Got a crazy clean print from a 3D pen I found in my kid's room

Honestly, I was trying to fix a broken clip on a set of old blueprints. The plastic was cracked and I couldn't find the right glue. My son left his 3D doodle pen on my desk, so I figured why not. I warmed it up, traced the crack with the plastic filament, and let it cool. It actually held and the prints slide on perfectly now. Has anyone else tried using a totally wrong tool for a drafting fix that somehow worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

alexlewis2mo ago

Your fix is clever because it adds material instead of just sticking broken parts together. That extra plastic from the pen acts like a welded reinforcement. I've used a soldering iron to melt and fuse cracks in old plastic drafting templates before. It's messy and smells awful, but it creates a permanent bond the same way. Sometimes the wrong tool is just a different kind of right tool.

derek9392mo agoMost Upvoted

That smell sticks with you for days.

dylan_patel23d ago

Is it just me or does fixing something the "wrong" way actually teach you more than using the perfect tool? Tbh I've noticed this pattern everywhere, like when I had to reattach a loose chair leg and just used a thick zip tie as a clamp instead of buying a real one. It held up way better than I expected, and now I look at random plastic stuff around the house as potential repair materials. Ngl, half the time the hacky fix ends up being more durable because you're forced to actually understand how the thing breaks.