3D Printing A Fountain Pen

[IAM-JPL]

Hello everyone, I would like to share my experience with 3D printing a fountain pen. This is something I have always wanted to do, and having got the new anycubic photon fountain pen I wanted to print a pen. The anycubic photon is a new affordable 3D printer which uses UV light to cure resin, unlike more mainstream 3D printers. This method allows the printer to print at much higher resolutions. The 3D printer itself costs $500, although the resin itself can be very pricey. The pen that I made here was just a proof of concept to show that this could be done, and ill be making aesthetic and ergonomic design changes at a later stage.

 

Before I began this process I cannibalized a Jinhao 994 fountain pen to get its nib unit, this would be much easier than dealing with the nib and feed possibly leaking, though I might try and print my own feed and nib unit at a later stage. The measurements of the jinhao nib unit came out to be m6.5 x 0.7

 

Normally you can jump on websites such as thingiverse or grabcad and find models to download and print, though because I was using a Jinhao nib unit, there weren't any there that would fit it. This would require me to model it in CAD (computer aided design). I am most familiar in Solidworks, but there are many free alternatives such as Autodesk fusion 360. Making this basic model did not take too long, although adding more complex, aesthetic changes (like I will do in the future) will be time consuming. I think I was able to knock this out in little over an hour.

 

After I did this I put the pen into a slicer program which takes the 3D model, and slices it into printable cross sections for the 3D printer to use.

 

Next it was time to print. The total process took upwards of 6 hours to complete. In the photo below you can make out the glow of the UV light which is curing the resin.

 

Once the pen was printed it was cleaned in methylated sprits to clean off any excess resin. The nib unit was then screwed in and the pen was ready to write.

 

Here is a writing sample, it is nothing special, it writes like any other jinhao pen.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post. Ill make sure to keep you all updated as I continue with this project. If you would like to, you can watch my video on this pen as it covers many of the topics a little more in depth than what I typed up here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E477nbKC6xU&t=158s

 

Cheers - JPL

 

 

 

 

[carlos.q]

This is very cool.

[richardandtracy]

You're using the same printer as I am in my 3d prototype pen thread.

Good job you have made of it - I had enough overcure with both the opaque grey & the green it came with to need a good few experiments to get the threads to work properly. Didn't leave enough clearance. Modelled it in SolidWorks too.

 

Can I ask what settings you used? On the grey I used 8 bottom layers, 50 sec cure, 10 secs per layer of 0.05mm, and an off time of the default 0 secs (which actually means 6.5). Used the same settings with the transparent green except the layer time was 8 secs. My daughter uses the same settings as the grey for her black resin.

 

One note, and it may be worth watching for. I am starting to find my skin stings if I hold something made with the grey resin. I have a nasty feeling that I may be becoming sensetized to something in it. I am sensitive to wool & fabric conditioner too, so I'm hoping it's just me and not a general problem.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[senzen]

Very nice; my first thought was replacement section for Lamy Studios...

[penzel_washinkton]

Hi JPL, nice that you reached out to the community here at FPN regarding your 3D printed pen.

A subscriber to your channel and enjoy your content, keep it up!

[amberleadavis]

Totally cool. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more.

[Ruxton]

Given the detail on the threads you and others are getting on the photon, I'm really tempted to buy a photon and try a pen given all this and Sanja's SimplePistonPen.

I'd love to see someone take a hit at the feed, it's gotta be possible.

[richardandtracy]

Do be aware that the cost of the Photon is the start of it.

You need IPA in moderate quantities, at least 2 tanks to wash the uncured resin off, and ideally a brush to agitate the resin off. Then either a UV lamp for post cure, or some sunlight. Ideally you need gloves, a mask and some eye-covering (Eg glasses or face shield) while cleaning. The resin is also quite pungent when liquid, so if you can't have the window open, it may be a problem.

 

I found I became allergic to the Anycubic resin, with it causing stinging of my skin. I have successfully used 500cc of the Monocure Rapid resin since with no problems. Naturally, it's much more expensive!

[SpecTP]

I'm amazed that you can 3d print the threads and still sustain the shear forces when screwed in.

[richardandtracy]

Yeah, and so am I. The Anycubic material quotes a tensile strength of 35 N/mm^2, which is on a par some figures I have seen quoted for Polystyrene & some Polyester resins, but about half that of those I have seen for acrylic.

 

Regards

 

Richard

[daredevil22r]

I did a Thor's Hammer pen with my Photon. I used roller ball ink. I am about to try a fountain pen print this weekend. 

 

[simpleboy]

On 3/8/2019 at 7:25 PM, IAM-JPL said:

Hello everyone, I would like to share my experience with 3D printing a fountain pen. This is something I have always wanted to do, and having got the new anycubic photon fountain pen I wanted to print a pen. The anycubic photon is a new affordable 3D printer which uses UV light to cure resin, unlike more mainstream 3D printers. This method allows the printer to print at much higher resolutions. The 3D printer itself costs $500, although the resin itself can be very pricey. The pen that I made here was just a proof of concept to show that this could be done, and ill be making aesthetic and ergonomic design changes at a later stage.

 

Before I began this process I cannibalized a Jinhao 994 fountain pen to get its nib unit, this would be much easier than dealing with the nib and feed possibly leaking, though I might try and print my own feed and nib unit at a later stage. The measurements of the jinhao nib unit came out to be m6.5 x 0.7

 

Normally you can jump on websites such as thingiverse or grabcad and find models to download and print, though because I was using a Jinhao nib unit, there weren't any there that would fit it. This would require me to model it in CAD (computer aided design). I am most familiar in Solidworks, but there are many free alternatives such as Autodesk fusion 360. Making this basic model did not take too long, although adding more complex, aesthetic changes (like I will do in the future) will be time consuming. I think I was able to knock this out in little over an hour.

 

After I did this I put the pen into a slicer program which takes the 3D model, and slices it into printable cross sections for the 3D printer to use.

 

Next it was time to print. The total process took upwards of 6 hours to complete. In the photo below you can make out the glow of the UV light which is curing the resin.

 

Once the pen was printed it was cleaned in methylated sprits to clean off any excess resin. The nib unit was then screwed in and the pen was ready to write.

 

Here is a writing sample, it is nothing special, it writes like any other jinhao pen.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post. Ill make sure to keep you all updated as I continue with this project. If you would like to, you can watch my video on this pen as it covers many of the topics a little more in depth than what I typed up here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E477nbKC6xU&t=158s

 

Cheers - JPL

 

 

 

 

It is such a great project! Definitely will try it. I hope it wouldn't be a problem to use a 3d printer for miniatures for such project. I have this one, and have already made some D&D monsters for the game.