Open "fpn" 3D Printed Pen Design

[ZoidbergFr]

Hello ,

sometimes ago , a member of this Forum ( bugsbunny88 ) contacted me to create an open source 3D printed pen.

After a lot of back and forth by email , we settled down on a design.

The design was done using openScad open source software.

Although I might not release the source(I may one day..with some heavy code cleaning first..) , I will post the .stl file needed to reproduce the pen on any 3D printer.

I think these will be released on Thingiverse .

 

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2026499

 

 

All the threads are 3D printed , even the internal thread inside the section to attach the nib unit.

So theoritically you should not need any other tools than a 3D printer , a nib unit and a cartridge.

 

In practice , it looks like you need a well calibrated printer.

 

The nib unit we choose is a Jowo #6 nib unit, and a standard international cartridge will fit nicely.

I will provide 3 different sections : a bezier shape (white on the picture) , a conical design , and a conical design with grooves.

 

The point is you can customize it to your taste , and color.

 

The pen is 143mm long capped , 135mm. uncapped

Barrel diameter is 13.5mm, Cap Diameter is 16mm.

The barrel and the s not round , it has 20 sides , it looks round but it is not.

 

The top of the section (close to the nib )is 11mm while the part close to the barrel is 12mm.

 

Cost of material should be around $1 , however I think you will need to print several test before to obtain a proper result.

Printing instructions:

• It should take 1h30 to 2h30 depending the speed and the number of parts you print at once. I suggest to print barrel/Cap/section separetely.
• very slow print speed (40mm/s or less )
• if you go extra low , you need to lower the temperature a bit.
• Printed in PLA but NGEN or ABS should do
• For ABS, a scale factor 1% might be necessary due to shrinking process

I did not have time to apply the finishing layer , I will post once I will have a solid result.

 

Feel free to give your feedback !

I am ready to ship the 3D printed parts (no nib) if someone would like to try :-)

 

PS: I would like to really thank bugsbunny88 ,not only he drove the design and the idea , he challenged me on few details , and actually I had to rethink some of my way of designing. Thank you Sir !

 

Edited January 9, 2017 by ZoidbergFr

[billy1380]

This is very cool... well done... I was playing with something similar myself. Just started designing the piston assembly.

 

[Tas]

Incredible !

I'm in London and would love to have a play with it.

[dennis_f]

That looks awesome ZoidbergFr. Well done man.

Quick question: what are your thoughts on durability, esp wrt to the threads and connection between the barrel and the section? I know the pen is new, but maybe you've drawn some conclusions.

 

I ask because I've done some 3d printing in both PLA and ABS, and the finer the detailing becomes, the more brittle the results. Of course, perhaps that has to do with the quality of the materials I was using, or maybe even the process itself.

 

In any case, thanks for posting, and thanks for sharing. The pen looks great.

D.

[ZoidbergFr]

Thank you all for your kind words.

I restate here that all the credits go to bugsbunny88 .

 

Please send me a Private message if you want to try the pen.

 

Regarding the durability , well....I have to say this is one variable .

For the last few month I have been printing some threads and up to now they are ok.

I am not screwing/unscewing the pen 20 times a day...but I gave them a fair,bit of test.

 

I use Openscad , with a Library that can generate the thread with a given pitch/diameter.

It took me a while to understand how to give tolerance to the threads ( I have a huge chunk of barrel section not operational...) so that they are a bit tight the first 2 or 3 times , then it is flawless.

 

Moreover , the challenge I had before is that as Dennis_f mentioned , the platic wore off to quickly because the design was not right.

 

The nozzle of the printer is often 0.4mm.

To support a minimum of mechanical stress without too much problem , there should be at least 3 layers of materiel hence 1.2mm.

The challenge was to have 3 layers everywhere , with a minimal external diameter for the pen.

This was a real challenge between the Cap and the barrel , specially around the threads.

This is why I had to add a "extra support" at this point.

 

So the best way to test the threads...are to try them....:-)

Edited January 9, 2017 by ZoidbergFr

[ZoidbergFr]

This is very cool... well done... I was playing with something similar myself. Just started designing the piston assembly.

 

Really cool , what are the dimensions ? how are you going to achieve inkproofness ?

[ZoidbergFr]

Files uploaded on Thingiverse , top description updated with link.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2026499

[bugsbunny88]

Zoiberg is being modest, it was a collaboration, and we hope you all enjoy taking the hobby to another level.

[ian1964]

This is technology well beyond my understanding but I can and very much I am impreseed, if not a little in awe. Thank you for sharing.

[billy1380]

Quote:

Really cool , what are the dimensions ? how are you going to achieve inkproofness ?

 

I was working on a pen diameter of 1.2cm (quite fat ). And I went online and ordered a few o-rings that people put at the bottom of the keys for their mechanical keyboards. I am planning on putting 3 of those stacked on around the bottom of the piston. I figure if the ink cannot pass through the piston it does not matter that the top of the assembly is not ink proof. The top of the assembly is an interference fit with a couple of protrusions that will slot into the barrel... at least that is the plan

 

For what its worth... I am not relying on blender to give me something that I can control dimensions on. I just wanted to get the something that I can then move to openscad without having to think about what I am trying to do while I am putting the code together. Also I thought it might help me figure out what I wanted to parameterise.

[billy1380]

 

And I bought way too many o-rings... way way too many...

 

[ZoidbergFr]

Really impressive.

1.2cm internal or external diameter?

However I fear about the "printability" of such design....I will be really interested to see the outcome.

[ZoidbergFr]

This is technology well beyond my understanding but I can and very much I am impreseed, if not a little in awe. Thank you for sharing.

 

I might open a topic just to show people... :-)

[billy1380]

Really impressive.

1.2cm internal or external diameter?

However I fear about the "printability" of such design....I will be really interested to see the outcome.

 

External... internal is 0.8cm.

 

So I ordered my Prusa mk2 kit and it arrives beginning of next month... cannot wait to put it together and start printing some prototypes.

 

 

I might open a topic just to show people... :-)

 

That would be awesome!

[bugsbunny88]

To print with nGen (Colorfabb filament) please modify printer settings as following (I use a Lulzbot Mini)

• Scale the .stl by 1 to 2% to take into account expanding
• Printer speed at 30 mm/s
• Increase retraction speed to 40 mm/s with Distance at 2mm
• Print Barrel and Cap at 0.2mm layer height; however the Section will have to be printed at 0.1mm layer height
• You may have to adjust your z-hop if you get cobwebs

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/bravelungs/IMG_20170115_091701.jpg

Edited January 15, 2017 by bugsbunny88

[bugsbunny88]

This is technology well beyond my understanding but I can and very much I am impreseed, if not a little in awe. Thank you for sharing.

 

I think overtime it will become more mainstream, for a fun documentary to watch check out Print the Legend documentary on Netflix, its a pretty good wrap-up of the advances in the past few years and where we are at right now with it.

 

(

) Edited January 15, 2017 by bugsbunny88

[billy1380]

Thanks @bugsbunny88

[ZoidbergFr]

Great Achievement !!

 

To print with nGen (Colorfabb filament) please modify printer settings as following (I use a Lulzbot Mini)

• Scale the .stl by 1 to 2% to take into account expanding
• Printer speed at 30 mm/s
• Increase retraction speed to 40 mm/s with Distance at 2mm
• Print Barrel and Cap at 0.2mm layer height; however the Section will have to be printed at 0.1mm layer height
• You may have to adjust your z-hop if you get cobwebs

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/bravelungs/IMG_20170115_091701.jpg

[Tas]

I've been scribbling with one of these all day long.

 

I'm a fan.

I really like it's feel, size and balance. The ridges make for a sturdy grip and the No6 F nib adds to the impression of it being a proper working pen rather than a gimmick.

 

I've not picked up another pen all day, and there's around 30 of them scattered around me, that to me says how much I've enjoyed using it so far.

 

Planning a proper review over the weekend but so far so very very good.

Thank you.

[Brettman]

HAHAHAA.... i also have had the same idea... I am professor for product development at a local community college. My students have become interested in the pens i use, and have started to develope some pieces. We have 14 additive machine we can grow things on, i am thinking of trying your parts on one of our SLA machines...

 

Additionally, the LA show is coming up, last year i took 8 students with me, this year i am taking 14.... HOLY cow...

 

Brett