My Katana Holder Inspired 3D Printed Fountain Pen Stand

[Ethereal Winter Wind]

Hey fellow FPNers,

 

I recently got into 3D printing and have started designing my own things to be printed and one of them has been a pen holder. I thought I would share it with you guys as you would appreciate this.

 

 

Notice I've populated the holder with a pen each of the "big 3" of Japanese fountain pen companies, can you name all the pens? (bonus points if you can name the 4th fountain pen in the picture, though it is hard to tell because of the photo quality)

 

It's not exactly a traditional katana holder design, as they usually don't have as many bridging ribs or an ornamental top but I thought I would take some artistic/engineering licence with it. It is designed to be modular, so that I can add or take away or add as many spots for holding pens as needed as they just slot into each other. I currently only have green plastic at home to use but I was thinking or reprinting it at my uni's printers in brown or black and colouring into the text in with a metallic gold marker. What colour do you think would look best? The characters on top are not actually Japanese (though it would be interesting for someone to tell me what it could be translated from if it were read as kanji) but my Chinese name, I thought it would give it a bit more of an eastern/oriental look to it.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ethereal Winter Wind

[Intellidepth]

Wow. That's a great use of a 3-D printer and interesting design (I haven't seen the holder you refer to before). Love the fact it is modular!

[Ethereal Winter Wind]

Here it is from another angle with some German pens who have invaded.

[Ethereal Winter Wind]

Wow. That's a great use of a 3-D printer and interesting design (I haven't seen the holder you refer to before). Love the fact it is modular!

 

Thanks, I was referring to it being inspired from Japanese sword racks https://www.google.com.au/search?q=katana+holder&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2BgEVarcM4P58QWkvYGYAQ&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=1562&bih=737

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ethereal Winter Wind

[Djehuty]

Neat!

 

But I'd be terrified of knocking it over. I tend to knock things over.

[vig2432]

The pens are

• Sailor Professional Gear (either A-mode or sigma)
• Platinum 3776 Century
• Pilot Vanishing Point

I am not sure which fourth pen you are referring

[Maurizio]

Very cool!

 

This could be a consumer product. I'd buy one, both because it's a useful & aesthetically pleasing object, and, because I love Japanese pens. I knew 2 of 3 of the Japanese pens because I have the exact same 2 but no Sailors.

 

The Germans are a Lamy Safari and (I'm guessing) a Pelikan 400.

 

I'd like mine in black or teak brown please.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Maurizio

[MrThoth]

OK, that's pretty damn awesome, especially if one has Japanese pens to display in it.

[Vegas863]

Happened to come across this thread as I was researching what options were available for a pen stand that looked like a sword rack. Very creative! I have to say, I am surprised to find almost no options in the general market that fit this niche. You may be on to something.

[inkypete]

I still don't understand how fountain pens work and you want me to think about 3D printing? That looks really interesting. Gonna have to find out what these new fangled printers are all about. Thanks for sharing. Just out of interest what does it cost to produce something like that in materials?

[stevesurf]

Hey fellow FPNers,

 

I recently got into 3D printing and have started designing my own things to be printed and one of them has been a pen holder. I thought I would share it with you guys as you would appreciate this.

 

2015-03-14 18.30.06.jpg

 

Notice I've populated the holder with a pen each of the "big 3" of Japanese fountain pen companies, can you name all the pens? (bonus points if you can name the 4th fountain pen in the picture, though it is hard to tell because of the photo quality)

 

It's not exactly a traditional katana holder design, as they usually don't have as many bridging ribs or an ornamental top but I thought I would take some artistic/engineering licence with it. It is designed to be modular, so that I can add or take away or add as many spots for holding pens as needed as they just slot into each other. I currently only have green plastic at home to use but I was thinking or reprinting it at my uni's printers in brown or black and colouring into the text in with a metallic gold marker. What colour do you think would look best? The characters on top are not actually Japanese (though it would be interesting for someone to tell me what it could be translated from if it were read as kanji) but my Chinese name, I thought it would give it a bit more of an eastern/oriental look to it.

 

 

This is wonderful! I would definitely go for red plastic, but also do black and just simply use a permanent gold marker to create the letters. I think that since you've got the capability of putting the Kanji (or even Katakana) right on the top, it would be very desirable and you should seriously consider putting these on FPN and Etsy!

 

There are many nice folks on hear that are skilled with Kanji, and I am just a student, but I know the middle Kanji is "Great" I'll look up the rest; I would be happy to help you with your name, just PM me.

[Ethereal Winter Wind]

I still don't understand how fountain pens work and you want me to think about 3D printing? That looks really interesting. Gonna have to find out what these new fangled printers are all about. Thanks for sharing. Just out of interest what does it cost to produce something like that in materials?

 

In terms of the materials aka the plastic only a few cents but the object takes a few hours to print depending on the size.

[Ethereal Winter Wind]

 

 

This is wonderful! I would definitely go for red plastic, but also do black and just simply use a permanent gold marker to create the letters. I think that since you've got the capability of putting the Kanji (or even Katakana) right on the top, it would be very desirable and you should seriously consider putting these on FPN and Etsy!

 

There are many nice folks on hear that are skilled with Kanji, and I am just a student, but I know the middle Kanji is "Great" I'll look up the rest; I would be happy to help you with your name, just PM me.

 

Thanks for the praise. I haven't worked much on this in a while but I do have a slightly different styled holder which I have been meaning to take a picture of to upload.

 

I tried looking up the characters in a Japanese dictionary and not surprising they meaning almost exactly the same thing as they do in Chinese.

韓 apparently in Japanese can refer to China or specifically the Han dynasty but is also the word used for Korea as it is in Chinese

偉 means great as you stated and as it is in Chinese

德 refers to ethnics, morality or virtue which is the same in Chinese. It is also is the name for Germany 德國 in Chinese but not Japanese.

 

I find that Chinese name are usually virtues or aspects that the parents wish their children to possess, is this similar in Japanese?

[AAAndrew]

Very cool!

 

Looks also like something fairly straightforward you could make out of wood.

 

For sale, I'd weight the base a little bit and sand off the edges, but I think you've got something there. Very nice!

[stevesurf]

 

Thanks for the praise. I haven't worked much on this in a while but I do have a slightly different styled holder which I have been meaning to take a picture of to upload.

 

I tried looking up the characters in a Japanese dictionary and not surprising they meaning almost exactly the same thing as they do in Chinese.

韓 apparently in Japanese can refer to China or specifically the Han dynasty but is also the word used for Korea as it is in Chinese

偉 means great as you stated and as it is in Chinese

德 refers to ethnics, morality or virtue which is the same in Chinese. It is also is the name for Germany 德國 in Chinese but not Japanese.

 

I find that Chinese name are usually virtues or aspects that the parents wish their children to possess, is this similar in Japanese?

 

 

Yes, indeed. I find that you have to be careful with the stroke order in Kanji to get the components to be recognizable. Here's a few screen shots from the Kanji Learners Dictionary, that I fortunately have both mobile and printed versions.

 

 

 

I would suggest you advise via PM, those of us that want to purchase if you do decide to 3D print some. Some of us, like myself, may not get the opportunity to return to this thread.

 

You might want to make the pen (sword) rest a bit deeper and rounded so the pens don't roll off easily. Also, making the bottom flat will allow the addition of double sided adhesive squares so it will stay put right on your desk. The Kanji could be something positive about writing in Kanji, like the "Joy of Writing" or something to lift the mood. Enjoy!

[titrisol]

Awesome!!! would you mind sharing the STL files?

 

I made this one, not as cool but functional

 

The stl files are in thingiverse...
http://www.thingiverse.com/make:244575

[MohnJadden]

I was googling around for interesting 3D printed fountain pen stands and found this. Were the STLs ever shared? I'd love to get them, or if OP would rather print himself, I'd love to discuss buying a print.

[Deleted Account]

Awesome idea. I could carve one from wood. Being a proud owner of two katana swords, I like this.