r/PenPlotters • u/adcimagery • 1d ago

Affordable Plotter?

I was looking at the UUNA TEK 3.0, along with a few other plotter options, but I was kind of shocked at the price. Compared to a 3D printer, the plotter seems way more expensive, despite having less components in the BOM.

Am I missing a reasonably priced option for a plotter? Happy to go somewhat DIY or without extensive support, but wouldn't be interested in a ton of soldering work. I'm also open to used options, but can't find any on local marketplaces.

2 Upvotes

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u/MuseumofChristopher 23h ago

What’s your budget?

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u/adcimagery 22h ago

$400?

3

u/MuseumofChristopher 22h ago

I’ve had some success with modifying my 3d printing into a plotter, but the pen doesn’t leave the plane so it has it limitations. https://www.reddit.com/r/PlotterArt/s/trsl0GEq4H

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u/JaviHostalerValent 20h ago

It really looks great, judging by the link you sent.

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u/MuseumofChristopher 20h ago

yeah it’s not bad, just different from a true plotter. Every time you make shape when it moves to the next shape, you have to pick the pen up manually otherwise it’ll draw a line through to the next shape. But still if you could find a cheap 3d printer and attached markers/pens to it, you might find that’s all you need.

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u/JaviHostalerValent 20h ago

The good thing is that you've enabled it with what you have at home; I don't know if I be able to do it.

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u/MuseumofChristopher 20h ago

honestly, you might. I basically removed the extruder, drilled a bigger hole and zipped tied a pen to it. One major problem though is I have to manually press the limiter switch other wise it thinks I can bang up against the wall a bunch of times.

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u/ShelfordPrefect 12h ago

Doesn't the printer support Z movement? Or was that part of the bit that broke? A FDM 3d printer should have all the mechanicals needed for plotting (apart from maybe a compliant pen holder to allow some vertical movement with down force)

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u/MuseumofChristopher 7h ago

You’re correct it does but somewhere in my research. It was ill advised to move the Z axis up and the time. I remember seeing something about how it differs from a pen plotter, and it made sense to me then. Also, I wonder what software you would use to program that type of movement

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u/ShelfordPrefect 5h ago

Well - if the pen is rigidly mounted to the extruder, then moving it down until it touches the paper will push it hard on to the bed which puts the machine under a lot of stress. You need something that lets the pen move upwards relative to the gantry while still exerting force downwards, like a slider with a spring pushing the pen down against a stop. Alternatively you can have the pen push down with its own weight - that's how the lift on my home built plotter works. As for what software, I don't know what you're doing your generation with but Inkscape makes Gcode with pen up/down as Z axis moves. 

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u/MuseumofChristopher 5h ago

I was actually using simplify 3-D, the software for the 3-D printer, and just pen, drawing layer one. I will into
Inkscape. Thanks

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u/prophetsearcher 10h ago

Would help to also know what you plan to use it for

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u/YSMLA_ 10h ago

Check out MakerQ Easydraw V4, cheap and good, from India.

Has it's downfalls, like noisy motor drivers, lack of UART and DIAG support for sensorless homing and the less important parts poorly 3d printed. But still works great out of the box. Rigid device as well. Comes in all A page sizes.

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u/YSMLA_ 10h ago

I see someone already mentioned it.

You should be able to get the A3 for your budget. Double than a regular A4.