We’ve all been there – the frustration of dealing with paper jams and finicky printers. It’s a tale as old as time in the tech world. Even with decades of development, they still manage to give us a headache. Remember the infamous paper jam scene from Office Space? Well, it’s just as relevant today as it was 24 years ago.
In an era where everything is going digital, many of us question the need for a printer altogether. But let’s face it, there are times when we just need to put something on paper. Enter Henry Marshall, the genius behind a nifty hack that turns your 3D printer into a 2D paper printer!
You see, most printers fall into two categories: inkjet and laser. Inkjet printers dance a print head back and forth, spraying ink as they go. Laser printers, on the other hand, use lasers to build up a static charge on a spinning drum, which then transfers toner onto the paper with a touch of heat.
Marshall’s creation is a game-changer. Instead of following the inkjet or laser route, he’s gone for a pen plotter. These used to be quite common in fields like drafting, especially for printing massive technical drawings. While they still have niche uses today, they’re not exactly the talk of the town. But here’s the kicker – a 3D printer already has all the necessary hardware to pull off the pen plotter magic. All Marshall needed was to attach a pen to the extruder carriage using some cleverly designed 3D-printed parts and generate the right code for the printer to follow.
Now, onto the challenge: printing multiple pages. Without some extra gear, Marshall would’ve been stuck loading a new job after every page or babysitting the printer to switch out paper at just the right moment. So, he rolled up his sleeves and built an Arduino-based alarm system. When a page is done, the printer shuffles over and presses a button, triggering the alarm. That’s the signal for Marshall to swoop in, switch out the paper, and hit resume on the print job.
In theory, Marshall can now churn out an endless supply of 2D pages – well, up to the max file size that his printer allows. And here’s the best part – this upgrade can work on most 3D printers, giving you the power to embark on some plotting adventures of your own!
Conclusion
So there you have it, folks! Thanks to Henry Marshall’s ingenious hack, you can breathe new life into your 3D printer and transform it into a trusty 2D paper printer. Say goodbye to those frustrating paper jams and hello to a seamless printing experience. And the best part? You can give this upgrade a shot on most 3D printers out there.
