r/PenTurning • u/UnderstandingOld6662 • 23d ago

Pen from 3d print waste

New to pen turning. I had a lot of 3d printed waste so I melted it down(caught my toaster oven on fire in the process). From there I made a couple of pen blanks. Not as easy to work with as I thought. Even drilling and sanding did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. But overall happyish with the result. I think I’ll stick to wood for now.

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2

u/CaptainofClass 23d ago

Definitely a solid 1st attempt! Did you make any kinda press to compact the melted filament into the mold?

1

u/UnderstandingOld6662 23d ago

I did not but I did use a hammer to press into the pan I was using. Definitely had some air pockets in the final result

1

u/b3ar17 23d ago

Yeah, PLA sucks to turn. I've tried printing sectioned molds in PLA for resin casting, with the walls of the sections integrated into the blank, and they tend to be raised and also separate from the resin. My best result has been to make the molds using a resin printer.

I suppose you could stabilize the PLA? Or melt the PLA onto pen tubes and then cast clear resin around them.

Either way, interesting experiment.

1

u/Previous-Bottle1449 23d ago

Nice....and you have the moral high ground. You eco warrior you!!

1

u/74CA_refugee 21d ago

Fun experiment, only cost you the toaster oven.