3DPrinting

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Has anyone used a 3D pen on PLA prints? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 10 hours ago by [email protected] to c/3dprinting

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I designed a part that has compartments for small neodymium magnets. The compartments open up on the side of the part, but ideally the entire part should look smooth and featureless, and the epoxy I use is not the same color as the PLA. Also, I'd like to be able to fish out the magnets later, and epoxy is a bit too final for my taste.

So I'm thinking of dropping a small dollop of melted PLA into the openings to seal them, then file / polish them smooth. It would be sticky enough to hold the magnets in place yet easy to pop off with something pointy or sharp if need be.

And to do that cleanly, I figured I'd get me one of those cheap freehand 3D pens as a kind of precision "glue gun" for PLA. And it occurs to me that I might also be able to use it to "weld" small parts together, and hand-write things on parts with a different color filament.

I'm not much of an artist so I have no use for a 3D pen as an artsy tool. But it seems like a useful thing to have alongside a 3D printer, and they're not that expensive - even the more expensive Mynt3D 3D Pen Pro, which is the one I'm eyeing.

Does anybody know if those 3D pens can be used for small manual reworks / assembly of PLA parts?

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[–] Erasmus 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I have the MYNT pen you have pictured and I’ve used it a few times to patch up bad holes or other spots on prints that I did on my 3d printer.

It does the job when it comes to filling spots and am guessing it would easily do what you are describing. I know I find it a little unwieldy (I think that’s the right word) when it comes to making it do intricate things. I’ve seen pictures of detail work people claim they’ve done with them and meh - it’s beyond me. I’m decent with an airbrush but it doesn’t handle the same way.

I guess keep in mind - the pluses is that it uses the same filament you are using so it will match color wise.

The minuses is that it can be inconsistent with the flow rate and can be uneven with how it fills and looks so be prepared to (possibly) do a little extra sanding to get it level.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

Good to know, thanks!

Yeah I dig that it uses the same filament. That's important, both so that the material is consistent, and to not have to buy specialized supplies.

I'm sure it will produce different results from the printer, but that's to be expected since they don't work the same way.