Does Anyone Know If 3D Printed Plastics Are Harmful To Pens?

[r3nekton]

Hi All,

 

I want to make myself a custom case/box for carrying around a couple of pens, ink, and a few other small items - not a display box, just something handy for filling up when I leave the house in the morning that will hold my things in a neat way, fit in my bag nicely, and easy to carry around by hand if my day takes me out of the office.

 

I 3d print a bit, so there's the natural temptation to use this as part of my solution - not necessarily 3d printing up a whole box, but buying something that gets me partway to what I want, and then printing parts to get the rest of the way. Naturally I could try making it in wood or something else, but I don't have easy access to woodworking tools where I am at the moment, and I do have easy access to a 3d printer.

 

Something I'm not sure about (and keen to work out first) is if anyone is aware of any issues with doing this? I know 3d printing plastics sometimes outgas a bit after printing for a little while, and fountain pens are made of acrylics and other materials which may or may not like that.

 

So - has anyone tried something like this and noticed any problems? Do fountain pens have issues with being stored in plastic boxes for long durations? Most pen boxes I see are wood, and pen cases are generally leather, but I'm not sure if this is purely aesthetic reasons or if there's more to it.

 

Thanks!

[Driften]

I have not seen any out gassing from the PLA I printed pen trays or boxes from. I did cover the tray in some of my boxes with cloth so that the layers in the print could not abrade against the pen body. I would think pla was softer then the pen but wanted to be sure. I have been using them about a year with no issues. I have a wood fill PLA 7 pen box, a standard PLA 5 pen box, and four 10 pen trays I custom fit to an 8X10 shadow box and a box meant to look like a book. I'm not happy with the boxes I printed, but the trays I printed for pre-made boxes worked perfect.

 

You can look at the trays I made in this thread https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/333772-made-cheep-pen-box-for-20-pens/?hl=comic&do=findComment&comment=4017132

[r3nekton]

Thanks, this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping for - I would also not expect PLA to abrade but, as you have done, I was intending on putting a softer material over the top just to be on the safe side - the PLA would be a framework to build around.

 

The trays look great! I haven't decided on how I will design my box yet, this was more to check that it would not be a complete waste of time to make the attempt - now that I know the materials are most likely safe, I'll spend many hours prototyping and failing