DIY 3D Printed No 2 Pencil by Josh Hughes

Josh Hughes 3d printed a fully working No. 2 pencil. He used a type of wood PLA with a standard graphite insert. 

Josh wrote:

Next time I will use an electric sharpener. I was worried the heat from sharpening it with and electric sharpener would melt the plastic.
Anyhow, The body of the No. 2 pencil is HatchBox Wood PLA, and the eraser connection is Protopasta's HTPLA Carbon Fiber.
The "No. 2" was laser-engraved on the face of the pencil after it had finished printing, and all of the components were superglued together.

How to attach a pencil to your Delta 3D printer and make it into a plotter

Here is an attachment made from plywood that can hold a pencil for Delta configuration machines. it can turn them into simple plotters enhancing your tool options. 
Video of plotter attachment in action connected to RDelta 3d printer:




All the files and instructions can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2120341

How to use your 3d printer as a 2d drawing plotter

Tech2C from Australia made a video on how he uses his 3d printer as a plotter. He attached a pen to his extruder and uses is to draw on a paper. He also goes into how he uses Cura, g-code and various settings to get the best drawing.

Here is the video of the plotter in action:



Tech2C YT channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_scf0U4iSELX22nC60WDSg/videos


Here is the pen attached to the extruder:

Here is close up of one of the drawings in process. It's a B-17 Flying Fortress:

Custom 3D Printed Lamy Joy Fountain Pen

Kris Slyka made this custom 3D printed body and cap for his Lamy Joy calligraphy fountain pen. He made it in ColorFabb bronze and bamboo fill filament.

Source:

https://twitter.com/krisslyka/status/769891709375447040

Arduino controlled pen plotter attachment for your 3d printer

James Sesler posted this video featuring Arduino controlled pen plotter attachment for your 3d printer. I hope he release more information soon and makes the plotter design and code publicly available. Kudos James!

There are many pen plotter attachment projects on Thingiverse:

http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=pen+plotter&sa=

This will probably be one of my future projects. Can you guys recommend some more resources on how to make everything work base don real experience?

Simple 3d printed pen and holder that uses ink inserts

Simple 3d printed pen with holder that uses some sort of standard ink inserts. Still it is an interesting design. It was made by Cain Adamson.

It is made on simple home 3d printer, but with more professional printer you can get fully functional mechanical pencil.

Fully working 3d printable mechanical pencil

AngryMonk55 developed working 3d printable mechanical pen. This pencil is more suitable for production on industrial 3d printers.
The creator is known for his working 3d printed calipers and tape measure.

Project homepage:

http://thecornercase.blogspot.com/2014/07/3d-printed-mechanical-pencil.html

CreoPop 3d drawing pen that uses UV light for ink solidifying

Creopop is new 3d drawing pen that uses UV light for curing of the gel ink material. It doesn't produce any "dangerous" heat but the ink is more expensive then the standard filaments (which you can make yourself in filament extruder even more cheaper). Types of ink include elastic, magnetic, glow-in-the-dark, scented ink, body painting inks, ink that changes color with temperature and ink that conducts electricity made for school science classes.CreoPop is battery operated and charged through micro USB, I wonder if the battery is user replaceable.

http://creopop.com/

It will be on Indiegogo soon.

Here is the CreoPop review by Mashable:

Quadcopter made with 3d drawing pen

This quadcopter was made with 3D Air pen which is probably just another Asian 3d drawing pen (which may not be a bad thing). Build time was approximately 2.5 hours.

http://3dairpen.com/

Now there is also flying RC plane made with 3Doodler.

Update:
here is also tutorial on how to 3d draw your working propeller:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-to-make-diy-quadcopter-propeller.html

Clone wars of 3d drawing pens: 3D YAYA, Myriwell 3D Pen and Makible Scribble vs. 3Doodler

There are several 3d drawing pens available, with 3Doodler being the market leader and several Asian clones.
3D YAYA claims it was the first 3d drawing pen on the market. They claim they shipped their product before 3Doodler. More about that claim can be found here:
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130808-3dyaya-3doodler-chinese-clone-started-shipping.html

Main difference between 3Doodler and 3D Yaya is that Yaya uses 1,75 mm filament vs. 3 mm filament of 3Doodler. In other aspects it is almost identical clone ...




Some of its users claim it is similar or even better then the original. It was sold cheaper then 3Doodler but at the moment I can find only that it is more pricey then 3Doodler but 3Doodler is on pre-order and unavailable since they are delivering their Kickstarter orders!?!?!?

So, if you want a 3d drawing pen now 3D Yaya looks like a viable alternative.

You can see it on Amazon when you click on widget bellow:

http://www.3dyaya.com/

Some of the users say that YaYa is sold more cheaply 40-60 USD in Asia but there is is named "3Doodler".

Another competitor available on the market is Myriwell 3D Pen. Here is the review:




It is even cheaper then 3d Yaya and the reviewer writes:

This one turned out to be a nice surprise because I was not expecting this make and model because I had ordered one of the older 3Doodler clones. Nonetheless, this pen doesn't need to pause frequently to regain working temperature (like the 3Doodler does), and it feeds filament very well. It uses 1.75mm diameter ABS filament that has become the standard for fused deposition modeling 3D printing. The only issue we've seen so far is that it is difficult to print in the air as the 3Doodler can.

You can buy it here:



Here is Makible Scribble demonstrated couple a months before 3Doodler went into sales. They claim the video was made in time when 3Doodler Kickstarter begun. They also claim it features their propitiatory heating technology which makes it dangerously hot only at the small area on the tip. It looks like the Scribble never went into full marketing and sales.

Lix - the smallest 3d drawing pen

Lix is the new 3d drawing pen with elegant aluminum body with small size. It is almost the same size as simple ball pen. It can be powered by USB port and you can carry it with you everywhere. Both ABS and PLA fulament can be used to create 3d drawings.

The pen will be launched on Kickstarter for $139.95 USD soon.

http://lixpen.com/

Lix vs 3Doodler (or any other 3d drawing pen currently available)

Lix 3d drawing pen technical specifications

Update (1.5.2014.):

Lix is no on Kickstarter and it is raising a LOT of money:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lix3d/lix-the-smallest-3d-printing-pen-in-the-world





Update 2 (3.5.2014.):

There is an article on hackaday about can Lix actually work because USB does not provide enough power:

http://hackaday.com/2014/05/03/ask-hackaday-can-the-lix-3d-printing-pen-actually-work/

Update 3 (23.5.2014.):

Surprise, surprise: Lix is in problems:

LIX appears to have entered into the start of their Kickstarter campaign with an idea, and a very basic prototype. Their business plan seems to be changing and evolving based on two main factors. One is feedback from their backers, and the other is the huge demand that they have unexpectedly received for their future product.
LIX has announced that they are going to be hiring an engineering company to work on the newest prototype of the pen. The engineering firm that is being assigned to this project, will need more time in order to create a high quality product. They expect to have to redesign some of the aspects of the LIX Pen, to prepare it for mass-production.

They also changed their shipment schedule and postponed the dates ... good luck to the backers ...

Source: http://3dprint.com/4281/lix-3d-pen-problems/

Compilation of 3Doodler reviews (hint: artistic skill and talent are not included in the package)

I was researching should I buy 3Doodler or not and I made this compilation of video reviews and live demonstrations ... you should get your own conclusions from it ... looks like using it is not as easy as advertised and may require practice (with some artistic skill and talent)...

How to make DIY filament for your 3d drawing pen

Malcolm Langille made this tutorial on how to make cheap filament for your 3d drawing pen like 3Doodler, 3DSimo, Yaya, SwissPen or others. It basically straightens the curled filament with heat gun.




From video description:

I have been thinking about buying the 3Doodler for a while now. The price of the filament was my only concern. So I decided that trying to make my own was the only option. This is how I made my own.

Cut a piece of filament from a spool. It doesn't seem to matter how long as long as you can get it taught enough. Tape both ends down to a table. Use a heat gun to evenly heat up the filament. Initially the filament will curl. Continue to heat it until it totally relaxes. Wait for it to cool. Snip the ends off with wire cutters and enjoy :)

Source:

http://www.3dhacker.com/category/551/Other/listings/566/Make-Your-Own-3Doodler-Filament.html

New generation of 3DSimo 3d drawing pen

More alternatives for 3doodler!

Learn more about 3dSimo pen:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/3dsimo-multimaterial-3d-drawing-pen.html

Paperduino - Arduino printed on paper with conductive ink

It is not 3d printing but it is a sort of DIY additive manufacturing. Arduino Pro Mini board was made by using a pen plotter and the Electroninks Circuit Scribe roller-ball pen with highly conductive ink to draw a circuit on a sheet of paper. Electronic components are then mounted on it with glue or sticky tape. And it works!



This method for conductive ink printed circuits could be easily adapted for 3d printers. There are also several methods to produce DIY conductive ink with various material mixtures.
Also you shoudl keep in mind that this is made from paper, so if you put too much voltage in, it could catch fire. Stay safe.

Detailed instructions and all the files can be found here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Paperduino-20-with-Circuit-Scribe/?ALLSTEPS

Conductive ink on paper sheet electronic circuit production is technology that is finding more and more practical applications, you can see interesting sensor here:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/off-topic-sensprout-2d-printed.html

Here is one of the many methods to produce homemade conductive ink. This one is easy and cheap, maybe not the most suitable for this type of project. It is made from copper particles suspended in gum arabic water solution.

3Doodler 3d drawing pen updates from CES 2014 are swappable nozzles and DoodleStand

They have several swappable nozzles for it now and a stand for it that serves as sort of mouse with buttons that gives you extra control and precision.

http://www.the3doodler.com/

Update (11.8.2014.):

Here is the DoodleStand in action:

Who needs a 50 $ 3d printed pen?

Who needs a 3d printed pen priced at 52 $? And why is it "patent pending"?  I don't get it, but if there is demand for it or YOU like it ... go ahead, go for it ...

3d printed pen Kickstarter photo (why is it in this black goo? To demonstrate it is tough? 

Maybe we are entering in time where everything with prefix "3d printed" is automatically "better". 3d printing process as marketing tool ...

One more thing: this pen floats in water ...

The pen is on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/585274887/the-d180-folding-pen-3d-printed

Using 3Doodler as 3d printer extruder

Anthony Liekens connected his 3Doodler 3d drawing pen to CNC machine and created a 3d printer.


http://anthony.liekens.net/index.php/Computers/3DoodlerPrinter

3dsimo rotating platform adapter

Rotating and fixing platform that enables your 3d drawing pen to make more solid cylindrical objects.

https://www.facebook.com/3Dsimo


First post on 3dsimo 3d drawing pen:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/3dsimo-multimaterial-3d-drawing-pen.html

3Dsimo - multimaterial 3d drawing pen

From the 3Dsimo project Indiegogo page:

3Dsimo as a first on the world provides to user the possibility to choose print options on a digital display. The adjustability of temperature and speed of materials throughput now offer amazing opportunities for your creativity. We can handle various materials as ABS, PLA, PVA (water-soluble material), nylon at different temperatures in order to achieve fast filling or even print in the air.

Other options include backlight, turn on preheating or memory for storing settings. These parameters are used to determine the appropriate method of drawing.
Do not be limited by the choice of materials, for example choose between golden, silver, wooden or flexible PLA. Over time, new materials will be increasing due to the growing trend of 3D printing. Our 3Dsimo is fully prepared for this due to configurability of all parameters and thermal feedback for determining the exact temperature.

How it works?

3Dsimo is so simple to use as a pencil. Everyone who have ever draw with pencil will not have a problem to use 3Dsimo. After plugging it in you set the desired speed and temperature according to the material (these data will be appended together with 3Dsimo and new materials will be updated). 3Dsimo is based on the principle of FDM technology thus extruding plastic material through the hot end. If you want to print into the air or create infill of any object you can do it easily and quickly. There is no problem just make your choice. After a while of use you will find that with 3Dsimo you can create fantastic objects.

3Dsimo has many utilization:
Repairing of plastic devices
Bonding and assembling models of 3D printers
Repair abortive print (due to repair you don’t need to enter new several hours lasting print)
Creating jewelry
To implement your ideas
Simply for the joy of modeling

Indiegogo campaign:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/3dsimo-the-amazing-3d-pen


www.3dsimo.com


3Doodler is getting more and more competition and alternatives.





Update:

3dSimo rotating platform:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/3dsimo-rotating-platform-adapter.html

here is new generation of 3dSimo:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/02/new-generation-of-3dsimo-3d-drawing-pen.html