14 DAY TRIAL // I've written about at least three different 3D printing pens, based on both standard plastic melting techniques and one resin curing via light exposure.
Now, I get to cover the opposite: using 3D printing technology to create pens that have been around for ages. Or, rather, pencils. Mechanical pencils.
Blogger Angry Monk took up a challenge, of sorts, presented to him by a coworker and came up with the complete 3D printing plans for a mechanical pencil.
He used a Stratasys Objet Eden500V 3D printer and white polypropylene material for his test run.
The result was a pencil which used standard 0.9 mm lead and 0.7 mm erasers. The pencil also has a small cavity that holds extra pieces of lead. Furthermore, it has many holes along the sides, which are mostly decorative but also allow you to easily remove the supports.
All in all, the mechanical pencil measures 16.51 cm / 6.5 inches.
Angry Monk had to discard the idea of basing his design on standard mechanical pencils almost as soon as he started. They needed too many internal springs and tight fitting parts. Instead, he used a design like a screw inside the hollow pencil.
You have to rotate the back of the pencil, prompting the screw-shaped inner mechanism to push out the 1.2 mm lead. After each successful turn, one of the twelve detents in the screw piece clicks into place. Rotating the opposite way will pull the lead back in.
Sadly, there is no clue on when, if ever, the 3D-printed pencil will be marketed. The Mechanical Pencil can be found on Shapeways, but it's not for purchase.
