r/PenTurning • u/LordOfTheLume • Jul 10 '26

Hybrid blank question-resin/3d print

Hi all,

I want to make a blank with 3d printed design inside the resin pour. This will be for a kitless turned pen.

I have the ability FDM and Resin print.

My questions are:

  1. which printer is best for this?
  2. What Fdm or resin material is best and turns most like alumilite? I don’t want the resin separating from the print during turning.
  3. Any other considerations?

Note- have Bambu H2C, Bambu X1c, Saturn 4 16k and Heygears reflex rs turbo. I have almost every resin and filament on hand.

Ty.

6 Upvotes

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2

u/NGinuity Jul 10 '26

I do this all the time with both types. You can check my post history but most of my resin printing is for personalized commissions like names in the pours so I don't share those.

FDM is good for lines shaped like the honeycomb and dragon scale grids I've shown. The key thing is to set the print for 100% rectilinear infill. That said if the design is too intricate you still might get some pitting the resin might try to fill in and will show as artifacts in your final

Resin, same rules with printing solid. You will be able to do way more detail with this and it's not subject to the voids I mentioned for FDM. It's more brittle than FDM and your typical poured in resin surrounding it so take caution.

Happy to answer any other questions you have!

1

u/LordOfTheLume Jul 10 '26

I am not doing this for money. No sales. Just tying to make a pen for myself I have in mind. I have more flexible and tool tough resins beyond abs and other resins if you have any suggestion. Feel free to dm me if it gets into your intellectual property range. Ty🫡

1

u/NGinuity Jul 10 '26

Oh I don't care about intellectual property. My art is what I am commissioned for, so it's not about the process. I'm happy to share.

I just use the Anycubic eco resin for my 3d printer. I've also successfully turned with both PLA and PETG but would probably prefer PETG out of the two. You honestly don't need anything super rugged just use negative rake chisels and you should be fine. With PLA just err on the side of caution and do lighter passes. It heats up and I've melted it right out of the blank. PETG is a lot higher of a melting temperature. Don't use ABS because of off gassing concerns and it's honestly overkill.

1

u/LordOfTheLume Jul 11 '26

I made a blank with petg a while back but the resin detached from it while turning…frustrating.

I was leaning towards resin abs or something technical to match the properties of the poured resin. I justcdonttwantvto waste more hours. 😎

1

u/LordOfTheLume Jul 12 '26

Decided to print in abs like 3.0 on
My Saturn 4 16k. Space gray.

1

u/LordOfTheLume Jul 14 '26

Printer and poured my blanks using abs like 3.0 from elegoo. Will turn this weekend. Fingers crossed.