Inkpen printer

I want a desktop printer that prints using whatever ballpoint pen I can find. Sure I'd have to put in new pens all the time, but I still think it would be much cheaper than paying for ink cartridges. I would think this would be one of the easier projects to build since it's basically a simpler printer than a full rep rap.

Hi idlewire,

a pen-plotter is the perfect system for drawing, but today the ink-jets are much more capable, so pen-plotters aren't so common and distrubuted as some decades ago ..

Instead of re-inventing the plotter you should look around, if you can find an outweared one or buy cheap in ebay.

Viktor

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2008 02:25PM by Viktor.

just compare the price of an average inkjet printer and a darwin. also i bet you cant achieve same quality with pen plotter than with inkjet printer

hi r2kordma,

the difference is mostly the diameter of the pen-tip versus inkjet-dotsize.

The plotter is as accurate as the XY-mechanic - the plotters i built or used were commonly at 1/40 mm (e.g. 25 microns)

With a pen in my CNC in half-step-mode i have an accuracy of 12,5 microns per step, with switching to 1/256-microstepping it would be in the range of 100 nanometers (theoretically )

Common inkjet-printers have accuracies of 740 dpi (e.g. 34 micron) or 1200 dpi (21 microns), some even finer - but the absolute accuracy depends on the size of the droplets and the wetting process on the paper.

The inkjet can draw easily every geometry, as it's composed of dots like a bitmap.

The pen-plotter draws line-segments because it's a vector-oriented device ...

Viktor

i see one application where a pen plotter would be mighty useful, in our school first two years we had to learn manually drawing electrical circuits and mechanical drawings and such, we had a monster of a teacher that demanded near absolute perfectness and the subject was a pain in the arse. result was a business where some made the drawings for money, i bet first years still struggle with that subject could make money with a pen plotter that way lets say 10-15$ for a drawing.... bot 30 students in the first year, bout 20 in the second year bout 4 courses each year that makes 200 students and considering half of em are in the class with the demon teacher that makes shitload of money....
muhahahhaaaa
/me is off to take poket money from the first years