Pen plotters/Pen Hacking

Page dedicated to the modification of Pen Plotter Pens

Pushing Technique

If you're lucky, you have a pen lying around without head. If you're luckier still, the top of the pen will pop right off. A toothpick is the perfect tool.

A broken pen (right)

Take a toothpick

Push the toothpick

Push harder with the toothpic

Keep pushing

You might need help from a knife

Tadaa!

Cutting Technique

When you're not so lucky, you might need to use a knife immediately. A few notes:

• Not all pens are created equal, some plastics seems to be softer than others
• Cosider pulling the pen-intestants out from the head of the pen (easy after the top has been cut off). This will allow you to more easily push out the top of the pen.
• Be careful!

3D printing Technique

You can also 3D print custom holders. This is a reliable way of obtaining a large number of holders, which has the benefit of being able to have one holder per pen, so that you don't have to align them each time you switch pens.

• This is a GitHub repo with many stl files. The one I have tried did not work for me, however (too slim for the pen specified, or not aligned properly).
• I have made my own (specifically for stabillo 68 / 88 pens), the stl files for which can be found here on Gitea.

3d printed rig for vertical alginment of custom pens

Pen Alignment

When using a custom pen, you want to make sure the pen is placed properly in the holder. This includes:

• The pen is properly aligned height wise: the tip of the pen just touches the paper when the plotter holds the pen down.
• The pen is secured, so that it won't loosen or move during plotting.

The former, in particular, can be tricky. You can hold your custom pen next to a regular pen plotter pen and compare the heigts. To make life easier, a vertical alignment rig has been made. It can be found here on Gitea.