Pen Mold Visualizer
Introduction: Pen Mold Visualizer
So you've found a model for a 3D printed pen mold that looks interesting. But what will it look like on a finished pen? It would be a shame to print the mold, cast the resin, cut and drill the blank, glue up a tube, turn the pen, then discover it doesn't look at all like you had hoped. Isn't there some (relatively) easy way to visualize the mold design on the finished pen while it's still a model?
Well, yes! And this Instructable will show you one way to do that using Tinkercad.
This is presented in Tinkercad because it's free to everyone, but the method would work as well in any modeling software. To work through the exercise you will need a 3D pen blank model and a Tinkercad account, or your preferred modeling software.
The video shows the entire process from start to finish. Feel free to skip the steps and just watch that.
Here's an overview step-by-step:
1. Make a working copy of the model.
2. Make an object in a contrasting color to represent resin.
3. Make a die to cut away all of the mold and resin that extends beyond the finished barrel size.
4. Apply the die to the resin and the mold.
5. Combine the resin and mold.
6. Reduce the resin diameter slightly to help with the visualization.
7. Repeat as desired to simulate pens of various sizes.
Step 1: Make a Working Copy of the Model
The first thing to do is make a working copy of the mold model. This makes it easy to delete the working copy and start over without having to reload the project from scratch.
In this case I used a model in which the design was separate from the outer mold so I just copied the design. But if the model you use comes in a single monolithic part that's fine too.
Step 2: Cast Some Virtual Resin
After cutting away parts of the mold it can be difficult to visually pick out the parts that form the outer edges. The cut-away view lets us "see" all the way to the center of the pen which is useful only if the plan is to use clear resin, which we are not. So let's cast some virtual resin! The good news is there's no weighing or measuring, curing is instantaneous, it's free and there's an undo button.
Pick a color that will contrast with the mold color and make a cylinder that is large enough to fill in the mold. The height and width don't need to be exact, so long as the resin is larger in diameter than the pen barrel to be simulated. 74
Also, the resin should be as long or longer than the mold. Once the cylinder has the right dimensions, rotate it 90 degrees so it is parallel with the mold.
When this step is complete there should be the original mold and the virtual resin side by side as shown in the photo. It is important to keep the resin and the mold separate for now.
Step 3: Make a Virtual Die
Next we will create a die that will cut away everything larger than the finished pen barrel that is being modeled. This is done by creating a negative space cylinder with a hole down the center.
First, drag a cylinder and a cylinder hole to the workplane. The solid cylinder must be large enough in diameter to completely enclose the mold or the resin (whichever is larger). In this case the mold was 27.4mm tall and wide. The diagonal for a square of that size is 40 so the die must be at least 40mm in diameter. No harm in guessing large here.
Next, make the hole cylinder the diameter of the pen barrel being simulated. In the video I simulated a Slimline pen with a finished barrel 8mm in diameter. Since this represents the finished barrel of the pen, be sure to make the outside as smooth as possible. I do this by setting Segments and Sides as high as they go.
Now center the two cylinders onto each other so they are concentric with the hole in the middle. Rotate them 90 degrees so they are parallel with the resin and the mold. Combine the two shapes so they become a thick-walled pipe, then use the Hole button to make the whole shape a hole. Congratulations, you just made a die!
Finally, before proceeding to the next step, make a copy of the die. We'll need one for the resin and one for the mold.
Step 4: Apply the Dies to the Resin and Mold
To cut the pen barrel, select one of the two die objects and select the mold object. With those two shapes selected, use the alignment tool to center the die on the mold so the two objects are concentric. Center on all three axes and merge the two objects. 556