Inkjet print-head or alternative for arduino printer project

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Bonjour,

Long story short: I a working on a printing project requiring me to print grid on non standard size of paper: like this

On one hand, using commercial/industrial printer looks overkill for me since my project is not yet large scale and on another hand, it just consists in drawing straight lines.

I have read about all those reverse engineered HP print-heads projects which seem dead by now (2022).

  1. Eventually what would be recommended for such a project?

  2. Ideally, is there any kind of inkjet pen that could be attached to a mobile part commanded by arduino?

Thank you all!

2

Does it have to be an inkjet?

There are many Arduino pen plotter projects on Youtube.
Pen plotters are slow. Is speed important for your project?

Aside from modern felt tip or gel rollerball pens you can still get pens designed for the old HP style pen plotters.

3

Merci mickb55,

No, it does not have to be an inkjet as long as it can print straight lines

I actually never thought of using pen plotters. Do they not quickly wear out?

4

If its LESS than A4 I'd expect you could use any printer.
What is the largest grid you would need to print?
What grid spacing are you intending?

5

The pen is a consumable item.
Providing you are using normal paper, the pens usually run out of ink before they physically wear down and become unusable.

6

It is a graph paper, just like papier millimétré in french on a lenghty roll of A5 paper that will be used for graphing data later.
The gird spacing would be millimeter.

7

Doing it from scrratch you would need to construct the paper drive and control. Can you not source an old inkjet printer that has roll feed option like this?
https://files.support.epson.com/htmldocs/pho22_/pho22_rf/roll_2.htm

8

A5 is 148mm by 210mm. How wide is the roll?
How long is the roll?

9

814M THERMAL KIOSK PRINTER (SERIAL) - Microcom (microcomcorp.com)

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image1095×562 49.6 KB

10

A5 is 148mm by 210mm. How wide is the roll?
How long is the roll?

Bonjour @johnwasser ,
The paper would be the same width as A5

I cannot really tell the lenght because I was provided with rolls like toilet paper.

Please consider this topic as closed.

11

I would take a look at this printer from Adafruit. These are easily interfaces to a microcontroller. They have a few of them including one that is just the guts so you can put it in your own enclosure.

12

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