Killer Pen Holder for Drawing!

[m1911bldr]

I don't know if I'm in the right area, but I've come up with a VERY SIMPLE, extremely effective holder for plotter pens. I'm using "K" style disposable pens (Rapidoplot 64NDK) in .5 and .25 MM point size. The holder fits perfectly in the 1/2" collet on my router. It's just a 1/2" aluminum rod, 3.5" long, center drilled at one end with a 5/32" hole 1/2" deep. The other end of the rod is then center drilled with a 29/64" bit to 3 5/16" deep, leaving a 1/8 (or less) "bottom". The "K" style pens fit perfectly in the holder, with a tiny bit of sanding required on some of them to get rid of the little bumps where the ink well top and body are "welded' together. The 18 gram weight is a 7/16" steel rod 1 1/8" long. This setup works so well I can't find ANY wobble in the lines. When drawing circles (a great test of backlash and alignment), the lines begin and end perfectly aligned. Be careful when deep drilling with the 29/64 bit. If you go too hard or fast, the chips will "stack" and bulge the very thin walls of the tube. I cut a little taper on the end so I could see the pen tip a little better.

[jcc3inc]

Can you show us a "pitcher"?

Regards,
Jack C.

[CanSir]

I couldn't visualize it either so I came up with this.

The pens apparently look like:


... and this is what the holder would look like (the red piece is the 7/16" steel rod that acts as a weight to push on the pen). The pen would sit inside the dark gray area.


Make the body an extra 1/4" longer, put some internal threads on the big end, and make two reducing cap/stems that will thread into it so that the whole thing will also fit 1/4" and 1/8" collets and you'll be ready to take orders. I'll buy one of each for $10 apiece.


- Dean