While I love the curiosity and creativity that has recently emerged around digital pen plotting, many people may not realize this was the workhorse technology for producing technical drawings for several decades in the late 20th century.[0]
Large format pen plotters with up to 8 separate pens were available for different line weights. Color was mostly avoided because the reproduction process of the time was still centered around diazotype[1], or monochromatic ammonium blue printing.
And they were quick about it too [0]. I mean, not that quick, much slower than today's printers, but much faster than nearly all of the 3D printer conversions or pen plotter kits you can get now.
My HP-7470A is from 1982 and does not have stepper motors, but DC motors and rotary encoders doing closed loop servo control. They move the lightweight paper itself instead of a heavy gantry.
Worth noting that this HP sold printers and atomic clocks, unlike today's HP which sells cheaper printers and subscriptions to them.
I've had a post card based business idea for ages. Can anyone recommend a printer that prints quality postcards? I'm looking for something in the sub $2,000 range. I pulled that number out of thin air so I have no idea of that's a too much or too little.
About 15 years ago I used to have a Silhouette cutter printer. You could get a cutting blade and it would cut shapes out of paper and card. I remember putting a pen in there and using it to write with it on paper. It was cool.
CNC is CNC, if you can put an attachment on it, it'll probably work. If you replace the hotend with a router and make the extrusion wires turn the router on and off, you have a CNC router. If you use a swivel knife, you have a vinyl cutter
Yes, actually Bambulab (I know currently controversial) has just released a new printer (A2L) that actually has the cutter and pen functionality. You just clip it onto the printer head and it works.
(This is not meant as an advert for them, not affiliated in any way. It's addons that other manufacturers will also add to their printers)
The article is cool, and it is fun to build a custom version - just sharing a little more info on this.
They've had this feature out of the box on a few Bambu models for quite a while now. It was part of the H2 series, and the A2L is them expanding it to the cheaper models.
The printers come with software to lay out text/drawings, line up the paper with the overhead camera, and run the job. And it comes with a tacky plate to hold the paper in place while drawing. It's all pretty slick - no need to mess with custom g-code or anything. You use the same process whether you are drawing, using a drag knife, or laser cutting.
open source license violations/takedowns of legitimate open source forks, and other anti consumer practices. casual users likely unaffected, unless you're philosophically offended (rightfully, imo)
Not a 3D printer but really cool video by Stuff Made Here explaining how he tried to make 'realistic' handwritten forgeries with a pen plotter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQO2XTP7QDw
If this appeals to you, also check out the Plotter Art subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/PlotterArt/
While I love the curiosity and creativity that has recently emerged around digital pen plotting, many people may not realize this was the workhorse technology for producing technical drawings for several decades in the late 20th century.[0]
Large format pen plotters with up to 8 separate pens were available for different line weights. Color was mostly avoided because the reproduction process of the time was still centered around diazotype[1], or monochromatic ammonium blue printing.
[0]https://piratefsh.github.io/2019/01/07/computer-art-history-...
[1]https://drawingmatter.org/a-blueprint-is-blue/
And they were quick about it too [0]. I mean, not that quick, much slower than today's printers, but much faster than nearly all of the 3D printer conversions or pen plotter kits you can get now.
My HP-7470A is from 1982 and does not have stepper motors, but DC motors and rotary encoders doing closed loop servo control. They move the lightweight paper itself instead of a heavy gantry.
Worth noting that this HP sold printers and atomic clocks, unlike today's HP which sells cheaper printers and subscriptions to them.
0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXQKj4WJQIc
Great idea!!
I've had a post card based business idea for ages. Can anyone recommend a printer that prints quality postcards? I'm looking for something in the sub $2,000 range. I pulled that number out of thin air so I have no idea of that's a too much or too little.
About 15 years ago I used to have a Silhouette cutter printer. You could get a cutting blade and it would cut shapes out of paper and card. I remember putting a pen in there and using it to write with it on paper. It was cool.
I've also used 3d printer to straight up print on top of a greeting card (the print was 1 layer).
The print might not fare that well though the post system, though, so maybe it wouldn't be suitable for postcards. But it can be a nice touch.
So does this mean if you give it a swivel knife it can also be a vinyl cutter?
CNC is CNC, if you can put an attachment on it, it'll probably work. If you replace the hotend with a router and make the extrusion wires turn the router on and off, you have a CNC router. If you use a swivel knife, you have a vinyl cutter
Only in theory. A 3D printer doesn't need to sustain lateral forces - a router does. It might not be built for this.
Yes, actually Bambulab (I know currently controversial) has just released a new printer (A2L) that actually has the cutter and pen functionality. You just clip it onto the printer head and it works. (This is not meant as an advert for them, not affiliated in any way. It's addons that other manufacturers will also add to their printers)
The article is cool, and it is fun to build a custom version - just sharing a little more info on this.
They've had this feature out of the box on a few Bambu models for quite a while now. It was part of the H2 series, and the A2L is them expanding it to the cheaper models.
The printers come with software to lay out text/drawings, line up the paper with the overhead camera, and run the job. And it comes with a tacky plate to hold the paper in place while drawing. It's all pretty slick - no need to mess with custom g-code or anything. You use the same process whether you are drawing, using a drag knife, or laser cutting.
What has bambu been upto? Lol I got their printer, hadnt used it for months and printed something this weekend but haven't followed the news on them.
open source license violations/takedowns of legitimate open source forks, and other anti consumer practices. casual users likely unaffected, unless you're philosophically offended (rightfully, imo)
The Z-axis homing problem could be solved by adding a "pause" command (gcode M0, I reckon) at the very start.
The printer calibrates, pauses, you attach the pen, press continue, and it'll do the plot without zeroing the Z-axis again.
Very nice! I used the same trick to make a PCB by making the printer use a marker to draw on the parts that I didn't want to etch:
https://www.stavros.io/posts/make-pcbs-at-home/
Not a 3D printer but really cool video by Stuff Made Here explaining how he tried to make 'realistic' handwritten forgeries with a pen plotter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQO2XTP7QDw