HAPPY PIRATE PEN/KNIFE WITH SECRET MAP COMPARTMENT

For those places where weapons are OK, but writing instruments are for sissies! 

There's a hiding place in the hilt for a treasure map too, (or if you must, that latest poem you are working on that you want to keep secret from your pirate companions).

With a blade that could have been forged in ice, complete with the Happy Pirate stamped as evidence of authenticity, your enemies will shrink away in terror.

Before your adventures begin however, there's a bit of building to do.

The blade is a simple print - I use 0.2mm layer heights with PrusaSlicer set to 0.2mm QUALITY.   PETG would be preferred to keep the "spring" preserved - mine is in PLA, and is perfectly fine, but after quite a lot of testing, I have bent the spring outwards a bit to provide a bit more pressure on the clip - you can easily do that by dipping it in a cup of boiling water for a few seconds and then bending to your preferred shape.

The Pen is a standard Bic-type Biro inner, cut to 70mm long (this has the potential to be a bit messy, so don't do it on your mum's best table cloth.) - The opening is deliberately tight and becomes too tight in printing - just twirl a drill bit in it by hand (or a bit of sandpaper on a toothpick) to make it a firm press fit.

The blade guard is best printed with a bit of support in the opening (PrusaSlicer's paint-on smart fill is brilliant for this).  I have printed one without support and in reality couldn't tell the difference as my printer easily bridged the width of the opening, so the choice is yours.

The handle/case is also best printed with a tiny bit of support, standing vertically on a small raft.  Again, I used paint-on smart fill in Prusa slicer to identify the 1mm surface at the opening of the handle and used support in conjunction with a two layer raft.  I've printed half a dozen of them in testing without a failure so really recommend that!


 

This was created for a PrusaPrinters flash competition and while I've tested a few versions it hasn't been developed as far as I would prefer.  Therefore - if you have any issues at all with printing or final assembly I would GREATLY appreciate your feedback so that I can address them!