple of kit parts for a mechanism and some brass tubing ), with a brass grip and finial with a polyamide (basically nylon) body. 

I've only got a couple of computer renderings to show at the moment, but will have the real parts in a couple of weeks. Let me know what you think!


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## Ed McDonnell (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm waiting for a 3D printer that can print metal at a price that I can afford without having to sell my house.  A metal printer would be very effective and have huge potential for pen making (as well as lots of other things).  Maybe some day....

The resolution on the sub $5k "hobbyist" grade printers is starting to get to the point where it is interesting, but having to use ABS or PLA as the medium isn't very interesting to me.  But that's just me. 

I suppose you could always send your digital model out to a 3D printing service, but from what I've seen the cost to have something printed commercially (especially in metal) is pretty extreme.

I like your design.  It looks like you are off to a great start.

Ed


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## Boz (Jan 8, 2014)

I worked in the ink jet industry for a number of years.  15 years ago a wide format color printer cost around $128,000.  Now you can buy a 44 inch wide one for around 4 to 5 grand.  In some cases less.  The concept of 3D printing is fascinating.  Everything from one off bespoke units to the ability to manufacture body parts.  With the rapidly increasing speed of technology development I would expect affordable units to be available in the next 5 years or less.


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## Chung (Jan 8, 2014)

Nice job!

I too have been following this technology. It is fascinating .

Bought some stock and it has done well.


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## Ed McDonnell (Jan 8, 2014)

Boz said:


> I worked in the ink jet industry for a number of years.  15 years ago a wide format color printer cost around $128,000.  Now you can buy a 44 inch wide one for around 4 to 5 grand.  In some cases less.  The concept of 3D printing is fascinating.  Everything from one off bespoke units to the ability to manufacture body parts.  With the rapidly increasing speed of technology development I would expect affordable units to be available in the next 5 years or less.



3D printers have been around since 1980 (maybe earlier).  They haven't seemed to benefit from the same technology / cost curve as other technology products over the last 30 years.  The skills required to create a 3D model for printing are much more complex than the skills required to print a photograph or to use social media.  Maybe that's part of the problem with getting the 3D printing technology widely adopted and the costs ramped?

While you can get a fairly high resolution printer that will print plastic (abs / pla) for less than $3k these days, anything that prints metal is much more expensive.  I believe most of the metal printers are laser based.  If the trend in the cost of engraving / cutting lasers over the last 10 years is any indication, 3D metal printers will likely be getting more expensive rather than less.

But it sure would be great if I could buy a metal printer for less than $5k sometime in the next 10 years.  If it's much longer than that I may be more interested in printing casket parts than pens....but you never know.  :biggrin:

I'm looking forward to seeing what the OP's printed parts look like once they are finished.

Ed


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## TimS124 (Jan 8, 2014)

The barriers to being able to design for 3D printing are already being tackled in our education system.  Our high school has been teaching 3D CAD for several years and that's becoming increasingly common.

Robotics teams within schools are very common and those students are learning CAD (a prequisite for being able to currently design for 3D printing).

The folks behind MakerBot have a big push going right now to get 3D printers into schools at all levels.  Drop by the DonorsChoose site and you can see High Schools, Middle Schools, even Elementary Schools all bidding for their own printer (along with their plans for how it will be used).

News out of CES this week included some very capable 3D printers for under $1,000…with larger print volumes, self-leveling print beds, etc.

Lots of interesting possibilities lurking just-ahead and there are pen-related possibilities well beyond just printing metal bodies...


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## mark james (Jan 8, 2014)

Been following the 3D printing technology also...  Should be exciting for new arenas.. Should be scary for existing arenas...  Glad I don't have a financial exit depending on this competing technology - could be a fight! :usflag:


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## mike51 (Jan 9, 2014)

Thanks for the input everyone. 

I think I'm going be sending the parts off to a company to make for me and then maybe a little bit of machining on the lathe to get the tolerances snug, (I'm quite interested to see how the material performs in in this) 

For the metal parts, it's a little too pricy to get them laser sintered for me at the moment so I'm going to have them printed in wax and cast in brass. 

What do people think of the design, good/bad? I'm planning on sending of a few different styles to the printers but I'll get pictures of them up before I do!


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## Ligget (Jan 10, 2014)

Great work, I`m fascinated by this technology too!


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## Donovan (Jan 10, 2014)

I have a Makerbot 3D printer and I have been using PLA to print pen parts. Because of the low melting temperature of PLA (about 150 C) I am trying to burn the PlA away in the oven and then cast the part. I have had some success with casting pewter. I have to work on the process to get it good lol

Donovan


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## Penl8the (Jan 10, 2014)

3D printing definitively is a game-changer.

Have a read of this --> Air Force contracts 3D Systems to print F-35s


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## Penultimate (Jan 10, 2014)

There are several Print technologies which are you using FDM, SLA, SLS, OR Polyjet. Each uses materials with with different characteristics and performance. I just got our company to buy an FDM and SLA machine.


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## mike51 (Jan 11, 2014)

Donovan said:


> I have a Makerbot 3D printer and I have been using PLA to print pen parts. Because of the low melting temperature of PLA (about 150 C) I am trying to burn the PlA away in the oven and then cast the part. I have had some success with casting pewter. I have to work on the process to get it good lol
> 
> Donovan


 

That sounds really interesting, any chance we can see some pictures?







Penl8the said:


> 3D printing definitively is a game-changer.
> 
> Have a read of this --> Air Force contracts 3D Systems to print F-35s


 

Interesting article, it makes every sense to try 3D printing for aircraft though, as they said you can reduce weight by removing components completely, might have to try aircraft for my next project lol... Wouldn't want to be the first one to test it though!




Penultimate said:


> There are several Print technologies which are you using FDM, SLA, SLS, OR Polyjet. Each uses materials with with different characteristics and performance. I just got our company to buy an FDM and SLA machine.


 
I've decided to use SLS for the body as it's a relatively low cost way of having the designs made and should be more capable in creating the fine details than FDM. SLA would be the best to create details and close tolerances, but I'm just not a huge fan of some of the materials used; so more of a personal preference there. In terms of polyjet, I've not had a huge amount of experience with this but I do find models a little too brittle for functional parts, and I'm fairly certain I will drop this pen at least a few times! 

I've also contemplated DMLS for the metal parts, love the idea of 3D (printing the whole lot ready to go) but can't justify the cost. I also think there will be a little bit of machining required to make the metal and nylon components fit together snugly, so am quite happy to 3d print wax and then cast the parts and do a little bit of post machining (or maybe just machine them from scratch!)


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## Marko50 (Jan 12, 2014)

Funny thing. I wrote a paper on 3D printers a while back while finishing up a degree. I mentioned the possibility of a gun being printed on one. The professor gave me a "D" due to my lack of "reasonability" on the subject of gun printing. Who's laughing now?


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## Donovan (Jan 12, 2014)

Hi Mike yes I am at work at the moment and will be at home in March then I will post some

Donovan


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## wouldentu2? (Jan 12, 2014)

The future of course is a paperless society which will not need pens… sorry wrong website.


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## Justin H (Jan 17, 2014)

Marko50 said:


> Funny thing. I wrote a paper on 3D printers a while back while finishing up a degree. I mentioned the possibility of a gun being printed on one. The professor gave me a "D" due to my lack of "reasonability" on the subject of gun printing. Who's laughing now?




Sadly, this is our education system.  Formulaic, with no imagination.  In reality, this was done last year for the first time in metal: "http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/08/tech/innovation/3d-printed-metal-gun/"

This story is about the ATF's concerns on guns currently being printed in plastic 3D printers... Plastic Guns Made With 3-D Printers Pose New Security Concerns : All Tech Considered : NPR


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## mike51 (Feb 8, 2014)

Finally got the pens all sorted - after a little bit of trial and error and plenty of design refinement. I've attached a couple of photos of them before they were assembled properly, so there might be a couple of small gaps between the 3D printed component and the grip in these photos. 

It would be good to hear what people think!

PS. Still learning how to take pen photo's properly so not the best quality I'm afraid!


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## thewishman (Feb 8, 2014)

Nice looking pens. Thanks for sharing the thoughts and the results - well done!


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