CNC Inkjet Pen idea interest?

[fullspeceng]

I've been playing with inkjets and they're pretty easy to control.

Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/nanomagi.../0/bYZYvhQ07Tk

I thought it'd be pretty cool to make little CNC inkjet pen. Right now I use a jacobs chuck and a felt or ball point pen to scribe things before I cut them but it doesn't work well for non flat surfaces. Also the inkjet spot is <.01" compared to the big size most pens are.

With an inkjet you don't need to contact the surface. The cartridge and holder is tiny and easily made into a 1/4" end mill holder because it has easy to use mounting holes. A single m code would turn the stream on or off.

Any interest in this sort of thing? It can be made cheap ~$100. Ink cartridges are $13 a pop at amazon and can be refilled.

[Dorsal]

Ooooo! That certainly has some nice possibilities to add coloration or signage to any piece that's cut. Are you planning to create some DIY kind of instructions, or selling a kit?

[fullspeceng]

I was going to make it a kit but it's easy DIY also.

I can sell the cartridge holders + cable + FFC connector for $60.

If I need to machine an end mill holder for it and make the circuit board I'd probably have to charge $200-250 or so unless I get some volume to sub it out.

I can make it real easy to use. Just hook up power and hook up a spare relay M code on any CNC or mach3 and it will turn the inkjet stream on/off.

Right now it has black, blue, and red available from amazon at $13 each.

[Dorsal]

Originally Posted by fullspeceng I can sell the cartridge holders + cable + FFC connector for $60. Right now it has black, blue, and red available from amazon at $13 each.

What does the cartridge holder look like, and what's an FFC connector? I'm really interested to use it on my Joe's Hybrid CNC, but it would be outstanding (with 100 more possible customers) if it would also fit on a PhlatPrinter.

[fullspeceng]

I need to take some measurements but the holder with the ink cart is about 1"x1.5"x1.5".

I'm sure I can make it fit anything you want with that in mind.

The FFC is just some type of electronics connector. You also still need to build the electronics to drive the thing but it's pretty basic. It's not hard but more work to make the thing cheap instead of just make it work. I use an $80 microcontroller (parallax propeller propstick usb) but you could do it with a $1-2 controller if you spent some time on it.

I can do all of it if there's demand to at least cover my development costs but again, what I got works for me so I don't need to change it.

I'll take a look at that phlat printer thing.

Originally Posted by Dorsal What does the cartridge holder look like, and what's an FFC connector? I'm really interested to use it on my Joe's Hybrid CNC, but it would be outstanding (with 100 more possible customers) if it would also fit on a PhlatPrinter.

[epineh]

I think you would get a HUGE amount of interest if you could do the same on a print head that uses pigmented ink, this would be usable for a direct PCB printer, assuming the resolution is fine enough (the same or close to the original printer).

You may have seen this thread :

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30951

The head could mount to any standard CNC machine and literally draw out the tracks. I assume most heads would have a similar setup though I have not seen a pigmented ink cart with the print head built in, I haven't really looked for one either

Cheers.

Russell.

[fullspeceng]

I can fire UV cured, oil or solvent ink through a Xaar head. I was going to develop something like this but the head costs ~$600 so the product would be $1000-1500 minimum. If someone wants to fund the materials, I can build this in less than a month as I have all the documentation.

HP heads are $12 a piece. You can spray toner dust on them after printing then melt the toner on a hotplate to form the resist if you really want instead of pigment ink.

For direct pcb printing, I have a much better out of the box solution that I will share shortly

I looked at that thread but it seems just like taking apart a printer. Those DIY projects are cool to show pics but nobody is going to replicate the results without an easy to use and buy available kit.

Originally Posted by epineh I think you would get a HUGE amount of interest if you could do the same on a print head that uses pigmented ink, this would be usable for a direct PCB printer, assuming the resolution is fine enough (the same or close to the original printer). You may have seen this thread : http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30951 The head could mount to any standard CNC machine and literally draw out the tracks. I assume most heads would have a similar setup though I have not seen a pigmented ink cart with the print head built in, I haven't really looked for one either Cheers. Russell.