Software developer turns 3d printer into plotter

Nowadays 3d printers can print a lot, even 2d. That seems like a waste of time, but converting a 3d printer into a plotter is less pointless than you think and in some ways also cost-effective.

Uri Shaked is a developer expert for web technologies at Google and tinkers with various devices in his spare time. He had plans to make his own plotter until he realized he already had the tools at his fingertips. “My 3d printer already had all the hardware and electronics I needed. All I had to do was figure out how to attach a pen and how to tell the printer how to draw. An hour later I had a working prototype Shaked says in his blog post.

To ensure that the printer could hold the pen, Shaked designed a holder that can be attached to the print head. This places the pen just slightly lower than the nozzle. The holder is made with a 3d printer and this design fits the Creality Ender-3 or a CR-20. According to Shaked, screws can also be used to secure the pin. Other writing and drawing utensils such as colored pencils, chalk and even goose feathers also fit in the holder. In addition, unlike a plotter, the 3d printer can draw on materials other than paper, such as cardboard and glass.

When printing, the drawings are not filled in as is the case with a normal 3d printing job. Shaked therefore recommends in its instructions to omit the fill in the print job and to keep the line black. The utensils in the holder have its own ‘filling’.